James McIlroy (25 October 1931 – 20 August 2018) was a Northern Ireland international footballer, who played for Glentoran, Burnley, Stoke City and Oldham Athletic. He was regarded as one of Burnley's greatest players, having played 497 matches and scoring 131 goals. McIlroy also managed Oldham Athletic and Bolton Wanderers.

Career

Burnley McIlroy was born in Lambeg, County Antrim, and he was introduced to football at an early age as his father, Harry played for Lisburn Distillery and his uncle, Willie played for Portadown. After leaving school McIlroy played for Glentoran before joining Burnley in March 1950 for £7,000. He soon cemented his reputation as one of the finest scheming inside forwards since World War II. 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 at Turf Moor and indeed for the Northern Ireland national team where he made 55 caps. He helped Burnley win the First Division in 1959–60 and reach the FA Cup Final in 1962, losing 3–1 to Tottenham Hotspur. After 497 matches for the "Clarets" scoring 131 goals, McIlroy was allowed to leave for Stoke City for a cut price £25,000, which came as a shock to the Burnley fans who branded chairman Bob Lord 'insane'.

On 4 February 1962 the first issue of The Sunday Times Magazine titled "A sharp glance at the mood of Britain" featured one frame of McElroy in a John Bulmer action pic within a full-bleed 11-frame grid of David Bailey photographs of Jean Shrimpton wearing a Mary Quant outfit.

Stoke City McIlroy joined Tony Waddington's Stoke who at the time had a collection of experienced veterans with the likes of Stanley Matthews, Dennis Viollet, Jackie Mudie and Don Ratcliffe. 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 at Norwich City. Regardless Stoke continued their push for promotion and with McIlroy's intelligent passing featuring heavily they claimed the Second Division title in 1962–63. He scored 12 goals in 1963–64 as Stoke established themselves in the top tier, he also played in the 1964 League Cup Final as Stoke lost 4–3 Leicester City. His final match for the "Potters" was against Burnley on 27 December 1965 leaving to become manager of Oldham Athletic.

Later career In January 1966 he moved into management after being recruited by new Oldham Athletic chairman Ken Bates. With Oldham struggling at the foot of the Third Division, Oldham paid Stoke £5,000 so that they could register McIlroy as a player again. He signed several former Stoke City team-mates, including Bill Asprey, Alan Philpott, George Kinnell and Keith Bebbington. However McIlroy did not cope well with the pressure of management and resigned after losing 4–0 against Luton Town on the opening day of the 1968–69 season. He returned to Stoke City for a short while as assistant to Waddington before moving to Bolton Wanderers as coach and assistant to Nat 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.

After football

He retired to the Burnley area and was a regular attender of Burnley home matches. He was given Freedom of the Borough Burnley in December 2008 and was given a testimonial match by Burnley in 2009.

McIlroy was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 New Years Honours List for services to football and to charity,BBC News and arranged to receive the honour at Burnley's Turf Moor ground rather than at Buckingham Palace.Jimmy McIlroy to receive MBE at Burnley's Turf Moor

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 and Harry Gregg) as it told the story of Northern Ireland's journey throughout the 1950s under the managership of Peter Doherty, culminating in the 1958 World Cup.BBC News

McIlroy died on 20 August 2018 at the age of 86. In a statement Burnley called him "our greatest ever player."

Jimmy McIlroy Stand Burnley's stadium, Turf Moor, has a stand named in McIlroy's honour. The stadium's eastern stand was rebuilt in the late 1990s after the Beehole End was demolished and was named the "Jimmy McIlroy Stand".

Career statistics

Playing career + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonDivisionLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBurnley1950–51First Division30510–003151951–52First Division28400–002841952–53First Division381131–0041121953–54First Division401731–0043181954–55First Division40310–004131955–56First Division24451–002951956–57First Division401353–0045161957–58First Division361633–0039191958–59First Division40651–004571959–60First Division32661–003871960–61First Division331071315148131961–62First Division361581000044161962–63First Division226300000256Total43911650133151497131Stoke City1962–63Second Division1860000001861963–64First Division32943700043121964–65First Division3113020003611965–66First Division170002000190Total9816731100011619Oldham Athletic1965–66Third Division1200000001201966–67Third Division2511010002711967–68Third Division2000100030Total391102000421Career Total576133581616151655151

A.  The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the European Cup and FA Charity Shield.

Managerial career

TeamFromToRecordGWDLWin %Oldham Athletic1 January 19661 August 1968Bolton Wanderers1 November 197019 November 1970Total

International Source:

National teamYearAppsGoalsNorthern Ireland1951201952301953301954301955301956311957721958103195931196030196163196250196310196430Total5510

International goals

Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first. # Date Venue Opponent Result Competition 1 6 October 1956 Belfast, Northern Ireland 1–1 1957 British Home Championship 2 1 May 1957 Belfast, Northern Ireland 3–0 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification 3 6 November 1957 London, UK 3–2 1958 British Home Championship 4 15 January 1958 Belfast, Northern Ireland 2–1 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification 5 15 October 1958 Madrid, Spain 2–6 Friendly match 6 5 November 1958 Glasgow, Scotland 2–2 1959 British Home Championship 7 22 April 1959 Wrexham, Wales 4–1 1959 British Home Championship 8 3 May 1961 Athens, Greece 1–2 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification 9 10 May 1961 West Berlin, Germany 1–2 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification 10 22 November 1961 London, UK 1–1 1962 British Home Championship

Honours Burnley Football League First Division: 1959–60 FA Cup runner-up: 1961–62

Stoke City Football League Second Division: 1962–63 Football League Cup runner-up: 1963–64

References