Joseph Gardiner Absolom Bambrick (3 November 1905 – 13 October 1983) was a Northern Irish footballer who played for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

, and Linfield. A former gas worker of medium build, he was a prolific goalscorer in the Irish League and 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 ...

, adept at getting into good scoring positions and athletic enough to make the final touch count. "Head, heel, or toe, slip it to Joe" became a famous catch-phrase when referring to him. His scoring of six goals for

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 ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...

on 1 February 1930 in a 7–0 win, still remains the record score for a British Isles player in an international fixture.

Club career

Irish League

Bambrick began his professional career with

, spending a season there before moving to Belfast rivals Linfield. His scoring record with Linfield was phenomenal: he scored a total of 286 league goals in just 183 games, 50 of these coming in the 1930–31 season, which was the highest in the world that year and a then record in British football. In total that season he managed 96 goals in all competitions, and his overall goal tally for Linfield was 509 goals managed in just 8 years, finishing as Irish League top scorer on four occasions.

Chelsea

On 24 December 1935, Bambrick signed for English side

for a fee of £3,000, making his debut the following day (Christmas Day) against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. He then scored his first goal the day after (Boxing Day) also against Aston Villa at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

. Bambrick scored Chelsea's goal in their highest-attended competitive match at their ground Stamford Bridge. A crowd of 82,905 watched the 1–1 draw with local rivals Arsenal on 12 October 1935. In total, he scored 38 goals in 66 appearances for Chelsea, including four hat-tricks (on two of these occasions he managed four goals).

Walsall

Bambrick gradually fell out of favour, losing the number 9 shirt to George Mills, transferring to

in July 1938 where he spent a season before the outbreak of

World War II 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 ...

led to his retirement. He returned to Linfield as a coach, but Walsall retained his registration and refused to release him to play for Linfield in war-time competitions. He eventually played for Linfield in the 1943

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Foo ...

when he scored his final goal.

International career

Bambrick scored 12 goals in 11 games for

, including six in one game against

. His goal tally ensures that he still ranks as the joint-fourth highest goalscorer for the Northern Ireland national side.

International goals

''Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first. ''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bambrick, Joe 1905 births 1983 deaths Chelsea F.C. players NIFL Premiership players Glentoran F.C. players Linfield F.C. players Association footballers from Northern Ireland Association footballers from Belfast Pre-1950 IFA international footballers Walsall F.C. players Association football forwards English Football League players Northern Ireland amateur international footballers Irish League representative players