Albert Edward O'Hara (28 October 1935 – 10 October 2016) was a Scottish 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

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He won the 1956–57 Scottish Cup with Falkirk before moving to Everton in a double transfer with

Alex Parker Alexander Hershaw Parker (2 August 1935 – 7 January 2010) was a Scottish football player and manager. Parker played for Falkirk, Everton and Scotland, amongst others. Parker was named in Falkirk's ''Team of the Millennium'' and Everton's H ...

. He also played for Rotherham United, Morton, Barnsley and Bloemfontein City. He was capped by Scotland at age group level."Bairns mourn passing of another 1957 Falkirk cup hero" Falkirk Herald, 16 October 2016
/ref>Obituary – Eddie O'Hara, footballer and winger in Falkirk's 1957 cup-winning squad
/ref>

Falkirk

O'Hara's footballing talent was obvious from early years and played for Scotland Schoolboys. He attracted attention playing for Shettleston with several senior clubs interested in the speedy teenager. He signed for Falkirk where he competed for the winger positions with

Willie Sinclair William Mearns Sinclair (born 14 October 1934 in Coatbridge) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Aberdeen, Falkirk, Huddersfield Town, Tranmere Rovers, Halifax Town and Stirling Albion. In the early 196 ...

and Tommy Murray. The mercurial O'Hara played a huge role in Falkirk's run to win the 1957 Scottish Cup. The Scotland Under 23 selectors chose four Falkirk players for the squad to play Netherlands at Tynecastle on 23 October 1957. The four were O'Hara, Alex Parker, Jimmy McIntosh and Bert Slater (Reserve. The Scots won 4–1 with O'Hara impressing. O'Hara earned two more Under 23 caps. Significantly one was against England at Everton's

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...

in a 3–1 defeat (the other was in a 2-1 Dutch victory in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

). From that Scotland side O'Hara, Parker, Alex Young and Alex Scott all moved to the Merseyside club not long afterwards. Parker was the outstanding talent in the Falkirk team and his move to a bigger club was considered inevitable. Everton moved in with an £18,000 fee to sign Parker and O'Hara in a double swoop in Summer 1958.

Everton

Parker thrived at Everton and was an important part of their 1962-62 Football League Championship win (as was Young and to a lesser extent Scott who arrived late in the championship winning season). O'Hara though found the challenge at Goodison more difficult. He played in 29 league games for The Toffees in which he scored twice before leaving in season 1959/60.

Rotherham United

He joined Rotherham where he scored 3 goals in the 20 league games he played in until the summer of 1961 scoring three goals in his 20 league games.

Morton

He returned to Scotland and played a season with Morton scoring five goals in the 29 league games he played.

Barnsley

O'Hara returned to South Yorkshire to end his UK career at Barnsley between 1962 and '65. At Oakwell he played on either wing scoring 36 League goals in a league career of 127 matches.

Bloemfontein City

He then played in South Africa for Bloemfontein City in the National Football League during the

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

era. The NFL in the 1960s and 70s offered a final pay-day for UK players late in their careers. Many went to South Africa in the close season and guested for clubs. FIFA had banned clubs, but not individual players, from playing in South Africa. He played in South Africa for Bloemfontein City, Westview Apollon and Port Elizabeth City.Soccer Through the Years 1862-2002 by Peter Raath () O'Hara was flown from South Africa by the Falkirk Senior Bairns to attend the 50th Anniversary Dinner for the surviving cup-winners in 2007.

Death

O'Hara died on 10 October 2016 at the age of 80 after a lengthy illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OHara, Eddie 1935 births 2016 deaths Scottish footballers Glasgow United F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Everton F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Association football wingers Footballers from Glasgow Scotland under-23 international footballers Scottish expatriates in South Africa Port Elizabeth City F.C. players