William Anderson

Name: William Anderson
Born: Ballymena
Height:
Weight:
Position: Inside-Forward

Representative Honours: Ireland: 1 Amateur Cap (1947).
Club Honours: (with Ballymena) Irish Cup Runner-Up 1950/51.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Other
Ballymena United	46/47-47/48	Aug-46	Amateur	33/3	4/0	7/1
Ballyclare Comrades	-	-	-	(Intermediate)
Ballymena United	50/51-51/52	Aug-50	Amateur	14/0	5/1	8/2
TOTALS	-	£0		47/3	9/1	15/3

Biography:
William ‘Nipper’ Anderson, was an immediate post-war inside forward whose exploits in the Intermediate leagues earned him a promotion to senior football with his hometown team, Ballymena United in August 1946.

Recruited by manager William Reid, Anderson was to form part of a new look Ballymena side who had returned to competitive football after a six year hiatus due to their grounds being used as part of the Second World War effort. His efforts in United’s 1946/47 Northern Regional League campaign merited his sole Amateur international cap against England. Despite being a regular on the teamsheet throughout the 1947/48 season at the Showgrounds, Nipper missed out on a place in the team for the County Antrim Shield final win against Linfield in May 1948 and left the club soon after – returning to the intermediate league to play regular football including a spell with Ballyclare Comrades.

Two years later new boss Norman Kernaghan brought Anderson back to senior football for the 1950/51 season and played a key role in the team’s run to the final of the Irish Cup, even scoring the winning goal in the semi-final against Portadown. Defeat to Glentoran in the showpiece left the local forward with only a runners-up medal for his efforts though. United also reached the final of the County Antrim Shield again, which this time Anderson started, but the 2-2 with Cliftonville and the lack of available dates during the remainder of the season meant the replay would be held over until the following August.

By August, his mentor Kernaghan had left as manager and the club’s committee drafted in a raft of new faces as the club fielded six new players for the replay in August 1951. This meant no space in the team for William, who made only the one appearance that season before leaving the club for a second time.

Nipper continued playing in the local area, and went on to become a much loved and respected manager in junior circles and also managed Ballymena United’s reserve team.

Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
08-02-1947 England A L 1-3

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

Courtesy of www.ballymenaunitedfc.com.

Bobby Averell

Name: Robert Averell
Born: Magherafelt
Height: 6’00”
Weight: 11.01 st
Position: Central defender

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 4 Amateur Caps (1969-1970).
Club Honours: (with Ballymena) Irish Cup Runner-Up 1969/70, 1973/74; Ulster Cup Runner-Up 1971/72; City Cup Winner 1971/72; Gold Cup Winner 1974/75; Gold Cup Runner-Up 1975/76; County Antrim Shield Winner 1975/76.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Europe	Other
Coleraine	-67/68	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ballymena United	68/69-71/72	Aug-68	Amateur	77/ 3	9/0	-	80/5
Toronto Metros	1972 - 1973	Mar-72	Free	24/ 2	(NASL)	-	-
Ballymena United	72/73-77/78	Jan-73	Free	77/ 7	10/0	-	75/4
TOTALS	-	£0		178/12	19/0	-	155/9

Biography:
Ballymena manager Alex Parker convinced the 21-year-old Magherafelt man to make the switch to the Ballymena Showgrounds in August 1968 and quickly became a mainstay of the defence of the Sky Blues. In his second season Averell started in the Irish Cup final in 1970, which United lost against Linfield at Solitude.

It was during this two year period in which Bobby won four Amateur International caps. Ballymena United entered the 1970s with great excitement as Arthur Stewart returned as player-manager and the club consistently challenged for trophies with Bobby Averell as one of the star players. Fittingly it was the big defender who scored the only goal of the game in the City Cup final against Ards in December 1971, which earned him his first senior medal.

However, amidst growing social unrest in Northern Ireland, Averell seized an opportunity in March 1972 to immigrate to Canada to play for the Toronto Metros in the blossoming North American Soccer League. Bobby spent two seasons in Canada alongside an international collection of team-mates and even managed to keep the world’s greatest player, Pele, at bay during an exhibition game against Santos.

Averell returned to Northern Ireland in January 1973 as Arthur Stewart brought him back home to Ballymena United and picked up another Irish Cup runners-up medal in 1974 following the defeat to Ards. His second spell at the club did merit two winning medals winning both the Gold Cup and the County Antrim Shield in the mid-seventies, the latter as captain. Injury curtailed the final years of his career and forced Averell’s retirement from the game at the end of the 1977/78 season. He had a short spell as a scout for the club immediately after his retirement.

In April 2008, Bobby was inducted into the Ballymena United Seven Towers’ Supporters Club ‘Hall of Fame’ as the player of the year for the 1970s. His son Richard also had two short spells at Ballymena United as well as Brentford and Glenavon.

NASL Jerseys

Northern Ireland Amateur Cap Details:

22-03-1969 Scotland H L 1-2

27-09-1969 England. H L 1-4

10-01-1970 Wales... H W 3-1

14-02-1970 Scotland A L 1-3

Summary: 4/0. Won 1, Drew 0, Lost 3.

Courtesy of www.ballymenaunitedfc.com.

Des Anderson

Name: John Desmond Anderson
Born: 11 September 1940, Downpatrick
Height:
Weight:
Position: Centre-Half

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 6 Amateur Caps (1959-1962)
Club Honours: (with Exeter) Football League Division Four fourth place (promoted) 1963/64.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Europe	Other
Cliftonville	-	-	Amateur	-	-	-	-
Glenavon	-	-61	Amateur	-	-	2/0	-
Exeter City	62/63-65/66	Aug-62	-	142(2)/1	-	-	-
Johannesburg Rangers	1966	-	-	27(-)/1	(South Africa NFL)
Chesterfield	66/67-67/68	Jul-66	-	8(0)/0	-	-	-
Johannesburg Rangers	1968	-	-	16(-)/0	(South Africa NFL)
Matlock Town	-	-	-	-	(Midland League)
TOTALS	-	£-		-	-	-	-

Biography:
Twice captain of Ireland Amateurs, in 1962 he played in an Under-23 trial match.

In 1964 he was part of the Exeter side that achieved a first ever promotion as they finished in fourth place in the Fourth Division.

Grecian Archives

Northern Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
26-09-1959 England. H D 1-1
24-09-1960 England. A L 2-3
14-01-1961 Wales... A L 1-4
18-02-1961 Scotland H D 3-3
13-01-1962 Wales... H W 3-1
17-02-1962 Scotland A D 0-0

Summary: 6/0. Won 1, Drew 3, Lost 2.

John Anderson

Name: John Anderson
Position: Outside-Right

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 2 Amateur Caps (1961).
Club Honours: (with Distillery) Irish League Champion 1962/63; City Cup Winner 1962/63.

Club Career:
Teams .... --Seasons-- League Europe
Distillery .................. 2(0)/0

Biography:
To follow.

Northern Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
14-01-1961 Wales... A L 1-4
18-02-1961 Scotland H D 3-3

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

Tommy Aiken

Name: Thomas Aiken
Born: 18 March 1946, Ballymena
Height:
Weight:
Position: Outside-Left

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 1 Amateur Cap (1965)
Club Honours:

Club Career:

Clubs	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	FL Cup	Other
Ballymena United	65/66-67/68	-	Amateur	*113(0)/19	-	-	-
Doncaster Rovers	67/68	Nov-67	-	12(1)/1	-	-	-
TOTALS		£-		-	-	-	-

* all games

Biography:
Tommy Aiken was selected to play for Northern Ireland Amateurs against England in 1965 at his homeground in Ballymena. Two years later he made the long dreamed of move to England, signing with Doncaster Rovers. He spent just a season at Belle Vue, playing thirteen games in the Football League.

More to follow.

Northern Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
25-09-1965 England. H L 0-2

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

Eric Adair

Name: Eric Adair
Born: Belfast
Height:
Weight:
Position: Right-Half

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 2 Amateur Caps (1958), 2 Schoolboy Caps (1948).

Club Career:
Teams
Cliftonville

Biography:
Later manager of Larne and Glenavon.

More to follow.

Northern Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
18-01-1958 Wales... H W 3-1
22-02-1958 Scotland A W 3-1

Summary: 2/0. Won 2, Drew 0, Lost 0.

Nat Adams

Name: Nathaniel Adams
Born: 29 November 1891, Belfast
Died:
Height:
Weight:
Position: Goalkeeper

Representative Honours: Ireland: 5 Amateur Caps (1921-1925), Junior; Irish League: 2 Caps (1923-1925).
Club Honours: (with Linfield Swifts) Steel & Sons Cup Winner 1915/16 (with Belfast Celtic) Steel & Sons Cup Winner 1916/17.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA.Cup	Other
Barn	-	-	Amateur	-	-	-
Linfield	-	-	Amateur	-	-	-
Belfast.Celtic	-	-	Amateur	-	-	-
Cliftonville	15/16-24/25	-	Amateur	-	-	-
Motherwell	18/19	-	-	1/0	-	-
Portadown	-	-	Amateur	-	-	-
TOTALS	-	£-		-	-	-

Biography:
"Lucky Nat" Adams had a long and successful apprenticeship in junior and intermediate football. After initially making his mark with Carrick-based Barn, he claimed consecutive Steel & Sons Cup winner's medals with Linfield Swifts and Belfast Celtic. He was also honoured at Junior representative level, but it wasn't until moving to Cliftonville that Adams was given a pro-longed chance in senior football. He took the place of amateur international 'keeper, Dan Peck, both at Solitude and in the Ireland team, claiming his first cap in an impressive win over what could be regarded as a "Full" French team in Paris. From then on, for a five-year period, Adams was the Ireland Amateur first-choice between the posts. In addition, Adams twice represented the Irish League, both times against their Scottish counterparts. Adams' representative career continued after joining Portadown, and it was while at Shamrock Park that he won his final amateur and inter-league honours. Much sought after by Scottish clubs, he did spend a brief period with Motherwell, but otherwise decided to stick to "the old sod".

Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
08-02-1921 France. A W 2-1
14-11-1921 England A L 1-4
11-11-1922 England A L 0-4
10-11-1923 England A L 0-3
07-11-1925 England A L 4-6

Summary: 5/0. Won 1, Drew 0, Lost 4.

Details and picture kindly supplied by Jim Murphy.

Sam Andrews

Name: Smauel Andrews
Born:
Died:
Height:
Weight:
Position: Inside/Centre-Forward

Representative Honours: Ireland: 1 Amateur Cap (1922); Irish League: 1 Cap (1923).

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA.Cup	Other
Ulster Amateurs	21/22	-	Amateur	-	-	-
Brookfield Strollers	-	-	Amateur	-	-	-
Cliftonville	22/23	-	Amateur	-	-	-
Larne	-	c/s-23	-	-	-	-
TOTALS	-	£-		-	-	-

Biography:
With Ulster Amateurs during the 1921/22 Sam Andrews could be found as often at full-back as at centre-forward, though it was in the latter role that he excelled. He then played briefly for Brookfield Strollers before signing with Cliftonville. He earned rapid elevation at Solitude from Cliftonville Olympic to the first eleven and in November 1922 was selected at inside-right for Ireland Amateurs against England. In 1923 he was on the move again, signing with Larne who had been newly elected to the Irish League. In October 1923 he became the first Larne player to be honoured with an Irish League representative appearance, leading the line in a 1-0 defeat by the Scottish League at Windsor Park.

Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
11-11-1922 England. A L 0-4

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

Details and picture kindly supplied by Jim Murphy.