Joe Bambrick

Legendarily prolific in front of goal, Joe Bambrick, whose goalscoring feats coined the phrase “Head, Heel or Toe, Slip it to Joe”, found the net twelve times in eleven international appearances...

Name: Joseph Gardiner Absolom Bambrick
Born: 3 November 1905, Belfast
Died: 13 October 1983, Belfast

Height: 5.11 ft

Weight: 11.02 st
Position: Centre-Forward

Representative Honours: Ireland: 11 Full Caps/12 Goals (1928-1938), 1 Amateur Cap (1926), Junior; Irish League: 12 Caps/9 Goals (1927-1932); Ireland/Wales (1935).
Club Honours: (with Glentoran) Charity Cup Runner-Up 1926/27; (with Linfield) Irish League Champion 1929/30, 1931/32, 1933/34, 1934/35, Runner-Up 1927/28, 1928/29, 1930/31; Irish Cup Winner 1929/30, 1933/34, Runner-Up 1931/32; City Cup Winner 1928/29, Runner-Up 1927/28, 1930/31, 1932/33; Gold Cup Winner 1927/28, 1928/29, Runner-Up 1932/33, 1934/35; Co. Antrim Shield Winner 1927/28, 1928/29, 1929/30, 1931/32, 1932/33, 1933/34, Runner-Up 1942/43; Charity Cup Runner-Up 1931/32, 1938/39 (as guest).

Club Career:

Clubs	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Other
Windsor Church	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rockville	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bridgemount	-	-	-	(Belfast Combination)
Ards	-	-	-	-	-	-
Broadway United	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ulster Rangers	25/26	-	-	-	-	-
Glentoran	26/27	May-26	Amateur	22/ 28	-	15/ 16
Linfield	27/28-34/35	Aug-27	-	183/286	-	168/234
Chelsea	34/35-37/38	Dec-34	£3,000	59/ 34	7/ 5	-
Walsall	38/39	Mar-38	-	35/ 15	6/ 5	-
Linfield	38/39	-	Guest	-	-	-
Linfield	42/43	-	Guest	-	-	4/  2
TOTALS		£3,000		299/363	13/10	187/252

Seasonal Record:

Season	League Apps/Gls	Other Goals	Representative Apps/Gls		TOTAL GOALS
Glentoran (Irish League)
1926/27	22/ 28	16		1/ 0	44
Linfield (Irish League)
1927/28	25/ 36	48		1/ 0	84
1928/29	25/ 43	32		5/ 3	78
1929/30	26/ 50	35		6/11	96
1930/31	14/ 20	13		2/ 2	35
1931/32	25/ 33	33		3/ 2	68
1932/33	25/ 40	34		2/ 1	75
1933/34	24/ 35	38		-	73
1934/35	19/ 29	1		-	30
Chelsea (Football League Division One)
1934/35	21/ 16	1		1/ 1	18
1935/36	25/ 15	5		2/ 0	20
1936/37	10/  2	0		-	2
1937/38	3/  1	1		1/ 1	3
Walsall (Football League Division Two)
1938/39	35/ 15	5		-	20
Linfield (Northern Regional League)
1942/43	-	2		-	2
TOTALS	299/363	264		24/21	648

Biography:
Joe Bambrick, a former gas worker of medium build, was a prolific goalscorer, adept at getting into good scoring positions and athletic enough to make the final touch count. “Head, heel or toe, Slip it to Joe” became a famous catch-phrase when referring to him. His scoring of 6 goals for Ireland v Wales at Celtic Park on the 1st February 1930 in a 7-0 win, still remains the record score for a British Isles player in an international fixture.

In the pantheon of the world's great goalscorers, Bambrick’s total of 348 goals in top division league football (with Glentoran, Linfield and Chelsea) places him in the top twenty, six goals ahead of Eusebio (Portugal) and far in front of his nearest “local” rival, Jimmy Jones (331). More impressive still was his goalscoring rate, 1.31 goals scored per match, which ranks fourth in the world behind Fernando Peyroteo (Portugal), Josef Bican (Austria & Czechoslovakia) and Imre Schlosser (Hungary & Austria).

As well as his “top division” goals, Bambrick managed 31 in the Irish Cup (placing him fifth equal in the competition’s all-time scorers list). In his nine full seasons in the Irish League he averaged over 62 goals per season and was topscorer four times.

Bambrick matched his six-goal tally in an international match just once during his Irish League career, claiming a double hattrick for Glentoran in a 6-2 win over Larne on 25th September 1926. Further he claimed five for Linfield on five occasions and four for Glentoran once and Linfield nine times. Among many other cup matches in which Bambrick claimed four-goal hauls was the 1930 5-1 Irish Cup final defeat of Bangor, equalling Bob Hill’s 1892 feat in Linfield’s 7-0 final win over Black Watch and since matched by Billy McAvoy for Ards in a 4-2 replay win over Distillery in 1969. Among his numerous hattricks were all Linfield's goals in the 3-2 1928 Gold Cup final defeat of Belfast Celtic and a treble in a 7-1 Co. Antrim Shield final victory over Larne in 1934.

In the English First Division Bambrick continued to find the net regularly. He claimed four goals in a 7-1 win over Leeds and again in a 4-2 win over Manchester City. In the FA Cup he scored a hatrick in a 3-1 third round replay win against Norwich in January 1936. He later matched this feat while with Walsall, scoring three in a 4-1 first round victory over Carlisle in November 1938.

While Bambrick’s goalscoring feats have been bettered by some – Fred Roberts retains the British record for goals in a season and Jimmy Jones’ overall career goalscoring tally outstrips Bambrick’s – it should be noted that neither of these players goal-averages can compare to Bambrck’s and certainly neither transferred their skills to the international stage with such ease.

In May 1939 Bambrick returned to Linfield to guest in the end-of-season Charity Cup competition. He left Walsall for good on the outbreak of the Second World War and joined Linfield as coach, however, Walsall retained his registration and they did not permit him to play for the Blues in war-time competitions. He did eventually take the field during the 1942/43 Co. Antrim Shield in which he scored his final goal.

Irish FA Official Website Profile
DT92 Cards
Linfield FC (1)
Linfield FC (2)

StamfordBridge.com

Ireland Full Cap Details:
22-10-1928 England. A L 1-2 BC 1 goal
02-02-1929 Wales... A D 2-2 BC
23-02-1929 Scotland H L 3-7 BC 2 goals
19-10-1929 England. A L 0-3 BC
01-02-1930 Wales... H W 7-0 BC 6 goals
22-02-1930 Scotland A L 1-3 BC
05-12-1931 Wales... H W 4-0 BC 1 goal
27-03-1935 Wales... A L 1-3 BC 1 goal
19-10-1935 England. H L 1-3 BC
13-11-1935 Scotland A L 1-2 BC
16-03-1938 Wales... H W 1-0 BC 1 goal

Summary: 11/12. Won 3, Drew 1, Lost 7.

Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
06-11-1926 England. A L 0-3

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

Irish League Representative Appearance Details:
21-09-1927 Football League.. A L 1-9
22-09-1928 Football League.. H L 0-5
31-10-1928 Scottish League.. A L 2-8
25-09-1929 Football League.. A L 2-7
09-10-1929 Scottish League.. H L 1-4 1 goal
01-03-1930 League of Ireland A W 6-1 4 goals
24-09-1930 Football League.. H D 2-2 2 goals
08-10-1930 Scottish League.. A L 0-3
23-09-1931 Football League.. A L 0-4
03-10-1931 Scottish League.. H W 3-2 1 goal
01-10-1932 Football League.. H L 2-5 1 goal
19-10-1932 Scottish League.. A L 1-4

Summary: 12/9. Won 2, Drew 1, Lost 9.

Adapted from the work of George Glass.