Charles Richard McEleny (3 March 1874 – 1 August 1908) 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 mostly played as a centre half.

Football career

Born in Raymoghy, County Donegal, McEleny moved to Scotland where he first played for Greenock Volunteers before joining Abercorn. He signed for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in November 1893 and played his first match on 4 November in a 3–1 league victory against

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

at Parkhead. McEleny was a strong and powerful centre half and established himself as a first team regular. Charlie was the first ever Irish born player to play for Glasgow Celtic. In November 1895 he signed for English side Burnley where he made 15

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appearances, before returning to Celtic in May 1896. Playing only a year he moved south again to play for New Brighton Tower. In his two spells at Celtic, McEleny played 41 games and scored once. In May 1899, McEleny signed for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

where he played as a half back in his solitary first team appearance before leaving Villa in May 1900. He then joined Swindon Town of the Southern League where he made a total of 48 appearances, scoring twice. He then had a spell at

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

before returning to Scotland with Morton.

Later career and death

On quitting football he worked as a painter/decorator. McEleny died on 1 August 1908 aged 34 at Smithston,

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McEleny, Charlie 1873 births 1908 deaths Irish association footballers (before 1923) Men's association football central defenders Celtic F.C. players Burnley F.C. players New Brighton Tower F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Association footballers from County Donegal Southern Football League players Abercorn F.C. playersbr>Intimations 1901-1909 https://www.inverclyde.gov.uk/assets/attach/5121/Intimations-1901-1909.pdf