Eddie Bailham (8 May 1941 in Dublin – 18 December 2016) was an Irish football player. After an apprenticeship at

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 ...

the same time as Johnny Giles he returned home to play for

Home Farm F.C. Home Farm Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Whitehall, Dublin. It was founded in 1928. The club joined the League of Ireland in 1972 after merging with Drumcondra. Following this merger they were briefly known as Home ...

In August 1959 he signed for

Cork Hibernians Cork Hibernians F.C. were an Irish football club based in Cork. They played in the League of Ireland between 1957 and 1976 and, from 1962, played their home games at Flower Lodge. In 1971, they were League of Ireland champions. History The ...

. He joined

Shamrock Rovers F.C. Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most suc ...

in 1960 and as a striker was top scorer in the League of Ireland on two occasions, 1961–62 and 1963-64. On 20 August 1962 Bailham scored his only headed goal for the Hoops in a 5-5 draw against

Drumcondra F.C. Drumcondra Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Drumcondra, Dublin. Once one of the most successful clubs in Ireland in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, with a strong rivalry with Shamrock Rovers since the 1920s, they fell ...

In February 1963 he scored four times as Rovers hammered

Bohemian F.C. Bohemian Football Club ( ga, an Cumann Peile Bóihéamach), more commonly referred to as Bohemians or Bohs, is a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. Bohemians compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland, and are the ...

7-1 at

Glenmalure Park Glenmalure Park, often simply known as Milltown, was a football stadium on the Southside of Dublin city in Ireland. Located in the suburb of Milltown, it was home to Shamrock Rovers from 1926 to 1987, when it was sold to property developers ...

. In August 1963 he scored a hat trick of penalties in a 4-1 win over

Limerick F.C. Limerick Football Club ( ga, Club Peile Luimnigh) was an association football club based in Limerick, Ireland who played in the League of Ireland and currently have teams competing in the underage National League of Ireland. The first Limerick ...

Played 5 times in European competition for the Milltown club. Scored 49 league and 12

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

goals in the Hoops. Eddie had a "glorious representative debut" scoring for the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

in the 2-1 defeat of an

English League XI The English Football League XI was a representative side of the Football League. The team regularly played against the Scottish Football League XI and other national league select teams between 1891 and 1976. For a long period the annual fixture b ...

in October 1963 He scored 4 goals in 4 total Inter-League appearances between 1962 and 1964. He won his one and only senior cap for the Republic of Ireland on 24 May 1964 in a 3-1 defeat to England at Dalymount Park. Scored a hat-trick in his last game for the Hoops on 27 September 1964. Emigrated to London shortly after but as he was still technically a Shamrock Rovers player he could not sign for an English league team. So he joined

Cambridge City F.C. Cambridge City Football Club is a association football, football club based in Cambridgeshire, England who currently play in the . Formed in 1908 as Cambridge Town F.C. in Cambridge, they played their home games at the City Ground (Cambridge), ...

and also had spells at Worcester F.C. and

Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English football club formed in Wimbledon, south-west London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Centrals, the club were a non-League team for most of their history. ...

He was the Southern League Premier Division top scorer in 1965-66 with 37 goals. He died in December 2016.FAI website
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Honours

* League of Ireland **

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

- 1964 *

: 2 **

- 1962, 1964 * League of Ireland Shield **

- 1964 *

Leinster Senior Cup (football) The Leinster Senior Cup is an association football cup competition organized by the Leinster Football Association. It is currently contested by LFA affiliated League of Ireland clubs, Leinster Senior League Senior Division clubs and invited teams ...

- 1963/64 *

Dublin City Cup The Dublin City Cup is a defunct Irish football tournament which was played for by all League of Ireland sides (and not just those from Dublin city as the name suggests). It ran from 1933 and ran uninterrupted until 1973. In the 1975–76 se ...

- 1963/64

Sources

* ''The Hoops'' by Paul Doolan and Robert Goggins ()

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailham, Eddie Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Home Farm F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Cambridge City F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players League of Ireland players 1941 births 2016 deaths Cork Hibernians F.C. players League of Ireland XI players Manchester United F.C. players Men's association football forwards