Albert McInroy (23 April 1901 – 7 January 1985) was an English professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who played his club football for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

and

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

. He helped Newcastle win the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

and made one appearance for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

Playing career

Early career

McInroy was born in Walton-le-Dale, near

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...

and played as a left-winger as a youth for various teams in Lancashire, including a spell with

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

as an amateur.

Sunderland

He began his professional career, by now playing as a goalkeeper, with

in May 1923. His debut came on 29 September 1923 in a 5–2 victory over

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. Sunderland finished the season in third place in the First Division table. In the following season, McInroy missed only one game and his agility and intelligent football mind made him a first team regular, as he went on to make over 200 appearances for Sunderland over six years. He made his solitary

appearance at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

on 20 October 1926 in a 3–3 draw with

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. His Sunderland teammate

Warney Cresswell Warneford Cresswell (5 November 1897 – 20 October 1973) was an English international footballer who was described as "The Prince of Full Backs" for his renowned tackling and positional skills in the right-back position. In a seventeen-year ca ...

played in front of him at right back. In October 1929 he was surprisingly sold for £2,750 to arch-rivals

Newcastle United

At Newcastle, he quickly established himself as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the country. McInroy was United's first choice 'keeper between 1929 and 1934 making 160 appearances. In 1932, Newcastle reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, played at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

in what became known as the "Over The Line" final. Newcastle won 2–1, both of their goals scored by Jack Allen. Arsenal had led 1–0 with a

Bob John Robert Frederick John (3 February 1899 – 17 July 1982) was a Welsh football player and coach. Born in Barry, John played for Barry Town and Caerphilly, before joining English club Arsenal, who signed him, against stiff competition, in Jan ...

goal, but Newcastle's equaliser came after a long ball had appeared to go over the goal line, and out for a goal kick; Newcastle winger

Jimmy Richardson James Robert Richardson (8 February 1911 – 28 August 1964) was an English footballer, best known for his time playing as a forward for Newcastle United. Club career Richardson joined Newcastle in April 1928 from Blyth Spartans, making his ...

nevertheless crossed the ball back into play and Jack Allen levelled the match for the Magpies. The referee ruled that the ball had not gone out of play, even though photographic evidence later showed that the ball had actually crossed the line, and the goal stood. Allen scored again in the second half to win the match 2–1. As McInroy was at the other end of the pitch, he didn't see the incident clearly but related in an interview with Paul Jannou (Newcastle United's official club historian) that sitting afterwards in an after-game dinner at the

Café Royal A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

David Jack David Bone Nightingale Jack (3 April 1898 – 10 September 1958) was an English footballer who played as an inside forward. He scored 267 goals from 490 appearances in the Football League playing for Plymouth Argyle, Bolton Wanderers and Arsena ...

and

Frank Moss Frank Edward "Ted" Moss (September 23, 1911 – January 29, 2003) was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, he served as a United States Senator from Utah from 1959 to 1977. Early life and education Frank Moss was born in Holladay ...

, two of the Arsenal stars "had no complaints about the goal". He went on to state that all the hullabaloo was created by the media, that the fans and players didn't see it as a controversial incident. He sustained an injury in a 2–0 defeat at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 30 December 1933,Portsmouth 2 Newcastle United 0, 30 December 1933 (Match summary)
/ref> which put him out for the rest of the season. His place was taken by

Bill McPhillips William Pearson McPhillips (6 July 1910 – 1992) was a Scottish professional football goalkeeper who played his club football for Newcastle United. He was in the Newcastle squad that won the FA Cup in 1932. Professional career McPhillips was re ...

, but Newcastle's form then declined and they ended the 1933–34 season being relegated to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. At the end of the season he left the club after getting involved in a dispute with the directors over benefit payments and returned to Sunderland.

Return to Sunderland

He returned to

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland A.F.C. from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; ...

in June 1934, as third choice 'keeper behind

Jimmy Thorpe James Horatio Thorpe (16 September 1913 – 9 February 1936) was an English footballer born in Jarrow. He played 139 games as a goalkeeper for his only club, Sunderland. He signed when he was 17 after attending Jarrow Central School. He had a ...

and Matt Middleton, but after eleven months without making a first team appearance, he moved on to

in June 1935.

Leeds United

At Leeds, newly appointed manager

Billy Hampson Billy Hampson (26 August 1882 – 24 February 1966) was an English football player and manager. Hampson was born in Radcliffe, Lancashire and was the brother of footballers Tommy and Walker Hampson. He played for Rochdale, Bury and Norwic ...

immediately opted for experience with former England internationals like 34-year-old McInroy in goal and 32-year-old

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * G ...

from

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

in attack. After two seasons at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

in which Leeds finished in mid-table in the First Division, McInroy moved to

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

of the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

, where he played on until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He subsequently became a publican in the North East, including running "The Crown" in Gateshead, which at the time was the largest pub in

. He also had the "Havelock" in

Houghton-le-Spring Houghton-le-Spring ( ) is a town in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, North East England which has its recorded origins in Norman times. Historically in County Durham, it is now administered as part of the Tyne and Wear county. It is s ...

and the "Baccus" in Newcastle.

Honours

;

winner:

References

External links

*
England profileFull details of Sunderland careerFull details of Newcastle United career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcinroy, Albert 1901 births 1985 deaths People from Walton-le-Dale English footballers England international footballers English Football League players Sunderland A.F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Association football goalkeepers Great Harwood F.C. players FA Cup Final players