John Brendan McNally (22 January 1935 — 6 July 2011), known as Brendan McNally, 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 ...

professional footballer who played as a defender.

Career

Born 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 ...

, McNally first played football for a small local club, St. Finbarrs. As a schoolboy he was selected to play for Ireland against England in a schoolboy international, scoring one of Ireland's goals as they went down 3–2. He was a right back and began his professional career in 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 ...

with Shelbourne F.C. in 1954 and then moved to

Luton Town F.C. Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

in 1956. There he stayed for eight years, making 134 appearances and scoring three times. Luton were then a First Division team and in 1959 he was part of the Luton team that lost 2–1 to Nottingham Forest in the final of the F.A. Cup. One of the Forest scorers that day was

Roy Dwight Royston Edward Dwight (9 January 1933 – 9 April 2002) was an English footballer. He scored the opening goal in the 1959 FA Cup Final for Nottingham Forest. Career Fulham Although a winger, he was renowned for his shooting ability. Dwight scor ...

, who was later carried off after breaking his leg in a tackle with Brendan. Roy, who died in 2003, was the cousin of the singer/songwriter Sir

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

. After a successful period in the First Division, Luton started to slip down the Football League, first into the Second Division and shortly before Brendan joined Cambridge City in 1963 they were relegated into the Third Division. Brendan later on played for Dunstable Town and managed non league Chesham United where he gave future England international

Kerry Dixon Kerry Michael Dixon (born 24 July 1961) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a forward. His club career was spent most notably at Chelsea, where he won the Second Division twice. His 193 goals for the club across all ...

his first start in senior football. He also played three times for the Republic of Ireland, winning his first cap in a 2–0 European Championship qualifier win over Czechoslovakia on 5 April 1959 in

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 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McNally, Brendan 1935 births 2011 deaths Republic of Ireland association footballers Association football defenders Republic of Ireland international footballers Republic of Ireland B international footballers Shelbourne F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Cambridge City F.C. players Dunstable Town F.C. players League of Ireland players English Football League players Chesham United F.C. managers Republic of Ireland football managers FA Cup Final players