United front for Irish stars
QUESTIONWhich British soccer club has had the most Irish players through the years? BEYOND any doubt, the greatest number of Irish soccer players have been with Manchester United, 65 in all.
The first Irishman to play for what was then known as the Newtown Heath club was John Peden, who came from Lisburn, Co. Antrim. He played for them for a year, from 1893 until 1894. The club didn’t change its name to Manchester United until 1902; it moved to Old Trafford in 1910.
From John Peden’s time right up to the present day, a total of 31 players from what is now Northern Ireland have played for Manchester United and its predecessor club, Newtown Heath.
Of all the Northern Irish players with the club over the years, undoubtedly the most outstanding were Jackie Blanchflower from Belfast (1951-1958), Harry Gregg from Derry (1957-1968), and George Best from Belfast, who played for the club from 1962 to 1974 and who was the most outstanding player from the North to play for the Manchester club.
In recent years, Northern players to have joined the club have included David Healy from Co. Down (1999-2001), Roy Carroll, from Co. Fermanagh (2001-2005) and Jonny Evans from Belfast (2006-2015).
The south of Ireland has supplied slightly more players to Manchester United, 34 in total.
The first soccer player from what is now the Republic to join Manchester United was Dubliner Patrick O’Connell, who played for the club between 1914 and 1919. Subsequently, he spent most of his career in Spain, where he managed Barcelona FC.
During the 1930s, Manchester United had four players who came from this part of Ireland – Dubliners Billy Behan, David Byrne and Johnny Carey, and Tommy Breen from Drogheda.
After the Second World War, the first player from the Republic to join the club was Sonny Feehan from Dublin, who signed up in 1948. During the 1950s, the most celebrated Irish player was John Giles, from Cabra, Dublin, who played for the club between 1957 and 1963. Another Irish player for United was the tragic Liam Whelan, also from Cabra, who showed exceptional promise.
He joined Manchester United in 1953 and was one of the players killed in the Munich air disaster in 1958. During the 1960s, a roll call of greats from the south of Ireland signed for Manchester United, including Shay Brennan, Noel Cantwell, Pat Dunne and Don Givens.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Irish stars at the club included Kevin Moran (1978-1988), Anthony Whelan (1980-1983), Frank Stapleton (1981-1987), Paul McGrath (1982-1989) and Liam O’Brien (1986-1988).
The two most notable signings in the 1990s were Denis Irwin, from Cork, who joined in 1990 and stayed until 2002, and an even more famous player from Cork, Roy Keane, who signed in 1993 and stayed until 2005. More recent players with Irish connections have included Robbie Brady, Darron Gibson and Michael Keane. So many Irish players, from north and south, have joined Manchester United over the past century that their skills have been a key component of the club’s success. Ireland has also supplied four of the club’s captains: Patrick O’Connell (captain from 19151917); Johnny Carey (1945-1953); Noel Cantwell (1962-1967, co-captain with Denis Law, 1964-1967) and Roy Keane (1997- 2005).
The cross-channel club with the next biggest tally of Irish players is Glasgow Celtic which, since 1893, has had 43 Irish players.
Of those, 13 have come from the North, with the remainder from the south. The club has had three Irish captains – Seán Fallon (19521953); Bertie Peacock (1957- 61) and Neil Lennon (2005-2007). Both Peacock and Lennon came from the North.
No.3 on the list is Liverpool FC, which, since 1894, has had ten players from the North and 18 from the south. The first southern player to join was Bill Lacey from Co. Wexford, who signed up in 1914. Much more recent players of note, all with southern links, have been John Aldridge, Steve Staunton, Ray Houghton, Phil Babb, Jason McAteer and Robbie Keane.
Liverpool FC has had one Irish captain, Ronnie Whelan from Dublin (1988-1989 and a shared captaincy from 1990 to 1991). Dominic Burton, via email.
QUESTIONDid Britain’s lighthouses remain operational during the Second World War? THE lights on many lighthouses were extinguished during the Second World War, some were left on intermittently and many were merely dimmed.
Lights nearer population centres were viewed with suspicion by local communities and the RAF. Not only were the lights believed to guide the Luftwaffe to town, but in the day, distinctive white towers could be used as markers.
Consequently, many lighthouses had to be camouflaged, such as St Anthony’s, South Foreland, Start Point in Devon, Hurst Point in Hampshire and Gorleston in Norfolk. At Hunstanton in Norfolk and Winterton in Lincolnshire, the lights were turned into look-out posts.
A number of lighthouses were demolished, including Littlehampton in West Sussex in 1940. The Formby lighthouse on Merseyside was demolished in 1940, because it could direct German bombers heading for Liverpool.
The poor lighthouse keeper at Scurdie Ness, a famous lighthouse near Montrose, had to personally paint the whole tower black so that it would not also provide a day mark for the enemy.
Trinity House, the General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, played an important role during the war. It kept sea lanes marked and lighted for Allied convoys. The Pilotage Service guided ships to their ports under hazardous conditions, notably at Dunkirk.
Trinity House laid 73 lighted buoys and two light vessels to indicate a safe route for the D-Day landings, with Trinity House pilots responsible for all commercial vessels and many of the service vessels. Those who lost their lives are commemorated on a memorial in Trinity Square, London. Ken Wilson, Aldeburgh, Suffolk.