William Anthony O'Neill (born 29 December 1919, date of death unknown) was an Irish 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 le ...

who played as a midfielder.

Club career

O'Neill began his career in his native

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, beginning his career at Glasheen, before playing for Cork City and Cork United. In 1942, O'Neill embarked on a move up north to play for

Belfast Celtic Belfast Celtic Football Club was a football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for polit ...

. O'Neill spent six season at Belfast Celtic playing in the Irish League. During his time at Belfast Celtic, O'Neill scored 38 goals in the 1944–45 season as he finished the season as top scorer."O'Neill for Walsall", ''Burnley Express'', 20 January 1951, p. 9 In 1948, O'Neill moved to

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 ...

, signing for Southern League side Chelmsford City. During his first season in England, O'Neill made 39 appearances in all competitions, scoring 22 times as the ''Clarets'' finished runners up to Gillingham. O'Neill's form at Chelmsford earned him a move to First Division outfit

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 ...

. Whilst at Burnley, O'Neill primarily played for the club's reserve side in the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

, as injuries plagued his time at Burnley. On 2 December 1950, O'Neill made his only first team appearance for Burnley, scoring in a 4–1 defeat away to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. In January 1951, O'Neill signed for

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

. During his time at Walsall, O'Neill scored 16 league goals in 51 games, before returning to Ireland, signing for

Evergreen United Cork Celtic F.C., originally Evergreen United F.C., was an Irish football club based in Cork. They played in the League of Ireland between 1951 and 1979 and played their home games at Turners Cross. In 1974, they were League of Ireland champion ...

in December 1952.

Managerial career

During the

1961–62 League of Ireland Statistics of League of Ireland in the 1961/1962 season. Overview It was contested by 12 teams, and Shelbourne won the championship after beating Cork Celtic 1-0 in a Championship Play-off on 2 May 1962 at Dalymount Park. Shelbourne qualified ...

season, O'Neill returned to former club

Cork Celtic Cork Celtic F.C., originally Evergreen United F.C., was an Irish football club based in Cork. They played in the League of Ireland between 1951 and 1979 and played their home games at Turners Cross. In 1974, they were League of Ireland champi ...

as manager, with whom he formerly played for under the guise of Evergreen United.

Personal life

In 1950, O'Neill married Rita McFerran, who played

camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...

for

Antrim GAA Antrim may refer to: Boats * Antrim 20, an American sailboat design People * Donald Antrim (born 1958), American writer * "Henry Antrim", an alias used by Henry McCarty, better known as Billy the Kid, a 19th-century outlaw * Harry Antrim (188 ...

, at Corpus Christi Church, Whitehall, Dublin."Liam weds", ''Essex Chronicle'', 7 July 1950, p. 8

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:O'Neill, Liam 1919 births Year of death missing Men's association football forwards Association footballers from Cork (city) Belfast Celtic F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Cork United F.C. (1940–1948) players English Football League players Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Walsall F.C. players Southern Football League players Republic of Ireland association football managers