Matt “Gunner” Reilly

Name: Matthew Michael Reilly
Born: 22 March 1874, Donnybrook, Dublin
Died: 9 December 1954, Dublin
Height: 5.11 ft
Weight: 13.09 st
Position: Goalkeeper

Representative Honours: Ireland: 2 Full Caps (1900-1902); Army representative.
Honours: (with Royal Artillery) FA Amateur Cup Runner-Up 1895/96; Southern League Division Two Champion 1897/98 (promoted after Test Match series); (with Portsmouth) Southern League Champion 1901/02; (with Shelbourne) Irish Cup Runner-Up 1907/08.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup		Other
Benburn (Glasgow)	-	-	-	-	(Scottish Junior)
Royal Artillery (Portsmouth)	97/98-98/99	-	-	42/0	(Southern League)
Southampton St Mary's	95/96	Dec-1895	Loan	2/0	(Southern League)
Freemantle	-	Sep-1896	Loan	-	(Southern League)
Portsmouth	99/00-03801	May-1899	Free	*138/0	(Southern League)
Dundee	04/05	c/s-1904	-	3/0	-	-
Notts County	05/06	Jun-1905	-	16/0	-	-
Tottenham Hotspur	06/07	Oct-1906	£100	19/0	(Southern League)
Shelbourne	07/08-08/09	Aug-1907	-	-	(Irish League)
TOTALS	-	£-		220/0	-		-

* in addition to 138 games in the Southern League for Portsmouth, Reilly played 58 Western League, 15 Southern District Combination, 21 cup and 31 friendly games.

Biography:
Matt Reilly, more usually known by the nicknames “Gunner”, "Ginger" or “Ginge”, had only played Gaelic football before leaving Ireland behind to serve in the army. He took to the association game while in Glasgow, playing as goalkeeper with Junior side, Benburb, but it was while playing with the Royal Artillery (based in Portsmouth) that he really came to prominence, playing in their 1896 1-0 Amateur Cup final defeat by Bishop Auckland as well as two Army Cup finals.

He represented the Army, Hampshire and Forfarshire before leaving the services and taking to the professional game with the fledgling Portsmouth. Pompey quickly grew to become one of the dominant forces of the Southern League, finishing third, second, first, third and fourth from 1900 to 1904. Reilly was recognised for his form with selection for Ireland on two occasions, both narrow defeats by England in 1900 and 1902. During a match against Swindon on 30th January 1904 he was hit by a projectile thrown from the crowd and punched a spectator, subsequently he served a two week suspension.

Reilly played the only Football League matches of his career with Notts County in the 1905/06 season. He made an inauspicious start in a 3-0 defeat at Stoke and lost his place mid-season to Albert Iremonger (who at 6’ 5½“ was to become a Magpies legend). Still, Reilly was recognised as a valuable asset and it took a £100 bid from Spurs to take him back to the Southern League.

In 1907 Reilly returned to Dublin to play for Shelbourne. He played for the Shels in 1908 Irish Cup Final, but finished on the losing side to Dublin rivals, Bohemians.

On retiring as a player he became a publican, a job with which he had also dabbled while still a player. He remained fondly remembered at Fratton Park and was amongst the guests who celebrated Portsmouth’s fiftieth anniversary in 1948.

There is a (tenuous) link between Reilly and Sherlock Holmes author, Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle played as an amateur goalkeeper for Portsmouth AFC, the town's first club, while Reilly was the first 'keeper for the professional Portsmouth FC.

Ireland Cap Details:
17-03-1900 England H L 0-2 BC
22-03-1902 England H L 0-1 BC

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

"Pepper" Renneville

Name: William Thomas James Renneville
Born: 16 April 1884, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath
Died: 1948*, Dublin
Height: 5.06 ft
Weight: 
Position: Outside-Right

Representative Honours: Ireland: 4 Full Caps (1910-1911); London Colleges.

Club Career:

Clubs	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Other
Harrow Green	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
GER Mechanics	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Leytonstone	-	c.1904	-	-	-	-	-
Leyton	-	c.1907	-	-	-	-	(Southern League)
Aston Villa	10/11	May-10	-	2/1	-	-	(Football League)
Worcester City	14/15	Oct-14	-	0/0	-	-	(Birmingham & District)
Walsall	19/20	Oct-19	-	3/1	-	1/0	(Birmingham & District)
Hinckley United	-	Sep-20	-	-	-	-	-
Wolseley.Athletic	-	Sep-21	-	-	-	-	(Birmingham.Combination)
TOTALS			£-	5/2	-	1/0	-

Biography:
“Pepper” Renneville played only schoolboy football before leaving Ireland for London. He then played College football and eventually joined Southern League side Leyton. It was while with the London-club that Renneville won his first three caps, all at outside-right, as Ireland made a rare challenge in the 1910 Home Nations Championship. A draw with England and a win over Scotland left the Irish needing to beat Wales to claim the title, even a draw would see the trophy shared. Wales won 4-1 and Ireland slumped to third.

Finally, in May 1910, Renneville made it into the Football League with Aston Villa. He played just twice for Villa as a battling centre-forward, who, despite his diminutive stature, made an impact on the toughest of opposition defenders. While at Villa he did win a fourth and final cap, against Wales at Windsor Park in January 1911, though it proved a sad end to his international as he left the field injured after 55 minutes, with the Welsh defeating the ten-man Irish 2-1. Renneville's Villa career was ended due to an injury collected in a reserve team game and his retirement was announced in April 1912.

That was not the end however, as Renneville returned with non-League Worcester. Despite further injuries he played in Walsall's first post-Great War season. He was one of ten players tried at outside-right, and although his accurate corner-kicking was commended, his general play was slow. Through October and November 1919 he played in a total of four Birmingham & District League and Staffordshire Cup matches for the club, scoring once.

Ireland Cap Details:
12-02-1910 England. H D 1-1 BC
19-03-1910 Scotland H W 1-0 BC
11-04-1910 Wales... A L 1-4 BC
28-01-1911 Wales... H L 1-2 BC

Summary: 4/0. Won 1, Drew 1, Lost 2.

Notes:
* Some sources list his date of death as 19 April 1943.

With thanks to Jim Murphy, Cris Freddi and Martin O'Connor for their inputs.

James Rankin

Name: James Rankin (or Rankine)
Position: Goalkeeper

Representative Honours: Ireland: 1 Full Cap (1883).
Honours: (with Limavady) Irish Cup Runner-Up 1884/85.

Club Career:
Alexander
Limavady

Biography:
A player with founder Irish FA members Alexander FC, James Rankin became Ireland's second international goalkeeper, taking over from Knock' s James Hamilton. His two international appearance were made in 1883 and included a 1-1 draw with Wales, the first time Ireland had avoided defeat.

When Alexander amalgamated with Limavady Wanderers in 1884 to form Limavady (United) FC Rankin continued as their regular custodian. He playd for the new club in the 1885 Irish Cup Final, a 3-0 defeat by Distillery.

Ireland Cap Details:
24-02-1883 England. A L 0-7 FR
17-03-1883 Wales... H D 1-1 FR

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

Robert Reynolds

Name: Robert Reynolds
Born:
Died:
Height:
Weight:
Position: Goalkeeper

Representative Honours: Ireland: 1 Full Cap (1905); Leinster representative.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Other
Bohemians	-	-	Amateur	-	-	-
TOTALS	-	£-		-	-	-

Biography:
Bohemians goalkeeper and Irish cycling champion, Robert Reynolds won his only cap in a 2-2 draw with Wales in April 1905.

Please get in touch if you can add to this article.

Ireland Career Details:
08-04-1905 Wales.. A D 2-2 BC

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

Bob Rea

Name: Robert Rea
Born: 29 March 1878, Belfast
Died: 31 October 1946, New York, USA (tbc)
Position: Inside-Right/Left

Representative Honours: Ireland: 1 Full Cap (1901); Irish League: 2 Caps (1898-1900).
Club Honours: (with Linfield) Irish League Champion 1897/98, Runner-Up 1898/99; Irish Cup Winner 1897/98; City Cup Winner 1897/98 (with Distillery) Belfast Charity Cup Winner 1899/00.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Other
Cliftonville	-	-1894	Amateur	-	-	-
Linfield	95/96-98/99	Nov-1895	-	*49/12	-	-
Distillery	99/00	Oct-1899	-	-	-	-
Belfast Celtic	99/00	Jan-1900	-	-	-	-
Glentoran	00/01	Jun-1900	-	*16/ 8	-	-
Belfast Celtic	01/02	-	-	-	-	-
Cliftonville	02/03	-	-	-	-	-
Ulster	02/03	-	-	-	-	-
Linfield	03/04	-	-	*1/ 0	-	-
TOTALS	-	£-		66/20	-	-

* all games.

Biography:
After beginning his Irish League career with Cliftonville during the 1895/96 season, Bob Rea first made a real splash in Linfield’s 1897/98 “Double” winning side. Also in the Blues’ forward-line that defeated St Columb’s Court 2-0 in the Irish Cup Final was Rea’s brother, Sam who was making his club debut! During that season Bob Rea also won his first major representative honour, playing for the Irish League in a 5-0 defeat by their Scottish counterparts in Dundee.

Rea then spent the start of 1899/1900 season with Distillery before joining Belfast Celtic. He was a member of the Whites’ side that claimed the Charity Cup for the first-time, when he guested for them as a last minute replacement for the injured Tom Black, while still a Belfast Celtic player. Distillery, having lost in their previous six Final appearances in the competition, they saw-off Linfield with a resounding 5-0 scoreline.

After moving on to Glentoran in the summer of 1900, Rea put in some great goalscoring performances as the Glens ran his former club close in the race for the Irish League title. His form was rewarded with a second selection for the Irish League (who lost out 4-2 to the Football League in November 1900) and with his sole cap for Ireland (in a 3-0 defeat by England at Southampton).

Rea left the Oval after a single season to return to Belfast Celtic. He later had a second spell with Cliftonville before ending his Irish league career with Ulster. He never really established himself in any of these clubs and in 1903/04 he returned to Linfield and helped out with the Linfield Swifts. He then immigrated to the USA, in October 1909 and remained there until his death.

The Rea name remained a prominent one in the Irish League as Sam played for Glentoran from 1902 to 1908 and another brother, Fred also played for the Glens (1906-1911) and represented the Irish League.
Ireland Cap Details:09-03-1901 England. A L 0-3 BC

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

Additional information by George Glass.