Florrie Burke (7 August 1918 – 24 April 1995) was an 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 ...

who played for Cork United, Cork Athletic and

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 champ ...

. He also played for both

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and 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 ...

. Burke was raised in the

Ballintemple, Cork Ballintemple () is a suburb of Cork city, Ireland. The village is situated on the east side of the city with its limits extending to the River Lee and the village of Blackrock further to the east. Originally, Ballintemple was a separate village ...

and was a talented junior hurler, playing with

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with trill ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Burke played for a very successful Cork United team. His United teammates included, among others, Jack O'Reilly, Bill Hayes, Owen Madden, Jackie O'Driscoll,

Frank O'Farrell Francis O'Farrell (9 October 1927 – 6 March 2022) was an Irish football player and manager. He played as a wing half for Cork United, West Ham United and Preston North End. He made over 300 appearances in the Football League before joining ...

and

Tommy Moroney Tommy Moroney (10 November 1923 – 2 May 1981) was an Irish soccer and rugby union player. Moroney played soccer for Cork United, West Ham United, Evergreen United and Ireland. In 1949 he was a member of the Ireland team that defeated Englan ...

. Burke helped United win several

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

titles and in 1942 they won an FAI Cup / League double. On 17 October 1951, while playing for Cork Athletic, he also helped

to a 3-2 win against

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known ...

. Despite playing a starring role in the game, this was Burke's only international cap. He subsequently joined Evergreen United after a contract dispute and in 1953 played for them in the first all-Cork FAI Cup final against Athletic.Bionicbohs
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Honours

Cork United *

**''Winners'' 1942, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1951 5 * FAI Cup **''Winners'' 1942, 1947 2 *

League of Ireland Shield The League of Ireland Shield ( ga, Sciath Sraithe na hÉireann) is a defunct Irish football tournament which was introduced when the League of Ireland started in 1921 and ran uninterrupted until 1972. It was played before the league season began ...

**''Winners'' 1943, 1948 2 * Munster Senior Cup **''Winners'' 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947 4 Cork Athletic *

**''Winners'' 1950 1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Florrie 1918 births 1995 deaths Association footballers from Cork (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Ireland (FAI) men's international footballers League of Ireland players Cork United F.C. (1940–1948) players Cork Athletic F.C. players League of Ireland XI players Blackrock National Hurling Club hurlers Men's association football defenders