 McIlroy in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Samuel Baxter McIlroy[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1954-08-02)2 August 1954 (age 70)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1969–1971 | Manchester United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1971–1982 | Manchester United | 342 | (57) |
| 1982–1985 | Stoke City | 133 | (14) |
| 1985–1986 | Manchester City | 13 | (1) |
| 1986 | Örgryte | 7 | (0) |
| 1986–1989 | Bury | 100 | (8) |
| 1988 | →VfB Mödling (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| 1989–1991 | Preston North End | 20 | (0) |
| 1991–1993 | Northwich Victoria | 8 | (0) |
| Total | 629 | (81) | |
| International career | |||
| 1972–1987 | Northern Ireland | 88 | (5) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1992–1993 | Northwich Victoria | ||
| 1993–2000 | Macclesfield Town | ||
| 2000–2003 | Northern Ireland | ||
| 2003–2004 | Stockport County | ||
| 2005–2011 | Morecambe[note 1] | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Samuel Baxter McIlroyMBE (born 2 August 1954) is a Northern Irish retiredfootballer who played forManchester United,Stoke City,Manchester City,Örgryte (Sweden),Bury,VfB Mödling (Austria),Preston North End and theNorthern Ireland national team.[1][3]
After playing, he managed several English football teams and theNorthern Ireland national team, gaining most success withMacclesfield Town. He was most recently the manager of Football League Two sideMorecambe, which he helped guide to theEnglish Football League for the first time in their history.
McIlroy was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the1986 Birthday Honours for services to association football.[4]
McIlroy was born inBelfast and moved to English clubManchester United in 1969 becomingMatt Busby's final signing. He made his debut on 6 November 1971 in theManchester derby againstManchester City scoring in a 3–3 draw. He drifted in and out of the side and played in 31 matches in1973–74 as Manchester United suffered a rare relegation. He was an ever-present in1974–75 playing in all of the club's 51 fixtures as they gained an instant return to the First Division. On their return they finished in third place and also reached the1976 FA Cup final where they lost 1–0 toSouthampton.[3]
A year later, McIlroy picked up a winner's medal as United triumphed 2–1 againstLiverpool. A runners-up medal in the FA Cup followed two years after that as Manchester United were defeated 3–2 byArsenal, with McIlroy equalising for United having been 2–0 down, only forAlan Sunderland to dramatically win it for Arsenal minutes afterwards. After spending ten seasons atOld Trafford making 419 appearances scoring 71 goals he left forStoke City in February 1982.[3]
Stoke City paid Manchester United a club record fee of £350,000 for McIlroy on 2 February 1982.[3] He arrived at Stoke with the club in deep relegation trouble in1981–82 and he played in 18 matches as Stoke avoided the drop by two points.[3] In1982–83 Stoke had a solid midfield with McIlroy playing alongside former Manchester United team-mateMickey Thomas,Mark Chamberlain andPaul Bracewell and the side finished in a mid-table position of 13th in1982–83.[3] However the1983–84 season saw Stoke struggle again and McIlroy and the returningAlan Hudson helped Stoke stage a revival which saw they stay up by two points. In1984–85 Stoke suffered an embarrassing relegation going down with a then record low points tally of 17 with McIlroy winning theplayer of the year award.[3] He was handed a free transfer in the summer of 1985 and McIlroy went on to play atManchester City in the 1985–86 season, Swedish clubÖrgryte IS in 1986,Bury from 1986 to 1989 andPreston North End from 1989 to 1991. McIlroy's last club as a player was withNorthwich Victoria from 1991 to 1993.
As a player forNorthern Ireland McIlroy won 88caps and scored 5 goals. He played in all of the country's matches during both the1982 World Cup, where Northern Ireland defeated the host nationSpain and advanced to the second round, and the1986 World Cup in which he captained the team. He was also part of the Northern Ireland side which won thefinal Home Internationals Championship.[5]
McIlroy began his managerial career asplayer-coach underJohn McGrath atPreston North End in 1991. He then went on to managenon-league teamAshton United andNorthwich Victoria before joiningMacclesfield Town for six and a half seasons, culminating in their promotion tothe Football League in 1997.
McIlroy arrived at the Moss Rose in 1993 replacing Peter Wragg who had narrowly avoided relegation the previous season. McIlroy's first season at the Moss Rose saw a very creditable seventh-place finish plus silverware in the shape of the Bob Lord Trophy. His second season surpassed all expectations as his skilful and flowing football brought the Silkmen a conference title, only to be denied promotion to the Football League thanks to ground regulations. The following season brought more silver to the club as the Silkmen beatNorthwich Victoria 3–1 at Wembley to win the club's second FA Trophy. But the ultimate prize of League football was still elusive as the club finished fourth in the pre-play-off Conference. 1996–97 was a red letter season for the Silkmen as a final day, 4–1 victory overKettering Town secured promotion to the Football League for the first time in 120 years. The success continued the following year and 1997–98 began well with a home win over Torquay. The Silkmen finished the season unbeaten at home and were promoted into theFootball League Second Division in second place.
But that promotion was a bridge too far for the rapidly rising club. Facing the might of Manchester City, Fulham, Wigan, Stoke, Reading, Preston and the like, the Silkmen eventually finished bottom of the division, but still achieved 46 points. McIlroy left the Moss Rose in 1999 to take up the position at his own national team.
He managedNorthern Ireland for nearly three years, but the team won only five times in 29 matches, with all of the wins occurring in McIlroy's first year. The side failed to score even a single goal in 8 qualifying matches forEuro 2004, but did achieve a respectable 0–0 draw against Spain. Upon completion of the qualifying matches, McIlroy resigned to re-enter club management withStockport County.[6] He spent just over a year atEdgeley Park which saw him win just 14 matches.[7]
On 17 November 2005, he took over ascaretaker manager ofConference sideMorecambe, stepping in for incumbent managerJim Harvey who had suffered aheart attack.[8] Having guided Morecambe into the Conference play-offs – where they lost 4–3 on aggregate toHereford United, McIlroy was appointed permanent manager in May 2006.[9][10] In his first full season, Morecambe again reached they play-offs where they defeatedExeter City to win promotion tothe Football League in one of the first games played at the newWembley Stadium.[11][12]
McIlroy guided Morecambe to a respectable 11th-place finish in 2007–08, the club's inaugural season in the Football League, as well as leading the side to League Cup scalps against Preston North End and Wolverhampton Wanderers, at Deepdale and Molineux respectively. In 2008–09, McIlroy again secured an 11th-place finish League Two. Morecambe's third season in the Football League saw them surpass their highest ever finishes of the previous two seasons, with McIlroy steering the Shrimps to a 4th-place finish, and participation in the League Two play-off semi-finals. However, a 6–0 capitulation away at eventual winnersDagenham & Redbridge in the first leg rendered the second leg virtually irrelevant, although McIlroy motivated his team to secure a 2–1 victory, in what was the final match to be played at Christie Park, Morecambe's home for 89 years.[13] On 9 May 2011 McIlroy left Morecambe by mutual consent after a 20th-place finish in the league.[14]
On 10 October 2022, McIlroy returned toMacclesfield (the successor to his former club, Macclesfield Town) in a mentoring capacity, to work closely with manager Danny Whitaker.[citation needed]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other[A] | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Manchester United | 1971–72 | First Division | 16 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 4 | ||
| 1972–73 | First Division | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 13 | 1 | |||
| 1973–74 | First Division | 29 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 6 | |||
| 1974–75 | Second Division | 42 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 2 | — | — | 51 | 10 | |||
| 1975–76 | First Division | 41 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 51 | 13 | |||
| 1976–77 | First Division | 40 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 57 | 3 | ||
| 1977–78 | First Division | 39 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 9 | |
| 1978–79 | First Division | 40 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 51 | 8 | |||
| 1979–80 | First Division | 41 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 45 | 8 | |||
| 1980–81 | First Division | 32 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 37 | 6 | ||
| 1981–82 | First Division | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 3 | |||
| Total | 342 | 57 | 38 | 6 | 28 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 419 | 71 | ||
| Stoke City | 1981–82 | First Division | 18 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 18 | 3 | ||||
| 1982–83 | First Division | 41 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 46 | 8 | |||
| 1983–84 | First Division | 40 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 44 | 1 | |||
| 1984–85 | First Division | 34 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 2 | |||
| Total | 133 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 144 | 14 | |||
| Manchester City | 1985–86 | First Division | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 15 | 1 | |
| 1986–87 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 16 | 1 | |||
| Örgryte | 1986 | Allsvenskan | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||||
| Bury | 1986–87 | Third Division | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 15 | 2 | |
| 1987–88 | Third Division | 28 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | 3 | 2 | 38 | 6 | ||
| 1988–89 | Third Division | 45 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 53 | 2 | ||
| 1989–90 | Third Division | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
| Total | 100 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 0 | — | 5 | 2 | 122 | 11 | |||
| VfB Mödling (loan) | 1987–88 | Austrian Bundesliga | 6 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 6 | 1 | ||||
| Preston North End | 1989–90 | Third Division | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |
| Career Total | 621 | 81 | 49 | 7 | 46 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 734 | 98 | ||
Source:[15]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | 1974 | 5 | 0 |
| 1975 | 7 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1977 | 7 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1979 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1980 | 6 | 1 | |
| 1981 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1982 | 12 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 8 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1985 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1986 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 85 | 5 | |
Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 October 1975 | Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Norway | 2–0 | 3–0 | Euro 1976 qualification |
| 2 | 21 September 1977 | Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Iceland | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1978 World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 15 October 1980 | Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Sweden | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1982 World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 28 April 1982 | Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Scotland | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1982 British Home Championship |
| 5 | 13 December 1983 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Scotland | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1984 British Home Championship |
Manchester United
Individual
Macclesfield Town
Morecambe
Individual
Northern Ireland squads | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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