Gary Blackledge (born 8 April 1958) was a Northern Ireland

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, playing as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, scored 159 goals in just over 200 games for Glentoran. He was

Ronnie McFall Ronald Joseph McFall MBE (born 3 October 1947) is a former football player and former manager of NIFL Premiership sides Glentoran and Portadown. He was most notably manager of hometown club Portadown for 29 years from December 1986 until his ...

's first signing in 1979 when he was transferred to Glentoran from Portadown for £9,000. During his career Blackledge was named by the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association as Player of the Month five times, which was the joint record until 2006.

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* 1958 births Living people Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Men's association football forwards Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Players of the Year NIFL Premiership players Portadown F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Chaumont FC players Glenavon F.C. players Crusaders F.C. players Carrick Rangers F.C. players Expatriate men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Expatriate men's footballers in France {{NorthernIreland-footy-bio-stub