Matthew Michael Reilly (22 March 1874 – 9 December 1954) was an Irish international

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who played most of his career with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in the Southern League. He also had spells with

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

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in the Southern League, with

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, with Dundee in the Scottish Football League and with Shelbourne in the Irish League. Throughout his career he was known as either "Gunner Reilly" or " Ginger".

Playing career

Reilly was born in

Donnybrook, Dublin Donnybrook () is a district of Dublin, Ireland. It is situated on the southside of the city, in the Dublin 4 postal district, and is home to the Irish public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It was once part of the Pemb ...

and played Gaelic football in his youth. He joined the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and while serving in

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took up association football as a goalkeeper with

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side,

Benburb Benburb ()) is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies 7.5 miles from Armagh and 8 miles from Dungannon. The River Blackwater runs alongside the village as does the Ulster Canal. History It is best known, in ...

Royal Artillery (Portsmouth)

By 1893, he was a member of the

side which reached the final of the FA Amateur Cup in

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that ...

as well as two Army Cup finals. In the 1896 Amateur Cup final, played against Bishop Auckland, Reilly was voted "Man of the Match" when he kept the score down to a 1–0 defeat. There is evidence that because of his Gaelic football background where players can handle the ball, when he made a save he would dribble the ball downfield Gaelic football fashion. Because of this practice, the box was added to the football pitch preventing the goalkeeper from touching the ball with his hands outside the box. In December 1895, he played two matches on loan to

who were playing their second season in the Southern League. He replaced Tom Cain and both matches (against

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and

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) ended in 5–0 victories. He was described in the local press as a "''brilliant''" player, who was both quick and sure in his handling and kicking. He also spent a period on loan to another

side,

Freemantle Freemantle is a suburb and electoral ward in Southampton, England. There are similarly named places in Hampshire: notably Henry II's hunting lodge in Kingsclere; a suburb of Hannington, Hampshire, Hannington; and Freemantle Common in Bitterne. ...

. He became a key member of the Royal Artillery side and helped them rise to join the Second Division of the Southern League in 1897 and win the Division title at the end of the 1897–98 season. The R.A. were less successful in their first season in the top division, finishing at the foot of the table, and subsequently the club folded.

Portsmouth

By now, Reilly's military career was over and in July 1899, he was snapped up by manager

Frank Brettell Frank E. Brettell (1862–1936) was an English football player, manager and administrator. He played as a full-back for Everton, a club that was originally called St. Domingo's. He combined his role as player-secretary-manager with his full ...

and joined

who had been founded a year earlier and were elected as members of an expanded Southern League for the 1899–1900 season. During Reilly's five seasons at Fratton Park, Portsmouth were one of the dominant teams in the Southern League, winning the championship in 1901–02, and never finishing outside the top four. He was awarded a

benefit match A benefit is a match or season of activities granted by a sporting body to a loyal sportsman to boost their income before retirement. Often this is in the form of a match for which all the ticket proceeds are given to the player in question. Howeve ...

, played against

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, on 29 April 1901. Reilly was recognised for his form with selection for

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on two occasions, both narrow defeats by

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in 1900 and 1902. For the first match, played at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

, Dublin on 17 March 1900, the England team were confidently expecting an easy match after five successive victories, including winning 13–2 the previous year. The England selectors chose five debutantes, including Reilly's Portsmouth colleague, Dan Cunliffe, who made his solitary England appearance at

inside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. In the event, the game was far more difficult than expected, with England only managing a 2–0 victory, with goals from Charlie Sagar and Harry Johnson, who were also both making their international debut. Reilly was not selected for the 1901 match against England, played at The Dell, but was called up again for the 1902 match, played at the Balmoral Showgrounds,

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 ...

on 22 March 1902. This time, England's margin of victory was even narrower, with the only goal coming from

Jimmy Settle James Settle (5 September 1875 – 1 June 1954) was an English professional footballer. A fast-paced inside or outside right, he could have chosen sprinting if he had not taken up football. Settle played for Bolton Wanderers and Bury before ...

with less than five minutes remaining, after England's goalkeeper, Billy George, had saved a penalty from Robert Milne.

Later career

In 1904, after five season with Portsmouth, Reilly moved to Scotland where he spent a season with Dundee, managing only three appearances. Reilly spent the 1905–06 season in

with

. He made an inauspicious start in a 3–0 defeat at

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and lost his place mid-season to Albert Iremonger (who was the tallest player in the league at the time, measuring 6 ft 6 in

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"Bygones" (2 May 2008) p. 33). In October 1906, he returned to the Southern League, after a transfer to

for a fee of £100. After a season in London, Reilly returned to Dublin to play for Shelbourne, helping them reach the 1908

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 ...

Final, where he finished on the losing side to Dublin rivals,

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, going down 3–1 in a replay. On his retirement, he returned to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, becoming a publican in

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

. He remained fondly remembered at Fratton Park and was amongst the guests who celebrated Portsmouth's fiftieth anniversary in 1948. He died in his native Dublin in December 1954, aged 80.

Honours

Royal Artillery * FA Amateur Cup runners-up: 1896 * Southern League Division Two champions: 1897–98 Portsmouth * Southern League champions: 1901–02 Shelbourne *

runners-up: 1908

References

External links

Ireland international career details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reilly, Matt 1874 births Military personnel from Dublin (city) Association footballers from Dublin (city) 1954 deaths Irish association footballers (before 1923) Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers English Football League players Southern Football League players Scottish Football League players League of Ireland players Freemantle F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Benburb F.C. players 19th-century British Army personnel Royal Artillery personnel