Arthur Fitzsimons (16 December 1929 – 9 May 2018) was an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
player and manager. An
inside forward
Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
,
he notably made over 200 appearances for
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
.
Career
Originally from Penrose Street, in the shadow of
Shelbourne Park, the stadium named after
Shelbourne F.C.
Shelbourne Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Shíol Bhroin) is an Irish association football club based in Drumcondra, Dublin, who play in the League of Ireland Premier Division.
Shelbourne were founded in Dublin in 1895. In 1904 the club join ...
("the Shels", or "the Reds"), their then home ground, Arthur signed with 'the Shels' from the famous schoolboy nursery club,
Johnville F.C.
Already well known for his talent at junior level, the scouts were anxious to see how he would perform at this higher level. So well did he perform with 'the Reds', that it is almost forgotten he played for them only one season, 194849, before being
transferred over
the water. But it was no coincidence that that season was one of the best in the club's history, being in contention until the last match in all four available competitions, finally winning two of them, and finishing runner-up in the others. At the end of the season, he was part of a two-player deal when transferred (with
Peter Desmond) to
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional football club in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium ...
in the English
First Division. He went on to play in 223 games, scoring 49 goals. His teammates included
Brian Clough
Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engl ...
and
Wilf Mannion
Wilfrid James Mannion (16 May 1918 – 14 April 2000) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward, making over 350 senior appearances for Middlesbrough. He also played international football for England. With his blonde ...
.
In the 1960s, his coaching career took him to
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
, where he spent five and a half years in
Tripoli until
Colonel Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
came to power, when he was advised to leave.
In August 1967, he signed for
Drogheda as player-coach, a position he shared with Theo Dunne. In April 1969, his contract was terminated.
In June 1969, he was appointed manager of
Shamrock Rovers, taking over from
Liam Tuohy. Despite beating
FC Schalke 04 in a
1969-70 European Cup Winners' Cup first leg tie, he was fired two months later.
He also played 26 times for the
Republic of Ireland national team, scoring 7 goals.
Later life and death
In 2009, Fitzsimons was inducted into the
Football Association of Ireland Hall of Fame.
He died aged 88 on 9 May 2018.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzsimons, Arthur
1929 births
2018 deaths
Association footballers from Dublin (city)
Republic of Ireland association footballers
Republic of Ireland international footballers
Ireland (FAI) international footballers
Association football forwards
Shelbourne F.C. players
Middlesbrough F.C. players
Lincoln City F.C. players
Mansfield Town F.C. players
English Football League players
League of Ireland managers
Drogheda United F.C. managers
Shamrock Rovers F.C. managers
League of Ireland XI managers
Dublin University A.F.C. coaches
Republic of Ireland football managers
Association football coaches
Republic of Ireland expatriate football managers
Expatriate football managers in Libya
Expatriate sportspeople in Libya