Sammy Hatton (1935 — 20 March 1995) was a Northern Irish

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 centre-half with Linfield in the 1960s. He won two international caps for

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 ...

. He also played for the Northern Ireland amateur team and earned one cap for the Irish League representative side. He made his name with

Ards Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of respiratory failure characterized by rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea), rapid breathing (tachypnea), and bluish skin color ...

, for whom he was the club's player of the year in 1960/61, after which he was signed by Linfield. In his first season at

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual rent ...

, he was part of Linfield's seven-trophy-winning team, playing 52 games and winning the League title, 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, Gold Cup,

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 ...

and

North-South Cup The North-South Cup was a short-lived all-Ireland football tournament. It was played for two seasons in the 1960s and on both occasions won by teams from Northern Ireland. The 1960-61 competition was played to the semi-final stage, however d ...

. The following season, he won two international caps, being called into the Northern Ireland team to replace

Terry Neill William John Terence Neill (8 May 1942 – 28 July 2022) was a Northern Irish football player and manager. A centre-back, he captained and later managed Arsenal, guiding the club to a European final in 1980 and three consecutive FA Cup final ...

for 2-0

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victory against

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Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

, and again for the Home International match that year against

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 ...

. That season also saw a second Irish Cup winner's medal; a competition which he won for a third time in his last season, 1969/70. He also won two further Irish League championships: in 1965/66 and 1968/69. In 1967/68 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 1970, he was released by Linfield, but stayed on as a youth coach. From 1972-73 he coached the first team.

References

External links

Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats
* 1935 births 1995 deaths Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland NIFL Premiership players Ulster Footballers of the Year Ards F.C. players Linfield F.C. players Northern Ireland men's international footballers Association football managers from Northern Ireland Linfield F.C. managers Northern Ireland men's amateur international footballers Men's association football defenders {{NorthernIreland-footy-bio-stub