Pat McCourt

Name: Patrick James McCourt
Born: 16 December 1983, Londonderry
Height: 5.10 ft
Weight: 11.00 st
Position: Winger

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: Full Caps (2002-date), 1 B Cap (2009) 9 Under-21 Caps (2002-2005).
Club Honours: (with Derry) FAI Cup Winner 2006; FAI League Cup Winner 2005, 2006, 2007; (with Celtic) Scottish Premier League Champion 2011/12, 2012/13; Scottish Cup Winner 2010/11, 2012/13; (with Glenavon) ; NIFL Charity Shield Winner 2016.
Awards: PFAI Young Player of the Year 2005; Sky Sports SPL Goal of the Season 2009/10.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	FL Cup	Europe	Others
Foyle Harps			Youth	-	-	-	-	-
Rochdale	01/02-04/05	Aug-01	Youth	31(48)/ 8	2(4)/1	0(3)/0	-	1(5)/0
Norwich City	-	Sep-03	Trial	0 (0)/ 0	-	-	-	-
Crewe.Alexandra	-	-	Trial	0 (0)/ 0	-	-	-	-
Motherwell	-	Dec-04	Trial	0 (0)/ 0	-	-	-	-
Shamrock Rovers	2005	Jan-05	Free	17 (-)/ 7	-	-	-	-
Derry City	2005 - 2008	Jul-05	£60k	48 (-)/ 5	-	-	4(1)/0	-
Celtic	07/08-12/13	Jun-08	£200k	15(51)/ 9	2(6)/0	1(6)/1	2(6)/0	-
Barnsley	13/14	Aug-13	Free	15 (8)/ 2	-	-	-	-
Brighton & H.A.	14/15	Aug-14	Free	0(10)/ 0	-	2(1)/0	-	-
Notts County	14/15	Feb-15	Loan	11 (1)/ 1	-	-	-	-
Luton Town	15/16	Jul-15	Free	15 (9)/ 1	1(0)/0	-	-	-
Glenavon Finn Harps	16/17 2017- 2018	Jul-16 Feb-17	Free Free	10 (2)/ 1 0	- -	- -	- -	3(0)/1 -
TOTALS	-	£260k		-	-	-	-	-

Biography:
Paddy McCourt, the "Derry Pele", emerged as an incredibly exciting talent with Rochdale. He was just seventeen when he made his debut in a 2-0 win over Torquay in October 2001. The following February he made his Northern Ireland Under-21 debut in a 1-0 defeat by Germany at Windsor Park. Such was his early form that Manchester City reportedly had a £1.5 million bid rej-ected.

Just two months after his first Under-21 appearance, McCourt made his Full debut against Spain. The friendly game, organised to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of that “night in Valencia” proved a disaster. The Northern Ireland squad had been decimated by withdrawals and Sammy McIlroy’s hand had been forced into calling up a number of Under-21 players, including the Rochdale duo of Lee McEvilly and McCourt. By the time of their emergence from the bench as second-half substitutes the match was already lost and the 5-0 final score seemed almost inevitable.

From there on McCourt continued to prove himself as an exciting prospect, but one beset by inconsistencies and ill-discipline. Mid-way through the 2004/05 season he was made available by Rochdale, and after a trial at Motherwell signed for Shamrock Rovers in January 2005. The following July he moved on to his hometown club, Derry City. With the Candystripes McCourt proved himself as one of the best footballers in Ireland with spectacular goals a regular feature of his game.

McCourt was expected to complete a move to English Premier League new-boys West Brom in June 2008 for a fee reported to be between £90,000 and £150,000. However, although Norwich City also showed an interest it was his boyhood idols Celtic that stepped in to clinch a last-minute deal for a fee believed to be close to £200,000. In February 2009 he returned to the Northern Ireland squad after a near seven year absence. He won his second cap as a substitute against San Marino. 

Fitness worries and managerial instability saw McCourt make only sporadic appearances at Celtic, even still he was a real favourite and his goal against Falkirk was named SPL Goal of the Season 2009/10. A bright start to the 2010/11 season saw McCourt recalled to the Northern Ireland squad and his performance in the centre of midfield in a friendly against Morocco earned a great deal of praise, showing not only his customary skills on the ball, but also a previously unrecognised steel to his game. On a rainy-Windsor night in August 2011 he scored two goals that George Best would have been proud of against a stubborn Faroe Islands.

A resurgent Celtic won the Scottish Cup in 2011 and the SPL in 2012 with McCourt only a peripheral member of the squad. He was again merely a squad player as they claimed the Double in 2013. His appearance from the bench in the Scottish Cup final win over Hibernian, during which he wore the captain's armband, was to be his last for the Hoops as his contract expired that summer.

After trial spells with Hibs and Peterborough, McCourt signed with Barnsley early in the 2013/14 season. He showed glimpses of his talent with a wonder goal against Middlesbrough, but as the team struggled so did McCourt. He was released after relegation from the Championship was confirmed. He remained in the Championship however, signing for Brighton in the opening weeks of the following season.

Over the following few seasons McCourt remained on the periphery of the Northern Ireland squad as they qualified for Euro 2016. He had spells with Notts County and Luton but he secured a return to Northern Ireland at the end of the 2015/16 season, rejecting any chance of traveling to the Euro finals as his wife had fallen seriously ill. With his wife on the road to recovery he agreed to sign for Glenavon, however he struggled to adapt to part-time football and departed before Christmas.

After leaving Glenavon McCourt was unveiled as an Irish FA County Coach. In January he was reported to be signing for Dundalk but the move never materialised and he instead joined Finn Harps.

Celtic Site
Wikipedia
Irish FA
Soccerbase

Northern Ireland Cap Details:
17-04-2002 Spain........ H L 0-5 FR. sub 
11-02-2009 San Marino... A W 3-0 WCQ sub 
14-11-2009 Serbia....... H L 0-1 FR. sub 
17-11-2010 Morocco...... H D 1-1 FR 
09-02-2011 Scotland..... N L 0-3 CNC

25-03-2011 Serbia....... A L 1-2 ECQ sub

29-03-2011 Slovenia..... H D 0-0 ECQ sub

10-08-2011 Faroe Islands H W 4-0 ECQ 2 goals
07-10-2011 Estonia...... H L 1-2 ECQ
29-02-2012 Norway....... H L 0-3 FR. sub
14-11-2012 Azerbaijan... H D 1-1 WCQ sub
06-02-2013 Malta........ A D 0-0 FR. sub
26-03-2013 Israel....... H L 0-2 WCQ sub
05-03-2013 Cyprus....... A D 0-0 FR. sub
11-10-2014 Faroe Islands H W 2-0 ECQ sub
26-03-2015 Scotland..... A L 0-1 FR. sub
31-05-2015 Qatar........ N D 1-1 FR. sub

still active...

Northern Ireland B Cap Details:
06-05-2009 Scotland..... A L 0-3 FR

Summary: 1/0. Won 0, Drew 0, Lost 1.

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
12-02-2002 Germany ...... H L 0-1 FR 
06-09-2002 Scotland ..... A W 1-0 FR sub 
11-10-2002 Spain ........ A L 0-1 EC 
15-10-2002 Ukraine ...... H D 1-1 EC 
11-02-2003 Finland ...... H W 3-1 FR sub 
28-03-2003 Armenia ...... A L 0-2 EC sub 
01-04-2003 Greece ....... H L 2-6 EC sub 
18-08-2004 Switzerland .. H D 0-0 FR 
16-08-2005 Rep of Ireland H D 2-2 FR

Summary: 5(4)/0. Won 2, Drew 3, Lost 4.

Pat McCourt's elder brother, Harry McCourt, was a striker with Limavady United (3 spells), Portadown, Cliftonville (twice), Tobermore United, Omagh Town (twice), Ards (twice) and Derry City. In a playing career spanning the late-1980s to early-2000s he scored 65 Irish League and League of Ireland goals in 218 games.

Picture courtesy of OJM from OWC. Corrections by Karl Reilly of League of Ireland History.

Billy Cook

Winner of both the Scottish Cup and the FA Cup, Billy Cook was noted as one of the most gifted full-backs of the 1930s, and developed into a world renowned coach...

Name: William Cook
Born: 20 January 1909, Coleraine
Died: 11 December 1992, Liverpool (England)
Height: 5.07½ ft
Weight: 11.04 st
Position: Full-Back

Representative Honours: Ireland: 15 Full Caps (1932-1939); Football League: 1 Cap (1941).
Club Honours: (with Celtic) Scottish Cup Winner 1930/31; (with Everton) Football League Champion 1938/39; FA Cup Winner 1932/33; Empire Exhibition Tournament Runner-Up 1937/38.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Other
Port Glasgow Athletic		-28	-	(Scottish Junior)
Celtic	29/30-32/33	Feb-30	-	100/0	10/0	-
Everton	32/33-39/40	Dec-32	£3,000	228/5	22/1	3/0
Aldershot	39/40	-	Guest	-	-	6/0
Chester	39/40	-	Guest	-	-	1/0
Raith Rovers	42/43	May-43	Guest	-	-	-
Wrexham	44/45	-	Guest	-	-	-
Southport	44/45	-	Guest	-	-	5/0
Wrexham	45/46	-	-	(Regional League West)
Ellesmere Port Town		-	-	-	-	-
Rhyl	46/47	-	-	(Cheshire County League)
TOTALS	-	£3,000		328/5	32/1	15/0

Biography:
Plucked from the Junior leagues by Celtic in February 1930, Billy Cook was pitched into the first team within a week of his arrival at Parkhead. It proved an ideal game to ease himself into the top-class game, Celtic running out 4-0 winners over Ayr United. It was soon clear that Celtic had a top-class defender on their hands, and his first full season in the Celtic team saw him claim a Scottish Cup winner’s medal, and a place in Celtic’s end-of-season US tour.

In September 1932 Cook was awarded his first Ireland cap, in a game which also saw the debut of Old Firm rival Sam English. The Irish suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Scotland at Windsor Park. Unlike English, whose career was already on a downward spiral following his tragic collision with John Thomson, Cook would retain his place in the international team right up to the outbreak of World War Two. He would also be given the honour of captaining his country.

Mid-way through the 1932/33 season Cook made a shock departure from Parkhead, signing for reigning English champions, Everton for £3,000. In his own words, it was a moved designed “to better my position”; it was also perhaps the first time an established player had left Celtic mid-season. Success was immediate, with the FA Cup arriving at Goodison Park in Cook’s first season as Manchester City were defeated 3-0 at Wembley. In June 1938 he faced Celtic in the Empire Exhibition Trophy final at Ibrox - Everton lost 1-0. In 1939 Everton claimed the League championship with Cook a regular, but as with Everton’s title success of 1915 it proved to be the last League season completed before the competition was suspended due to World War.

Usually to be found at right-back, Cook also slotted in on the left if required, and was famed for warning wingers: “Get the ball away!” before catching them with a firm challenge and chastising them: “You didn’t get the ball away!” There was more to Cook though than the typical defensive hardman of the day. Stan Bentham, an Everton team-mate of Cook’s, said of him: "Willie Cook, right full-back, Irish international, with the ball control of any inside-forward. A hard player he could pass the ball facing his own goal, find our outside-right, which he often did."

During the Second World War years, Cook guested for a number of clubs across the British Isles, including Wrexham. With the resumption of competitive football with a “transition season” in 1945/46, Cook signed with the Welsh club permanently. Age was obviously catching up with him by this stage, and with League football returning in 1946 he found his only options were in non-League football. In October 1946 he took the position of player-manager at Rhyl, thus beginning a coaching career which would take him across the globe.

In 1947 Cook became coach at SK Brann Bergen in Norway, returning to briefly coach Sunderland in February 1948. He returned to Bergen from 1949-51, from 1952-1953 he was national coach of Peru, before returning home as manager of Portadown (1954-55) and as Youth team manager of Northern Ireland. He was off on his travels again, when he spent a year as manager of Iraq’s national side, before he was appointed manager at Wigan Athletic in 1956, then at Crewe in 1957, and as trainer-coach at Norwich in 1958.

Throughout his coaching career Cook took great pleasure in demonstrating his ball skills to his players. With a young footballer who couldn’t trap the ball properly watching, Cook is reported to have booted the ball high into the air, and as it dropped he killed it stone dead on the ground just to show the young lad how it was done. Another favourite trick was to drop a half-crown onto his toe and flick it into the top pocket of his suit. He would also regale his players with stories of his tussles with Stanley Matthews and the like.

Ireland Cap Details:
17-09-1932 Scotland H L 0-4 BC
17-10-1932 England. A L 0-1 BC
07-12-1932 Wales... A L 1-4 BC
06-02-1935 England. A L 1-2 BC
13-11-1935 Scotland A L 1-2 BC
11-03-1936 Wales... H W 3-2 BC
31-10-1936 Scotland H L 1-3 BC
18-11-1936 England. A L 1-3 BC
17-03-1937 Wales... A L 1-4 BC
23-10-1937 England. H L 1-5 BC
10-11-1937 Scotland A D 1-1 BC
16-03-1938 Wales... H W 1-0 BC
08-10-1938 Scotland H L 0-2 BC
16-11-1938 England. A L 0-7 BC
15-03-1939 Wales... A L 1-3 BC

Summary: 15/0. Won 2, Drew 1, Lost 12.

Frank Collins

A “clean, clever, sturdy” ‘keeper of the 1920s, Frank Collins won a single Irish Cap in the face of competition from the likes of Scott and Farquharson…

Name: Francis Joseph Collins (tbc)
Born: 10 May 1893, Dublin (tbc)
Died:
Height:
Weight:
Position: Goalkeeper

Representative Honours: (Northern) Ireland: 1 Full Cap (1922), Junior Caps; Irish Free State: 2 Full Caps (1924-1927); League of Ireland: 5 Caps (1924-1927).

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Other
Wanderers	(Dublin)	-	-	-	-	-
Jacobs	(Dublin)	-	-	-	-	-
Celtic	21/22	May-21	-	2/0	-	-
Jacobs	22/23-31/32	c/s-22	-	-	-	-
TOTALS	-	-		-	-	-

Biography:
Dublin-born goalkeeper Frank Collins, "clean, sturdy, clever", came to the fore while playing junior football with Dublin club Jacobs for whom he signed in 1918. He was selected for Junior Ireland for a match against Scotland on 12th March 1921, keeping a clean-sheet in a 1-0 win at Celtic Park in Belfast (details to be confirmed/clarified).

Largely based on his performance in that match, Collins was signed by Celtic, joining up with his new colleagues for an end-of-season match in Paris with Cercle Athlétique in May 1921. The following season Collins had to bide his time as cover for regular ‘keeper Charlie Shaw, making his Scottish League debut in a 4-0 win over Dumbarton on the 6th September 1921.

Despite his lack of first-team action at Parkhead, Collins was selected for Ireland’s match with Scotland at his home ground in March 1922. At the end of the season Celtic made Collins available for transfer, and he returned to Jacobs to play in the newly formed Irish Free State League.

With Jacobs, Collins added inter-league representative honours and an Irish Free State cap, in a 2-1 defeat by Italy ‘B’, to his collection. He remained with the Dublin club until they left the League of Ireland in 1932.

Ireland Cap Details:
04-03-1922 Scotland A L 1-2 BC

Summary: 1/0. Won 0, Drew 0, Lost 1.

Irish Free State Appearance Details:
14-06-1924 USA...... H W 3-1 FR*
23-04-1927 Italy 'B' H L 1-2 FR*

Summary: 2*/0. Won 1, Drew 0, Lost 1.
* The status of both these games is under question. Collins may have either 1 or 2 caps depending on the definition of "Full International".

Free State League Representative Details:
09-02-1924 Welsh League H D 3-3
07-11-1925 Welsh League A D 2-2
13-03-1926 Irish League H W 3-1
05-03-1927 Irish League A D 1-1
02-04-1927 Welsh League H L 1-2

Summary: 5/0. Won 1, Drew 3, Lost 1.