Robert "Roy" Rea (28 November 1934 – 5 April 2005) was a

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

international

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 in the Irish League as a goalkeeper with Glenavon and

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 ...

. He won one 'B' cap, and four amateur caps for Northern Ireland and thirteen inter-league caps for the Irish League in the 1950s. With Glenavon, he won the Irish League championship in 1956/57, two

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 ...

s (1956/57 and 1958/59), one Gold Cup and one

Ulster Cup The Ulster Cup was an annual football competition held by the Irish Football League for senior clubs. History Beginning in 1949, it was held on fifty-one occasions until being suspended after the 1998/99 season and discontinued after a one-of ...

. With Glentoran he won the Gold Cup in 1962/63; the same year in which he was named

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 ...

.M. Brodie (ed.), ''Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 2009–2010'', p. 102. Belfast:Ulster Tatler Publications In 1963, he played in the

Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League The Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada. The league operated for six seasons from 1961 to 1966 across four cities in two Canadian provinces and one American state. In the 1960s, the Eastern Canada Professional ...

with

Toronto Italia The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the folding ...

. Although he never won a full international cap, Rea was a member of the

squad at the 1958 World Cup, as the second reserve goalkeeper, but did not travel to Sweden.

References

External links

Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats
1934 births 2005 deaths Association footballers from County Down Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland NIFL Premiership players Ulster Footballers of the Year 1958 FIFA World Cup players Glenavon F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Sportspeople from Banbridge Toronto Italia players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Canada Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League players Men's association football goalkeepers {{NorthernIreland-footy-bio-stub