William Lacey (24 September 1889,

Enniscorthy Enniscorthy () is the second-largest town in County Wexford, Ireland. At the 2016 census, the population of the town and environs was 11,381. The town is located on the picturesque River Slaney and in close proximity to the Blackstairs Mountain ...

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí C ...

, Ireland – 30 May 1969) was an Irish footballer who played for, among others, Shelbourne,

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, Everton and Linfield. Lacey was a dual international and also played for both Ireland teams – the IFA XI and the FAI XI. An extremely versatile and talented player, Lacey played in all eleven positions during his career. He was a prominent member of the

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

team that won the

1914 British Home Championship This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

and was also a member of the

team that won two successive

English First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First Di ...

titles in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

and 1923. He was also the first player to be capped at full international level while playing for both Everton and Liverpool. In 1927 at the age of 37, he became the oldest player to make his debut for an FAI XI, and in 1930 at the age of 41 he became the FAI XI's oldest ever player. After retiring as a player, Lacey became a coach, most notably with the FAI XI and Bohemians. In August 2010, a plaque was unveiled for Bill in his hometown of Enniscorthy coming 14 months after the 40th anniversary of his death in 1969. The plaque was unveiled at his birthplace on the Ross Road, Enniscorthy, County Wexford.

Club career

Shelbourne

Lacey first played senior football with Shelbourne in 1906 and in 1908, together with Val Harris and

Joseph Ledwidge Joseph James Ledwidge Sr. (8th June 1877 – 19th January 1953) was a Gaelic footballer, an Irish international soccer player and a cricketer. He won two All-Ireland medals playing with the Dublin Geraldines and later played with Shelbourne in ...

, he helped them reach the final of 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 ...

. Lacey scored in the 1–1 draw against Bohemians 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 ...

and also played in the replay which Shelbourne lost 3–1. After a successful career in the English League, Lacey returned to Shelbourne for a second spell in May 1925 and, together with Harris, helped them win the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

title in 1926. During his second spell with Shelbourne, he also played three times for the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

Everton

Lacey followed Val Harris to Everton in February 1909 and made his club debut, leading the forward line, in April 1909 against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. During his time at Everton he also played as a half-back. While at the Blues he made 37 English League appearances and scored 11 goals. He also played a further 3 games in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

. Lacey helped Everton finish League runners-up twice and reach the semi-final stage of the 1910

. Apart from Harris, his teammates at Everton also included another Irish international, Billy Scott.

Liverpool

In February 1912 Lacey joined

. He arrived, along with

Tom Gracie Thomas Gracie (12 June 1889 – 23 October 1915) was a Scottish professional footballer and, latterly, a corporal in the 16th Battalion of The Royal Scots. He was the joint-leading scorer in the Scottish Football League in the 1914–15 seaso ...

, as part of swap that saw Harold Uren join Everton. Lacey made his Liverpool debut, as a left-winger, on 2 March 1912 in a First Division match against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

. The game finished as a 1–1 draw. He scored his first goal for the club on 16 March in a 2–1 home defeat to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. Lacey would eventually make 230 league appearances and scored 18 league goals for Liverpool. He also made a further 28 appearances and scored another 11 goals in the

. In 1914, playing as an inside forward, he scored 5 goals in 7 games as he helped Liverpool reach their first ever

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

. However Liverpool lost the match 1–0 to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Lacey returned to Ireland and played as a guest in the Belfast and District League, first for the now defunct team, Belfast United, and then for Linfield. While with Linfield he helped them reach two successive

finals in 1918 and 1919, finishing as runners-up and winners respectively. After returning to

, Lacey helped them win two successive First Division titles in

and 1923. Among his teammates at Liverpool during this era where

Ephraim Longworth Ephraim Longworth (2 October 1887 – 7 January 1968) was an England international footballer for Liverpool in the early part of the twentieth century. He was one of Liverpool's all-time greats, and was Liverpool's first ever England captain ...

and Elisha Scott. Lacey left Liverpool in June 1924 and briefly played with New Brighton before returning to Shelbourne.

Irish international

When Lacey began his international career in 1909, Ireland was represented by a single team, selected by the

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 Kingdom ...

-based

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team. ...

. However, during the 1920s, Ireland was partitioned into Northern Ireland and the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

. Amid these political upheavals, a rival association, the Football Association of Ireland, emerged in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and from 1924 organised its own national team. As a result, several notable Irish players from this era, including Lacey played for both teams – the IFA XI and the FAI XI.

IFA XI

Between 1909 and 1924 Lacey won 23 caps and scored 3 goals for the IFA XI. He won the first 10 caps while at Everton, the next 12 at

and his last with New Brighton. He made his international debut on 13 February 1909 in a 4–0 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 ...

and then on 20 March he scored his first international goal in a 3–2 defeat against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. Although Lacey only scored two more goals for the IFA XI, they would prove significant. Along with Val Harris, Patrick O'Connell and Billy Gillespie, Lacey helped Ireland win the

. On 14 February he scored twice as Ireland beat England 3–0 at

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It was demolished in 1997 and ...

. In a game which saw Lacey play in three different positions, including in goal, Ireland then clinched the title following a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a association football, 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 Li ...

. He made his last appearance for the IFA XI on 22 October 1924 in 3–1 defeat against England.

FAI XI

After returning to Shelbourne, Lacey also made 3 appearances and scored 1 goal for the FAI XI. On 23 April 1927, at the age of 37, he became the oldest player to ever make his debut for the FAI XI when he was selected to play against Italy B – this was later surpassed in 1931 by 40-year-old Patsy Gallacher whose first appearance was also his last. On 12 February 1928 Lacey inspired the FAI XI to a comeback. 2–0 down at half-time, he scored the FAI XI's opening goal in a 4–2 away win against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. On 11 May 1930, at the age of 41, he became the oldest player ever to play for the FAI XI when he played against Belgium again. In his three appearances for the FAI XI, he played as outside-right, inside-right and right-back.

Coaching career

FAI XI

During the 1930s Lacey also coached the FAI XI on several occasions. At the time the team was selected by a committee of selectors and coaches were appointed on a game by game basis. Lacey took charge of the FAI XI on at least four occasions. On 13 December 1931 he was in charge of the FAI XI that lost 5–0 to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. He had little chance to influence the result as he was unable to get in touch with all the players until the morning of the game. On 25 February 1934, Lacey was also in charge of the first FAI XI to compete in a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

qualifier. The team, featuring Paddy Moore, Jimmy Kelly and Joe Kendrick, drew 4–4 with

with Moore scoring all four goals for the FAI XI. Lacey also coached the FAI XI that played the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

on 5 December 1935. In terms of preparation, the team did better than usual, with Lacey organising three coaching sessions the week before the game. Despite this the FAI XI still lost 5–2. However, on 17 October 1936, Lacey coached the FAI XI to one of their best results of the pre-

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

era when a team featuring Paddy Moore and Tom Davis, beat

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

5–2 at

Bohemians

Lacey was appointed coach of Bohemians at the start of the 1933–34 season and with a team that included

Fred Horlacher Fred Horlacher (March 1910 – 17 March 1943) was an Irish footballer who played for Bohemians in the League of Ireland during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. As an international, Horlacher represented both Ireland teams. He played as a senior for ...

and

Billy Jordan Billy Jordan was an Irish association football player during the 1930s. Club career Jordan began his footballing life at St Francis who played in the St Dominic's Boys Sodality League. He joined Bohs from Villa Rangers in 1928/29. Jordan was a ...

he subsequently guided them to a

and League of Ireland Shield double. He also guided them to an

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

win in 1935.

Honours

Player

Shelbourne *

runners-up:1907–08 *

winners: 1925–26 * League of Ireland Shield winners: 1926 Everton * First Division runners-up: 1908–09, 1911–12 Ireland *

: 1914 Liverpool *

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

champions: 1921–22, 1922–23 *

runners-up:

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

Linfield *

winners: 1918–19 **runners-up: 1917–18

Manager

Bohemians *

champions: 1933–34 *

winners: 1935 * League of Ireland Shield winners: 1934

References

External links

Northern Ireland Footballing Greats

LFChistory.net player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacey, Bill 1889 births 1969 deaths People from Enniscorthy Association footballers from County Wexford Irish association footballers (before 1923) Republic of Ireland association footballers Irish Free State international footballers Dual Irish international footballers Pre-1950 IFA international footballers Liverpool F.C. players Everton F.C. players New Brighton A.F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Linfield F.C. players League of Ireland players Republic of Ireland football managers Republic of Ireland national football team managers Bohemian F.C. managers League of Ireland managers League of Ireland XI players Irish Free State association footballers Association football utility players Association football defenders Association football midfielders Association football forwards Ireland (IFA) wartime international footballers FA Cup Final players