Johnny Darling (30 October 1877 – 8 February 1946) 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 as a half back and

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 ...

Club career

Born in the Ballymacarret area of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, Darling played youth football for

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 ...

before signing for

Linfield F.C. Linfield Football Club is a Northern Irish professional football club based in south Belfast which plays in the NIFL Premiership – the highest level of the Northern Ireland Football League. The fourth-oldest club on the island of Ireland, Li ...

in 1894. He would make his debut during the 1896-97 season at the age of 19 and would go on to make 497 appearances for the club, winning the Irish League on eight occasions between 1897 and 1914. Darling would also win six

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

s whilst with Linfield, scoring twice in the 1904 Cup Final against

Derry Celtic Derry Celtic Football Club was a football club from Derry, Ireland. The club, formed as St Columb's Hall in 1890, changing to St Columb's Hall Celtic in 1893, and Derry Celtic in 1899, was once the primary team in the city, but was voted out ...

and four goals in the

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was contested ...

final the same season against Belfast Celtic. Darling's playing career would conclude with a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

which earned him close to £300.

Later life

After retiring from football, Johnny Darling would serve as Club President of

Ormiston Ormiston is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, near Tranent, Humbie, Pencaitland and Cranston, located on the north bank of the River Tyne at an elevation of about . The village was the first planned village in Scotland, founded in 1735 ...

and Vice President of Dundela. Outside of the game, Darling was a member of the Star of the East

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

and Vice-President of the East Belfast Working Mens

Temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

Club. He would later own a

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on the Newtownards Road. Darling died on 8 February 1946, and is buried in the Dundonald cemetery in Belfast.

International career

Darling made his

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 ...

debut in a 6-0 defeat 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 ...

at the age of 19 during the 1896-97 British Home Championship. He would make 22 international appearances in total, scoring once, from the penalty spot, against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in 1910, his penultimate international appearance. Darling would captain his country in his final appearance, a 4-1 defeat against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. He would also make 16 appearances for the Irish League representative side, scoring 2 goals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darling, Johnny Irish association footballers (before 1923) NIFL Premiership players Men's association football forwards Northern Ireland men's amateur international footballers Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland 1877 births 1946 deaths Linfield F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players