Rory Hamill (born 4 May 1976) is a 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 ...

from Northern Ireland.

Playing career

Rory Hamill had been capped for Northern Ireland youth before joining English Premier League club

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 ...

as a trainee in 1992. He failed to make the senior team and left for Division Three side Fulham in November 1994. In the first season, he played a total of 25 League and Cup games, scoring seven goals. He was also capped for Northern Ireland B-team cap in a 3–0 defeat by Scotland B in February 1995. The next season Hamill failed to establish his position in the Fulham first team. In September 1996 he joined

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

on loan, a move that became permanent in November. His performance for Glentoran brought him back to the attention of the Northern Ireland set-up and he won his second B cap in a 1–0 defeat by Wales in February 1999. In April 1999, Hamill was called up to the Northern Ireland full squad by

Lawrie McMenemy Lawrence McMenemy MBE (born 26 July 1936) is an English retired football coach, best known for his spell as manager of Southampton. He is rated in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' as one of the twenty most successful managers in post-war Englis ...

. He came on as a substitute in a friendly against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. With Glentoran Hamill picked up an Irish League title in 1999 and Irish Cup winner's medals in 1998 and 2000. A drug test after an

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

match between Glentoran and Norwegian side

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in August 2000 proved positive with traces of cannabis. Initially Hamill was banned from all European competitions, but on the eve of the 2001 Irish Cup Final a ban from all competition was imposed, causing him to miss the Final, and all games up to 4 October 2001. After 150 League appearances, and 28 goals, Hamill left Glentoran in 2001 for Coleraine. With Coleraine Hamill added another Irish Cup medal. In August 2003 he scored against

U.D. Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. ...

in a 2–1 win in the

. A year later, Hamill moved on 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 ...

, where he was to become vice-captain. In 2006, Hamill signed for Dungannon Swifts. He helped the Swifts to their first ever Irish Cup Final appearance in his only season. In June 2007, Hamill rejoined

. In October he was a member of the Glens side that won the County Antrim Shield – with a 2–1 win over Crusaders. In January 2008 he joined

Donegal Celtic Donegal Celtic Football Club is an intermediate football club based in Belfast, Northern Ireland who currently play in the Ballymena & Provincial Football League. The club, founded in 1970, plays its home matches at Donegal Celtic Park. Club co ...

on loan. At the end of the season he switched for

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay. The original Palm Bay estate was ...

. In May 2009 he suffered another Cup Final defeat with the Reds. After a somewhat disappointing spell with Cliftonville, he moved to Glenavon in February 2010. Championship 1 side Bangor brought Hamill to Clandeboye Park in July 2010. Rory made 19 starting appearances for the Seasiders and scored 5 goals before being released by the club at the end of March 2011.

Honours

* Irish League/Irish Premier League **

1998/99 *

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 ...

: 3 **

1998, 2000 **

Coleraine F.C. Coleraine Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club, playing in the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of the Irish League. The club, founded in 1927, hails from Coleraine, County Londonderry and plays its home matches ...

2003 *

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 ...

2007/08

References

External links

Biography at NIFG

Fulham FC Cult heroes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamill, Rory Association footballers from County Londonderry Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Fulham F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Coleraine F.C. players Ballymena United F.C. players Dungannon Swifts F.C. players Donegal Celtic F.C. players Cliftonville F.C. players Glenavon F.C. players PSNI F.C. players NIFL Premiership players Living people Northern Ireland men's international footballers Northern Ireland men's B international footballers English Football League players 1976 births Men's association football forwards Sportspeople from Coleraine, County Londonderry