| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James McIlroy[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1931-10-25)25 October 1931[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Lambeg, Northern Ireland[1] | ||
| Date of death | 20 August 2018(2018-08-20) (aged 86) | ||
| Position | Forward/Attacking Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1949–1950 | Glentoran | 18 | (8) |
| 1950–1963 | Burnley | 439 | (116) |
| 1963–1965 | Stoke City | 98 | (16) |
| 1965–1967 | Oldham Athletic | 39 | (1) |
| Total | 576 | (141) | |
| International career | |||
| 1951–1965 | Northern Ireland | 55 | (10) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1966–1968 | Oldham Athletic | ||
| 1970 | Bolton Wanderers | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
James McIlroyMBE (25 October 1931 – 20 August 2018) was aNorthern Ireland internationalfootballer, who played forGlentoran,Burnley,Stoke City andOldham Athletic. He was regarded as one of Burnley's greatest players, having played 497 matches and scoring 131 goals.[1][2] McIlroy alsomanaged Oldham Athletic andBolton Wanderers.
McIlroy was born inLambeg,County Antrim and he was introduced to football at an early age as his father, Harry played forLisburn Distillery and his uncle, Willie played forPortadown.[2] After leaving school McIlroy played forGlentoran before joiningBurnley in March 1950 for £7,000. He soon cemented his reputation as one of the finest scheming inside forwards sinceWorld War II.[2] He was dubbed as the 'Brain' of Burnley and was a very composed passer of the ball only releasing it when he was sure of finding a teammate. His neat footwork made him a crowd favourite atTurf Moor and indeed for theNorthern Ireland national team where he made 55 caps.[2] He helped Burnley win theFirst Division in1959–60 and reach the FA Cup Final in1962, losing 3–1 toTottenham Hotspur. After 497 matches for the "Clarets" scoring 131 goals, McIlroy was allowed to leave forStoke City for a cut price £25,000, which came as a shock to the Burnley fans who branded chairmanBob Lord 'insane'.[2]
McIlroy joinedTony Waddington's Stoke who at the time had a collection of experienced veterans with the likes ofStanley Matthews,Dennis Viollet,Jackie Mudie andDon Ratcliffe.[2] He arrived at Stoke with the side top of the table but his debut for Stoke was a disaster as Stoke crashed to a 6–0 defeat atNorwich City.[2] Regardless Stoke continued their push for promotion and with McIlroy's intelligent passing featuring heavily they claimed theSecond Division title in1962–63.[2] He scored 12 goals in1963–64 as Stoke established themselves in the top tier, he also played in the1964 League Cup Final as Stoke lost 4–3Leicester City.[2] His final match for the "Potters" was against Burnley on 27 December 1965 leaving to become manager ofOldham Athletic.[2]
In January 1966 he moved into management after being recruited by new Oldham Athletic chairmanKen Bates. With Oldham struggling at the foot of theThird Division, Oldham paid Stoke £5,000 so that they could register McIlroy as a player again. He signed several former Stoke City team-mates, includingBill Asprey,Alan Philpott,George Kinnell andKeith Bebbington.[2] However McIlroy did not cope well with the pressure of management and resigned after losing 4–0 againstLuton Town on the opening day of the1968–69 season.[2] He returned to Stoke City for a short while as assistant to Waddington before moving toBolton Wanderers as coach and assistant toNat Lofthouse. McIlroy had an 18-day spell in charge after Lofthouse's departure but resigned after just two matches on principle after being told by the board to sell players.[2]
He retired to theBurnley area and was a regular attender ofBurnley home matches. He was givenFreedom of the BoroughBurnley in December 2008[3] and was given a testimonial match by Burnley in 2009.[4]
McIlroy was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2011 New Years Honours List for services to football and to charity,[5][6] and arranged to receive the honour at Burnley'sTurf Moor ground rather than at Buckingham Palace.[7]
In April 2015, the feature-length documentary Spirit of '58 was screened as part of the Belfast Film Festival. It featured Jimmy McIlroy prominently alongside the other surviving players (Billy Bingham,Peter McParland,Billy Simpson andHarry Gregg) as it told the story of Northern Ireland's journey throughout the 1950s under the managership ofPeter Doherty, culminating in the 1958 World Cup.[8]
McIlroy died on 20 August 2018 at the age of 86.[9] In a statement Burnley called him "our greatest ever player."[9]
Burnley's stadium,Turf Moor, has a stand named in McIlroy's honour.[4] The stadium's eastern stand was rebuilt in the late 1990s after the Beehole End was demolished and was named the "Jimmy McIlroy Stand".
| Club | Season | Division | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other[A] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Burnley | 1950–51 | First Division | 30 | 5 | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 31 | 5 | |
| 1951–52 | First Division | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 28 | 4 | ||
| 1952–53 | First Division | 38 | 11 | 3 | 1 | – | 0 | 0 | 41 | 12 | ||
| 1953–54 | First Division | 40 | 17 | 3 | 1 | – | 0 | 0 | 43 | 18 | ||
| 1954–55 | First Division | 40 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 41 | 3 | ||
| 1955–56 | First Division | 24 | 4 | 5 | 1 | – | 0 | 0 | 29 | 5 | ||
| 1956–57 | First Division | 40 | 13 | 5 | 3 | – | 0 | 0 | 45 | 16 | ||
| 1957–58 | First Division | 36 | 16 | 3 | 3 | – | 0 | 0 | 39 | 19 | ||
| 1958–59 | First Division | 40 | 6 | 5 | 1 | – | 0 | 0 | 45 | 7 | ||
| 1959–60 | First Division | 32 | 6 | 6 | 1 | – | 0 | 0 | 38 | 7 | ||
| 1960–61 | First Division | 33 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 48 | 13 | |
| 1961–62 | First Division | 36 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 16 | |
| 1962–63 | First Division | 22 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 6 | |
| Total | 439 | 116 | 50 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 497 | 131 | ||
| Stoke City | 1962–63 | Second Division | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 6 |
| 1963–64 | First Division | 32 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 12 | |
| 1964–65 | First Division | 31 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 1 | |
| 1965–66 | First Division | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |
| Total | 98 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 116 | 19 | ||
| Oldham Athletic | 1965–66 | Third Division | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 1966–67 | Third Division | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 1 | |
| 1967–68 | Third Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 39 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 1 | ||
| Career Total | 576 | 133 | 58 | 16 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 655 | 151 | ||
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| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Oldham Athletic | 1 January 1966 | 1 August 1968 | 122 | 46 | 26 | 50 | 037.70 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 1 November 1970 | 19 November 1970 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 000.00 |
| Total | 124 | 46 | 26 | 52 | 037.10 | ||
Source:[11]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | 1951 | 2 | 0 |
| 1952 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1953 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1954 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1955 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1956 | 3 | 1 | |
| 1957 | 7 | 2 | |
| 1958 | 10 | 3 | |
| 1959 | 3 | 1 | |
| 1960 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1961 | 6 | 3 | |
| 1962 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1963 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1964 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 55 | 10 | |
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Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 October 1956 | Belfast, Northern Ireland |  England | 1–1 | 1957 British Home Championship |
| 2 | 1 May 1957 | Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Portugal | 3–0 | 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 6 November 1957 | London, UK | England | 3–2 | 1958 British Home Championship |
| 4 | 15 January 1958 | Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Italy | 2–1 | 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 5 | 15 October 1958 | Madrid, Spain |  Spain | 2–6 | Friendly match |
| 6 | 5 November 1958 | Glasgow, Scotland |  Scotland | 2–2 | 1959 British Home Championship |
| 7 | 22 April 1959 | Wrexham, Wales |  Wales | 4–1 | 1959 British Home Championship |
| 8 | 3 May 1961 | Athens, Greece |  Greece | 1–2 | 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 9 | 10 May 1961 | West Berlin, Germany |  West Germany | 1–2 | 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 10 | 22 November 1961 | London, UK | England | 1–1 | 1962 British Home Championship |
Burnley
Stoke City
