Patrick Anthony Lally (born 11 January 1952) is an English former

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 a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career

Born in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Lally started his career with Millwall after signing as a professional in January 1970 and made one appearance in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

before signing for York City on a two-month trial in July 1971. He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat to Oldham Athletic on 31 August 1971 and he finished the 1971–72 season with 43 appearances and two goals. He made 38 appearances and scored three goals during the 1972–73 season, and he became known for "driving runs from midfield" during his time at York. He was signed by

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

for a

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contra ...

of £7,000 in August 1973 and he made 161 league appearances and scored 10 goals for the club. While at Swansea, he had a

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

with

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

, who he joined in October 1975, and made three league appearances. He left Swansea in September 1978 when he joined Doncaster Rovers, where he made 122 league appearances, before leaving at the end of the 1981–82 season. In 1982 he went on to have a spell with non-League side Burton Albion playing 51 games and scoring 5 goals, before his playing career was cruelly ended with a broken leg during a match in November 1983. Later he became an education officer for the Professional Footballers' Association, and he now works as the regional League Football education officer for the North.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lally, Pat 1952 births Living people Footballers from Paddington English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Millwall F.C. players York City F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players English Football League players