David Lyner (9 January 1893 – 5 December 1973) was a Northern Irish

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 an

outside 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 ...

for various clubs in Northern Ireland, England and Scotland in the 1910s and 1920s, including

Distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

Career

Club career

Born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Lyner began his career with local club Owen O'Cork before moving across town to play for

. Then, at the age of 19, he moved to another Belfast club,

, where he spent a full 10 seasons, playing in 288 league matches and scoring 53 goals. His brother Roly was a teammate at the club.05 January 1910 (International Trial Match) Wednesday, 5th January 1910 Home Irish 3-1 Anglo Irish
Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats, 17 September 2016 Although he was now 29 years old, Lyner had obviously impressed enough to warrant a transfer to England's

, who had just been 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 ...

. Signed in August 1922, Lyner made his debut for United on 23 September 1922, playing in a 2–0 away defeat to

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

. He also played in the club's next two games, a 2–1 home win over Coventry City on 30 September and a 2–1 home defeat to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

on 7 October, but, having failed to make a decent impression, these were to be his only appearances for Manchester United, and he was transferred to

in December 1922. The 1924–25 season was quite eventful for Lyner. After starting the season at Kilmarnock, he moved back to Northern Ireland to play for

Queen's Island Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a large-scale waterfront regeneration, comprising historic maritime landmarks, film studios, education facilities, apartments, a riverside entertainment district, and the world's largest Titanic ...

. He then moved to Dundela, another Belfast side, before joining Scotland's

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

for the end of the season, taking his total of clubs for 1924–25 to four. He then spent a brief stint with Wales' Mid Rhondda in the 1925–26 season, before joining New Brighton for the 1926–27 season. The 1927–28 season saw Lyner return to Northern Ireland for the last time, joining Glentoran, before he spent his final season with Queen's Island. He retired from football at the end of the 1928–29 season, at the age of 36.

International career

Lyner's international career began in 1919, when he was selected for Ireland's first two matches of the 1920 British Home Championship, against

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 ...

on 25 October 1919, and against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 14 February 1920. The matches finished at 1–1 and 2–2 respectively. He then played in the matches against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and Wales in the 1922 British Home Championship, losing 2–1 to Scotland and drawing 1–1 with Wales. Lyner's involvement in the

1923 British Home Championship Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

spanned his time with two different clubs: when he played in Ireland's 2–0 away defeat to England, he was a Manchester United player, but by the time of his only win with the Irish team, a 3–0 away win over Wales, he had signed for Kilmarnock.

Honours

;Glentoran *

Irish Football League 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 ...

(2): 1912–13, 1920–21 *

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

(2): 1913–14, 1916–17

References

External links

Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk

at MUFCInfo.com

at Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyner, David 1893 births 1973 deaths Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Irish association footballers (before 1923) Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Lisburn Distillery F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Clydebank F.C. (1914) players New Brighton A.F.C. players Mid Rhondda F.C. players Dundela F.C. players Men's association football forwards Ireland (IFA) men's wartime international footballers