Lawrance Reilly (28 October 1928 – 22 July 2013) was a Scottish

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 ...

. He was one of the " Famous Five", the Hibernian forward line during the late 1940s and early 1950s, along with

Bobby Johnstone Robert Johnstone (7 September 1929 – 22 August 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Selkirk, Hibernian, Manchester City, Oldham Athletic and Witton Albion. Johnstone also represented Scotland and the Scottish League. Johnston ...

, Gordon Smith, Eddie Turnbull, and Willie Ormond. Reilly is rated amongst the top forwards in Scottish football history and was inducted into the

Scottish Football Hall of Fame The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Nominations are made each year by fans and a committee selects the inductees. The first inductions to the Hall of Fame were in November 2004 in a ceremony at Hampden Pa ...

in 2005.

Life and career

Reilly joined Hibs in 1946, despite interest from their city rivals Hearts. He quickly established himself in the Hibernian team, scoring his first goal against Queen of the South. He netted the first of 18 hat-tricks for Hibs in 1947, also against Queen of the South. He made his league debut as a 17-year-old in the 1946–47 season. Reilly was a fringe player in the 1947–48 season as Hibs won the league championship, playing in insufficient games to earn a winners' medal. It was reported that Reilly and Johnny Aitkenhead might be loaned to Edinburgh derby rivals Hearts, who were battling against relegation that season. Reilly became a first team regular during the following season, after Willie Ormond suffered a broken leg. He earned his first selection for

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 ...

that season, playing and scoring in a 3–1 win against

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 ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

. Later that year, the Famous Five were fielded together in a match for the first time. The forward line were used regularly for the first time during the 1949–50 season. The team earned 49 league points, more than in their championship-winning seasons, but lost out on the championship that season by a single point to Rangers. That season also provided a major disappointment in Reilly's international career, as Scotland qualified for the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

, but the SFA refused to send the team to Brazil because they had failed to win the

1950 British Home Championship Year 195 ( CXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scrapula and Clemens (or, less frequently, year 948 ''Ab urbe cond ...

. By the early 1950s, Hibernian were the most feared force in Scottish football as they won back-to-back league championships in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. Reilly was instrumental in both triumphs, finishing top scorer in the 1951–52 triumph. Hibs finished second to Rangers in 1953 and the club's fortunes started to go into decline, although Reilly continued to perform well. He missed out on selection for the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzer ...

due to suffering from a bout of

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity ( pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

. Reilly almost quit football after a row with Hibernian after manager Hugh Shaw refused him 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 ...

. Reilly submitted a transfer request that was accepted by the board of directors, but the matter was eventually resolved. During the dispute, which lasted four months, Reilly took a job outwith football to support his family. The SFA brokered a compromise that allowed Reilly to resume playing, while retaining his other income. Reilly continued to score goals frequently after he returned to the Hibs side, and he featured in the side that participated in the first season of the European Cup. Injuries were beginning to make his appearances more intermittent, with a knee injury forcing his retirement from the game in 1958. He made his final Scotland appearance against England in 1957, but failed to score at Wembley for the first time. His last appearance for Hibs came in April 1958, when he scored in a 2–1 win against Rangers. Later that year he was finally given a testimonial match, but was prevented from playing in it due to SFA regulations. Reilly won a total 38 caps for Scotland, scoring 22 goals. He is Hibernian's most capped player and is fourth in the list of goalscorers for the Scotland national team. He also boasts an international strike rate of 61%, greater than that of Kenny Dalglish, Denis Law and

Joe Jordan Joseph Jordan (born 15 December 1951) is a Scottish football player, coach and manager. He is currently a first-team coach at AFC Bournemouth. A former striker, he played for Leeds United, Manchester United, and Milan, among others at club ...

, and second only to that of

Hughie Gallacher Hugh Kilpatrick Gallacher (2 February 1903 – 11 June 1957) was a Scottish football player in the 1920s and 1930s. In 624 senior games, Gallacher scored 463 goals, playing senior league football for Airdrieonians, Newcastle United, Chelsea, D ...

amongst those capped more than 15 times. Late goals against

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 ...

and

in the

1953 British Home Championship Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugoslav ...

meant that Reilly earned the nickname of "Last-minute Reilly". Reilly also scored 14 goals in as many appearances for the

Scottish Football League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

. Reilly died in July 2013, aged 84. In August 2019, his two Scottish league championship medals were sold at auction for £12,000.

Honours

* Scottish league champions (2): 1950–51, 1951–52

Career statistics

International appearances

International goals

''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.''

References

External links

* *
BBC Archive Collections:Football Legends – Lawrie Reilly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reilly, Lawrie 1928 births 2013 deaths Association football forwards Hibernian F.C. players Scotland international footballers Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Scottish footballers Footballers from Edinburgh Scottish league football top scorers