NIFG

 Reg Ryan ‘The Schemer” Part Two ( Part One ) By Gavan Bergin Reg continued to play at left-half for West Brom until he was moved to the inside-forward position midway through the 1949/50 season. That change worked well forWest Brom, who had been in relegation trouble. They started scoring again andwinning matches, and they eventually finished 14th in the First Division-not bad for anewly promoted side. When the 1950/51 season began, West Brom's manager changed the team’s formation, “adopting a four-forward attack, with Reg Ryan lying back as the schemer-in-chief at inside-left, with his on the carpet passes and intelligent positioning”, according to the Birmingham Daily Gazette. West Brom scored 17 goals in their first 10 league matches, and Reg played brilliantly in his new position, helping West Brom finish out of the relegation places again that season. Afterwards, the Daily Gazette paid tribute to him, saying: “Reg Ryan the Schemer, that grand clubman, who although preferring ...

Name: Born: 14 July 2003 Height: 5.07 ½  ft / 1.71 m Weight: Postion: Forward Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: Under-21, Under-19, Under-16, Under-15. Club Career : Teams ... -Seasons- Signed Fee League Glentoran ............... Youth Larne ... 20/1-date Jul-20 Portadown 21/2 .... Jan-22 loan 0(3)/0  Newry C.. 22/3 .... Jan-23 loan Biography: Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details: 25-09-2022 Scotland A D 1-1

 

REG RYAN - THE SCHEMER By Gavan Bergin Part One Reg Ryan was born in Dublin in October 1925. He lived in the Marino area of Dublin until the late 1930s, when he emigrated with his family to England.  Reg was very good at sports. He played Gaelic football in Ireland, then when he moved to England he took up soccer. He played schoolboy football for Blackpool FC, then works football for the Sunbeam Cars factory team in Coventry. By the time he was sixteen he had a reputation as one of the best young players around. Sheffield United took him on trial in 1941, then Nottingham Forest trialled him in 1942. Coventry City FC signed him up in April 1943. At that time, due to the Second World War, the Football League had been reorganised into various regional "wartime"; leagues. Coventry were in the Midland Regional League when Reg made his debut for them during the 1942/43 season. But though the wartime leagues may not have been up to the standard of ...

The immigration of young men and families to (what is now) Canada has been a major a feature in the history of Ulster dating back to the 18 th Century. Such was the Ulster-influence on Canada, that in the 1920s the rate of membership of the Orange Order in Newfoundland was almost double that in Northern Ireland! There were of course many reasons for the movement of so many people across the Atlantic, though mainly those were religious and/or economic. As a British Dominion, Canada was of course fertile ground for football as it established itself as the UK’s favourite sport. Indeed, in 1859 one of the earliest reported games there saw a team of Irishmen take on members of the St. George’s Society in Toronto – two decades before football had been formally organised back on the Auld Sod . Due to the vastness of Canada, the organisation of football was on a regional/provincial/territorial basis. Teams that toured to the British Isles in 1888 and 1891 , though dubbed Canada, were selec...

THOMAS ‘BUD’AHERNE - Part Three By Gavan Bergin (Click for Part 1 - Part 2  - Part 3 ) “Bud will always be remembered as one of the greats” (The Limerick Leader) Luton Town captain Bud Aherne and the Barcelona skipper swap flowers before the 1956 game between the teams in Spain. On September 21st 1949, in front of a 50,000 crowd at Goodison Park, Liverpool, England played the Republic of Ireland at home for the first time. England had won the only other match between the two sides, in Dublin in 1946, and since then they had lost only one match at home. So, when the Republic of Ireland team walked out onto the windswept Goodison Park pitch in September '49, they were very much the underdogs.  And as soon as the match started, Ireland was in deep trouble. From the kick-off, England played the ball to their star forward, Tom Finney, who broke down the left wing then played a perfect cross into the Irish box for his centre-forward, Jessie Pye, who should ...

Graphic includes a number of guesses, particularly pre-1931. If you can provide any corrections or further details, please get in touch. 

Name: Born: 17 August 1935, Belfast Died: 9 September 2015, South Australia Height:  Weight:  Position: Inside-Right Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 1 Amateur Cap (1958) ; Irish FA Representative (1958) ; Irish League: B Division Representative (1957). Club Honours:  (with Linfield) Irish Cup Runner-Up 1957/58 ;   Gold Cup Winner 1957/58 ; Intermediate Cup Winner 1955/56, 1956/57 . Club Career: Teams Seasons Signed Fee League FA Cup FL Cup Europe Other Ballymena United - - - - - - - - Linfield 54/5 - 57/8 May-54 Amateur - - - - - Portadown 58/9 May-58 Amateur - - - - - Fulham - Mar-59 £4...