Davy 'Boy' Martin

Name: David Kirker Martin
Born: 1 February 1914, Belfast
Died: 10 January 1991, Belfast
Height: 5.08 ft
Weight: 10.02 st
Position: Centre-Forward

Representative Honours: Ireland: 10 Full Caps / 3 Goals (1933-1938), 4 Amateur Caps (1932-1933); Irish League: 4 Caps / 4 Goals (1933-1934); Northern Regional League: 3 Caps / 3 Goals (1942-1945).
Club Honours: (with Belfast Celtic) Irish League Champion 1932/33; (with Glentoran) Substitute (War-Time) Gold Cup Winner 1941/42.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Other
Royal Ulster Rifles	-	-	-	-	-	-
Cliftonville	-	c.1930	Amateur	-	-	-
Belfast Celtic	-	Mar-32	£5	-	-	-
Wolverhampton Wanderers	34/35-35/36	Dec-34	£5,000	25/ 17	2/1	-
Nottingham Forest	36/37-38/39	Aug-36	£7,000	81/ 41	3/5	-
Notts County	38/39-45/46	Nov-38	£3,500	28/ 19	4/1	-
Glentoran	40/41-42/43	Mar-41	Guest	*41/ 63	-	-
Watford	42/43	-	Guest	-	-	#11/7
Aldershot	42/43	-	Guest	-	-	#1/0
Fulham	42/43	-	Guest	-	-	#1/1
Derry City	45/46	-	Guest	-	-	-
Ballymoney United	-	Apr-46	Free	-	-	-
Ballymena United	46/47	Apr-47	Free	6/  6	-	-
TOTALS	-	£15,505		181/146	9/7	12/8

* all games; # War-Time games

Biography:
Davy Martin spent his childhood in an orphanage before joining the Royal Ulster Rifles as a drummer boy - the nickname “Boy” then stuck with him for the rest of his life. It was while serving in the army that he took a shine to sport as a champion prize fighter and a skilful goalscoring centre-forward on the football field. Eventually he bought his way out of the army for £5 to sign amateur forms with Cliftonville before turning professional with Belfast Celtic.

With Celtic Martin hit the ground running, firing home 36 times as the Gibson Cup arrived at Paradise in 1933. He was still a teenager as he racked representative honours at inter-league, amateur international and full international level. Indeed the Scots must surely have grown sick of the sight of Martin as he marked his Ireland debut with a brace in a 2-1 win at Parkhead and two weeks later, his first Irish League appearance with another two in a 3-0 win over the Scottish League at Windsor Park. To add insult to injury, his only other international goal came in another win over the Scots.

With all the plaudits came the inevitable move “across the water” as Wolves forked out £7,500 on Martin and Johnny Brown (approximately two-thirds of which was attributed to Martin). An all-action striker, noted for his quickness of feet and thought, and most importantly, his red-hot finishing. He hit superb form with Wolves before he was surprisingly allowed to move on to Division Two Nottingham Forest for a then club-record fee of £7,000. Again with Forest Martin proved a more than reliable goal-getter, claiming another club-record with 31 goals in his first campaign. Thereafter his temperament brought him to loggerheads with referees and his manager and after just seven games in the opening months of his second season he moved across the Trent to Notts County.

In just a year of Division Three (South) football with the Magpies Martin again proved his goalscoring prowess. On the outbreak of World War Two Martin rejoined the army. During the war-years he guested with a number of clubs, both in England and Ireland, but was badly wounded in the invasion of Normandy in 1944. Thankfully he fully recovered and guested for Derry City before returning briefly to Notts County. He then finished his playing career with spells at Ballymoney United and Ballymena United then coached Ballymena and Carrick Rangers.

Ireland Cap Details:

16-09-1933 Scotland A W 2-1 BC 2 Goals
14-10-1933 England. H L 0-3 BC
04-11-1933 Wales... H D 1-1 BC
20-10-1934 Scotland H W 2-1 BC 1 Goals
06-02-1935 England. A L 1-2 BC
11-03-1936 Wales... H W 3-2 BC
31-10-1936 Scotland H L 1-3 BC
23-10-1937 England. H L 1-5 BC
10-11-1937 Scotland A D 1-1 BC
08-10-1938 Scotland H L 0-2 BC

Summary: 10/3. Won 3, Drew 2, Lost 5.

Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
14-11-1931 England. A L 2-3 2 Goals
23-01-1932 Scotland H W 4-0
28-01-1933 Scotland A L 0-6 (or 1-5)
18-02-1933 England. H W 4-3 2 Goals

Summary: 4/4. Won 2, Drew 0, Lost 2.

Biography and club stats reproduced by kind permission from 'Neil Coleman - The Official History of Ballymena United FC'