William Browne (21 February 1936 – 14 October 2004) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

soccer player during the 1960s. A

Bohemian F.C. Bohemian Football Club ( ga, an Cumann Peile Bóihéamach), more commonly referred to as Bohemians or Bohs, is a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. Bohemians compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland, and are the ...

legend, he was the last amateur to have been capped for the full

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

national team for 43 years until

Joseph Lapira Joseph Lapira (born August 13, 1986, Rochester, New York) is a retired soccer player. Born in the United States, Lapira is a one time international for the Republic of Ireland national football team. Besides the United States, he has played in N ...

was capped against Ecuador in May 2007.

Career

Born in Longford and educated at St. Mel's College, Browne began his career at UCD, where, as well as winning numerous international university caps, he was a member of 4 winning

Collingwood Cup The Collingwood Cup is an association football cup competition featuring university teams from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Universities Football Union, and is the oldest surviving all Ireland associ ...

teams, and after graduating, he signed for then strictly amateur Bohemians in time for the 1961/62 season. A strong central defender, he was made captain of Bohemians in only his 2nd season at the club. He was a born leader, so much so that Bohs broke with their tradition of having a different man captain the team each year and Willie kept the captaincy for 3 seasons in a row. The 1963/64 season was Willie's finest as Bohs reached the semi-final of the FAI Cup and Willie won three full international caps for Ireland. He made his debut away to Austria in a

European Nations Cup European Nations Cup may refer to: *UEFA European Championship, formerly known as European Nations' Cup * Europcar Cup, a European Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (golf), a European Ladies Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (fi ...

tie that finished 0–0. He started left back in a 2–0 defeat to Spain and earned his third and final cap at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known ...

in a 3–1 defeat to England. In 1963 he was voted Personality of the Year by the Soccer Writers Association of Ireland and was also awarded the Caltex Award for soccer. Seán Thomas arrived as manager of Bohs in 1964/65 and turned things around. The perennial strugglers finished third in the league that season with Browne excelling at the back. This was a remarkable achievement for a fully amateur team. Things got better the next season as Bohs once again finished third and ended a 19-year wait for silverware by winning both the

LFA President's Cup The LFA President's Cup was an association football cup competition featuring League of Ireland clubs affiliated to the Leinster Football Association. It was played for between 1930 and 2002. It was a ''de facto'' national super cup and on t ...

and the Leinster Senior Cup. This was to be Willie's swansong as he retired from football at the end of the season. He made 177 appearances for Bohs in all competitions scoring 20 goals. Impressively consistent in any defensive position, Browne missed just four league games in his five seasons. A fine tennis player, he won nine men's open singles tennis championship titles at

Elm Park Elm Park is a suburban planned community in East London within the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is identified as a district centre in the London Plan with several streets of shops and a priority for ...

and later became a single handicap golfer at the club. Willie Browne died in October 200

Honours

* Leinster Senior Cup (football), Leinster Senior Cup ** Bohemians - 1965/66 *

** Bohemians - 1965/66 *Sports Writers Personality of the Year ** 1963

Representative Honours

* 3 Full International Irish caps * 16 Amateur Irish caps * 1 Ireland "B" cap * 6 Inter-League caps

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Willie Sportspeople from County Longford Republic of Ireland association footballers League of Ireland players League of Ireland XI players Bohemian F.C. players University College Dublin A.F.C. players Republic of Ireland international footballers Republic of Ireland B international footballers 2004 deaths 1936 births Association football defenders