Peter James McParland

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 25 April 1934) is a former professional

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 ...

Club career

Dundalk

McParland was born in

Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, Northern Ireland. He was spotted playing for

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

in the League of Ireland by

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

manager

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

. Martin signed McParland for a fee of £3,880.

Aston Villa

McParland holds a unique place in English football history as the first player in the game to score in and win both English major domestic knockout Finals. One of the finest headers and strikers of the ball of the past fifty years, he is regarded as one of the greatest players to represent both

and Northern Ireland. During his time with

, McParland got influenced by

Jimmy Hogan James Hogan (16 October 1882 – 30 January 1974) was an English football player and coach of Irish descent. He enjoyed some success as a footballer, reaching an FA Cup semi-final with Fulham in 1907–08, but his primary legacy is as a pion ...

, later won the FA Cup in 1957, scoring twice in the final against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

but also becoming involved in a controversial incident in which he shoulder-charged (at the time a legitimate form of challenge) the Manchester United keeper after only 6 minutes which left United's goalkeeper,

Ray Wood Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

, unconscious with a broken cheekbone. McParland's two-goal haul is remembered fondly as an example of his all-round abilities as a player showcasing his diving header and volleying techniques. McParland also won the Second Division title in 1960 and the League Cup in 1961 while with

. He was on the scoresheet for the second leg of the 1961 League Cup final, when Villa overturned a 2–0 deficit against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

to win the second leg 3–0 at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

and become the winners of the first

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers and Plymouth Argyle

Following

, McParland joined local rivals

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

for a brief spell in 1962. Although he was only there for one season, he did manage to score 10 goals in 21 games. The following season McParland moved on to Plymouth Argyle, his final English league club (although he later turned out for Worcester City in the Southern League), before hanging up his boots. In 1965, McParland was recruited to play for Toronto Inter-Roma FC of the Eastern Canadian Professional Soccer League. He scored many memorable goals, especially one against the Hamilton Steelers to give his side the victory. McParland played for the

Atlanta Chiefs The Atlanta Chiefs were an American professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The team competed in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1968 to 1973 and again from 19 ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

in 1967 and 1968. He ended his career as player-manager of

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 ...

International career

McParland represented Northern Ireland 34 times and scored twice in his debut against Wales in 1953–54 season. He also starred 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 ...

in the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

in which he scored five goals and helped his team to the quarter-finals.

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

defeated

4–0 in their quarter-final. He holds the record for being the highest-scoring Northern Irish player in World Cup finals history. In April 2015, the feature-length documentary Spirit of '58 was screened as part of the Belfast Film Festival. It featured Peter McParland prominently alongside the other surviving players at the time (

Billy Bingham William Laurence Bingham (5 August 1931 – 9 June 2022) was a Northern Ireland international footballer and football manager. As a player, his first professional club was Glentoran, whom he played for between 1948 and 1950. Making the move ...

, Billy Simpson,

Jimmy McIlroy James McIlroy (25 October 1931 – 20 August 2018) was a Northern Ireland international footballer, who played for Glentoran, Burnley, Stoke City and Oldham Athletic. He was regarded as one of Burnley's greatest players, having played 497 matc ...

and

Harry Gregg Henry Gregg, (27 October 1932 – 16 February 2020), was a Northern Irish professional footballer and manager. A goalkeeper, he played for Manchester United during the reign of Sir Matt Busby, with a total of 247 appearances for the club. He w ...

) as it told the story of Northern Ireland's journey throughout the 1950s under the managership of Peter Doherty, culminating in the 1958 World Cup. Following the death of Billy Bingham in June 2022, McParland is the last surviving member of the Northern Ireland squad from that World Cup campaign.

International goals

''Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first. ''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McParland, Peter 1934 births Living people Aston Villa F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players League of Ireland players 1958 FIFA World Cup players Members of the Order of the British Empire Northern Ireland international footballers Association footballers from Northern Ireland Expatriate association footballers from Northern Ireland National Professional Soccer League (1967) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Atlanta Chiefs players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Sportspeople from Newry Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players Toronto Roma players Football managers from Northern Ireland Glentoran F.C. managers AEL Limassol managers Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League players English Football League players English Football League representative players Expatriate football managers from Northern Ireland Expatriate football managers in Hong Kong Hong Kong national football team managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Cyprus Association football forwards Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Canada Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in the United States Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Hong Kong FA Cup Final players