Cornelius McQuade Duffy (7 March 1937 – 17 June 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 le ...

who played as an inside left. His most prominent spell was with

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

, and he was inducted into their 'Hall of Fame' in 2009.Hall of Fame , Neil Duffy
Partick Thistle FC

Career

Duffy began his career in the

SJFA The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football (soccer), football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the ...

with north Glasgow team

Ashfield Ashfield may refer to: People * Ashfield (surname) Places Australia * Ashfield, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Municipality of Ashfield, a former local government area in Sydney ** Electoral district of Ashfield, a former electoral dist ...

Neil Duffy , Thistle Star Of The Past
match programme, Partick Thistle FC, 26 April 1981 (via Partick Thistle History Archive). alongside future

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

winner

Stevie Chalmers Thomas Stephen Chalmers (26 December 1935 – 29 April 2019) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre-forward and spent the majority of his career with Celtic. He is the club's fifth-highest goalscorer with 236 goals and is consid ...

, who stated in his autobiography that he felt Duffy was the more skilled of the pair of them. Both were selected for the Scotland team at that level before stepping up to senior football. Other than a single

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

appearance on trial for Hamilton Academical, his first senior club was

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...

, followed by five years at Partick Thistle, during which the club made a challenge for the Scottish League title in the 1962–63 season, but lost form after delays caused by a very harsh winter. In late 1964 he moved on to

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

in a swap deal involving

Dan McLindon Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

, resuming a playing partnership with

Gordon Whitelaw Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

."Great Saints" Player Profile – Gordon Whitelaw
saintshistory, 15 November 2013 Duffy then immigrated to South Africa where continued to be involved in football as a player and a coach. His son, also named

Neil Duffy Cornelius "Neil" Duffy (born 5 June 1967) is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer who played in defence and midfield for Dundee United, Falkirk, Dundee, Ayr United and Dumbarton. He was appointed assistant manager of Troo ...

, likewise became a footballer, growing up in South Africa and initially playing there before establishing himself in the Scottish leagues.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duffy, Neil 1937 births 2013 deaths Scottish footballers Scottish emigrants to South Africa Hamilton Academical F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players East Stirlingshire F.C. players Scottish Football League players Association football inside forwards Ashfield F.C. players Scottish Football League representative players Scotland junior international footballers Scottish Junior Football Association players Footballers from Glasgow