Robert George Milne (1 October 1870 – 2 November 1932) was a

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 for the

Gordon Highlanders 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, ...

, Linfield and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

during the 1890s and early 1900s.Shamrock on Blue
Scots Football Worldwide Born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, Milne was stationed in Ireland with the Gordon Highlanders and played seven games for the regimental football team as they won the

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 ...

in 1890. He subsequently signed for Linfield and played 43 games and scored 19 goals for the club in the same competition and winning a total of 39 honours over 20 years.Bob Milne
Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats, 20 December 2007 Between 1894 and 1906, Milne made 27 appearances and scored two goals for Ireland. On 3 March 1894, at the

Solitude Ground Solitude is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the oldest football stadium in Ireland, and the home ground of Ireland's oldest football club, Cliftonville. The stadium holds 6,224, but is currently restricted to 2,530 under s ...

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 Kingdo ...

, Milne, together with Olphert Stanfield, was a member of the Irish team that finally avoided defeat to

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 ...

after thirteen attempts. Against an England side that included

Fred Spiksley Fred Spiksley (25 January 1870 – 28 July 1948) was an English footballer and coach, who played as a forward for Sheffield Wednesday and England. He also played for Gainsborough Trinity, Glossop North End, Leeds City, Watford. After retirin ...

and Jack Reynolds, Ireland came back from 2–0 down to gain a 2–2 draw. Milne was also captain of Ireland during the

1903 British Home Championship Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

. Until then the competition had been monopolised by England and

but in 1903, before

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

was applied, Ireland forced a three-way share. With a team that also included

Archie Goodall Archibald Lee Goodall (3 January 1865 – 20 November 1929) was an Irish footballer who made 429 appearances in the Football League for Preston North End, Aston Villa, Derby County, Glossop and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He won 10 caps at full i ...

Jack Kirwan John Henry Kirwan (9 February 1878 – 9 January 1959) was an Irish football player and coach. As a player, he was described as an out and out winger with good pace and skills, playing as an outside-left for, among others, Everton, Tottenham ...

, Billy Scott and

Billy McCracken William Robert McCracken (29 January 1883 – 20 January 1979) was a Northern Irish footballer who played as a defender. He is famous for inventing the offside trap. He was a cousin of Robert McCracken who also had a career as a professional fo ...

, Ireland beat both

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and Scotland 2–0. This was also the first time Ireland had beaten Scotland.

Honours

Gordon Highlanders *

Winners: 1890 Linfield * Irish League Winners: 1890–91, 1891–92, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1897–98, 1901–02, 1903–04, 1906–07, 1907–08, 1908–09 **Runners Up: 1893–94, 1898–99, 1899–1900, 1902–03 *

Winners: 1891, 1892, 1893, 1895, 1898, 1899, 1902, 1904 **Runners Up: 1894 *

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was contested ...

Winners: 1895, 1896, 1898, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1908 **Runners Up: 1899 *

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 Foo ...

Winners: 1899, 1904, 1906, 1907 **Runners Up: 1896, 1897, 1898, 1903, 1905 *

Belfast Charity Cup The Belfast Charity Cup was a football competition which ran from 1883 to 1941, and was based on a similar tournament in Scotland, the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup The Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup was a knockout football tournament open ...

Winners: 1891, 1892, 1893, 1895, 1899, 1901, 1903, 1905 **Runners Up: 1890, 1900, 1902, 1907, 1908 Ireland *

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...

(shared)

References

External links

Irish Cup appearances Irish Cup goals
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Milne, Robert Pre-1950 IFA international footballers Linfield F.C. players 1870 births 1932 deaths Association football forwards Footballers from Angus, Scotland Irish association footballers (before 1923) Gordon Highlanders soldiers Irish League representative players Scottish footballers Scottish soldiers NIFL Premiership players 19th-century British Army personnel