John McMahon, nicknamed Johnny, 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 le ...

during the 1920s and 1930s. McMahon who was born in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

is a

Bohemian F.C. Bohemian Football Club ( ga, an Cumann Peile Bóihéamach), more commonly referred to as Bohemians or Bohs, is a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. Bohemians compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland, and are the ...

legend and was a goalscoring central defender in the All-Conquering Bohs team of 1927/28. He won a full international cap 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 ...

in 1933 against Scotland.

Before Bohemians

Johnny first came to prominence as a youngster with St. Eugenes in his native Derry with whom he played for from 1916 until 1922. He was lost to football for a few years after he moved to Dublin in 1922 where he joined the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

. During this time, he played

Gaelic Football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

for

Garda GAA Garda GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, founded in 1922. They are the GAA representative team of the Garda Síochána. Garda have won the Dublin Senior Football Championship on six occasions in 1927, ...

and reached the Dublin County Championship Final in 1923 where they lost by a point to O'Tooles.

Bohemians

He joined Bohemians in November 1925 and began as a right back in the Bohs "B" team. Within a month he had been promoted to the first team, scoring on his debut in a 4-1 win over Pioneers at

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 as D ...

. Johnny became a regular in the central defence position over the next few seasons and appeared in 33 of their 36 games in the 1927/28 season where Bohs won the

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

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 ...

and Leinster Senior Cup. He scored an amazing 14 goals that season, 10 of them being

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

. He added another League winners medal in 1929/30 as Bohs great amateur team of that time showed their class. McMahon would also score in the winner in a 3-2 victory over

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

that would win Bohemians the Aciéries d'Angleur tournament. On 1 October 1933, he picked up a serious injury against a Peru/Chile XI and would never fully recover from it.Football Pink- From the Andes to Dalymount''
/ref> This injury forced him to retire from football soon after. During his time at Bohemians, he scored a remarkable amount for a central defender - 34 league strikes. After retirement, he spent several on the Bohemian F.C. Management Committee.

Representative Honours

He first appeared for 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 ...

against an

Irish League XI The Irish League representative team was the representative side of the Irish Football League, the national league for football in Northern Ireland from 1922 and, prior to that the league for Ireland. The Irish League was suspended from 1941–42 t ...

in March 1928, scoring the second in a 3-1 win for the LOI. The following October, he captained them against the

Welsh League XI The Welsh Football League (also known as the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh Football League for sponsorship reasons) was a club football league in Wales. For its final season in 2019–20 season it operated at levels 3 and 4 of the Welsh football leagu ...

and scored the first goal (a penalty) in a 4-3 win for his side. From 1930 to 1933, McMahon was a regular in the Irish Amateur team, winning 7 caps. He also captained them to a 4-3 win over England Amateurs side at

Solitude Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think, or rest without distu ...

in February 1933. His greatest honour came in September 1933 when he was selected for

against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in Glasgow in September

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

. Johnny unfortunately had to withdraw from the following squad due to an injury picked up when playing for Bohs against a Peru/Chile XI and would never receive another cap. He remains the last player to be capped by the

(Northern) Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team. ...

while playing for Bohemians.

Honours

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 us ...

: 2 ** Bohemians - 1927/28, 1929/30 *

: 1 ** Bohemians - 1928 *

: 2 ** Bohemians - 1928, 1929 * Aciéries d'Angleur Trophy ** Bohemians - 1929

Notes

References

External links

Northern Ireland Footballing Greats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcmahon, Johnny Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers League of Ireland players Bohemian F.C. players Year of birth missing Year of death missing Garda Síochána officers Gaelic footballers who switched code League of Ireland XI players Association footballers from Derry (city) Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Men's association football central defenders Police officers from County Londonderry