Gerald Padua McAloon (13 September 1916 – 13 April 1987) 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 an inside forward in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. He later played for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Career

Early years

An inside forward, McAloon began his career with his hometown

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

junior club St Francis in 1933. He departed the following year.

Brentford

McAloon moved to

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 ...

to sign for

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 ...

club

in June 1934. Well down the forward line pecking order, he played exclusively for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

between 1934 and 1938. McAloon's prolific goalscoring form in the first half of the 1937–38 season, with 18 goals, led manager Harry Curtis to give him his senior debut in a First Division match versus

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

on 26 March 1938, which resulted in a 1–0 win for Brentford. McAloon scored his first goal for the club in the following game (a 6–1 win over Grimsby Town) and he made a significant impact in the Bees' end-of-season run in, scoring five goals in six games to help the club to a second successive sixth-place finish. Brentford's league form was poor during the 1938–39 season and McAloon made 16 appearances, scoring four goals, before departing the club in March 1939. In a year as a first team player at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

, McAloon made 24 appearances and scored 9 goals.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

In March 1939, McAloon joined First Division high-flyers

for a £5,000 fee. He made just two appearances (scoring one goal) before competitive football was suspended due to the outbreak of 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 opposin ...

in September 1939. McAloon departed Molineux in December 1945, after the cessation of hostilities.

Wartime guest appearances

During the Second World War, McAloon guested for Hamilton Academical,

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scotti ...

, Dumbarton, Dunfermline Athletic,

and

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...

. He won the

Lanarkshire Cup The Lanarkshire Cup was an annual competition open to football teams in the Lanarkshire area. The competition is now defunct. List of winners 1879–80 - Stonelaw 1880–81 - Thistle 1881–82 - Hamilton Academical 1882–83 - West Benhar 1883� ...

with Hamilton in 1939, scoring in a 5–1 victory over future club Airdrieonians in the final.

Return to Brentford

McAloon returned to Brentford in December 1945 and scored 23 goals in 27

Football League South The Football League North and Football League South divisions of the Football League were created temporarily for the League to continue through the Second World War while limiting the amount of movement that was required by teams. The leagues star ...

and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

appearances. After four goals and seven appearances early in the 1946–47 First Division season, McAloon departed Brentford once again. Across his two spells at Griffin Park, McAloon scored 18 goals in 37 appearances.

Return to Celtic

On 4 October 1946, McAloon transferred Scottish League Division A club Celtic, in exchange for George Paterson. He had previously guested for the club during the Second World War. Commuting from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to Glasgow for matches, McAloon failed to fully settle at the struggling club, but he finished the 1946–47 season as top scorer, with 15 goals in 24 appearances. He made just two appearances in the 1947–48 season, before departing Parkhead in August 1948.

Belfast Celtic

McAloon signed for high-flying Irish League club

Belfast Celtic Belfast Celtic Football Club was a football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for polit ...

in August 1948. Commuting to Northern Ireland from London was again problematical for McAloon, though he managed 10 goals during the 1948–49 season, at the end of which the club withdrew from the Irish League.

Personal life

After retiring as a footballer, McAloon worked as a janitor at Bridgeton School in Calton. On 13 April 1987, he died of

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...

in Glasgow, at the age of 70.

Honours

Hamilton Academical *

: 1939–40

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAloon, Gerry 1916 births Footballers from Glasgow Scottish men's footballers 1987 deaths English Football League players Men's association football inside forwards Brentford F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. wartime guest players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) wartime guest players Albion Rovers F.C. wartime guest players Dumbarton F.C. wartime guest players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. wartime guest players Celtic F.C. wartime guest players Greenock Morton F.C. wartime guest players Celtic F.C. players Scottish Football League players Belfast Celtic F.C. players NIFL Premiership players People from Gorbals Deaths from hypothermia