Noel Bailie (born 23 February 1971) is a former semi-professional

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, rugb ...

from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

who spent his entire career playing for Linfield. He played as a

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 26 species in two genera. One species (''Pempheris xanth ...

and wore shirt number 11. With 40 club titles with Linfield, he is the most decorated player from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

(not including

overseas territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

Playing career

Bailie joined Linfield in 1986 from Hillsborough Boys' Club and this was the only club he ever played for during his senior career. Bailie began playing in the reserve team (Linfield Swifts) and made his first team debut on 30 March 1989 away to

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the M ...

in the

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Fo ...

first round tie at the age of 18. In the 1993–94 season he was named as the

Ulster Footballer of the Year The Ulster Footballer of the Year is the older of two association football player of the year awards in Northern Ireland. (The other is the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association award.) It is awarded by Castlereagh Glentoran Supporters ...

. Bailie played under four different Linfield managers -

Roy Coyle Robert Irvine Coyle (born 31 January 1946) is a former Northern Ireland international footballer. Coyle is the most successful manager in the history of the Irish Football League. He is the Director of Football at Glentoran. Playing career ...

, Eric Bowyer,

Trevor Anderson Trevor Anderson (born 3 March 1951) is a Northern Irish former footballer and manager. He played as a forward. Playing career Born in Belfast, Anderson began his playing career at Portadown before signing for Manchester United in October 1972 ...

and

David Jeffrey David Jeffrey (born 28 October 1962) is a Northern Irish football manager and former player, who currently manages Ballymena United. He is best known for managing Linfield between 1997 and 2014. He began his professional playing career with t ...

. He played his 1,000th game for Linfield in a 0–0 draw against Crusaders on the 24 April 2010, getting a guard of honour from both sets of players as well as spectators as he left the pitch after the match. He made his final career appearance in Linfield's 1–0 win over Portadown on 30 April 2011, where he lifted the

IFA Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the North ...

trophy. This was his 1,013th appearance for the club in all competitions. Bailie's number 11 jersey was retired by the club upon his retirement as a player at the end of the 2010–11 season. Bailie was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to football in Northern Ireland.

Honours

Club

; Linfield * Irish League (10): 1992–93, 1993–94, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11 *

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 ...

(7): 1993–94, 1994–95, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10 *

Irish League Cup The Northern Ireland Football League Cup (BetMcLean League Cup for sponsorship purposes), also known colloquially as the Irish League Cup, is a national association football, football single elimination, knock-out cup competition in Northern Ire ...

(8): 1991–92, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2007–08 *

Setanta Sports Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of Ir ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

(6): 1994–95, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06 * Irish FA Charity Shield (3): 1993, 1994, 2000 * Gold Cup (2): 1989–90, 1996–97 * Floodlit Cup (2): 1993–94, 1997–98 * Ulster Cup: 1992–93

References

External links

NIFG profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailie, Noel 1971 births Living people Association football defenders NIFL Premiership players Linfield F.C. players Association footballers from Northern Ireland Ulster Footballers of the Year Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Players of the Year Members of the Order of the British Empire Association footballers from Belfast

Playing career

Honours

Club

See also

References

External links