Samuel McKee McCrory (11 October 1924 – 4 May 2011) was a 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 ...

from Northern Ireland, most notably spending five years with

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

and scoring the first goal at their

Roots Hall A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

stadium.

Club career

McCrory was born in

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 ...

. After turning professional with Irish League side Linfield in 1944, for whom he scored in two consecutive

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 ...

final victories: against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

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 ...

in 1945 (scoring two) and Distillery in 1946. After scoring 60 goals in 91 games for Linfield he moved to Swansea Town in October 1946. He was relegated in his first season with the club before helping them win the

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

in 1949. He also played in the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the mos ...

final in 1949, in which the Swans were defeated 2-0 by Merthyr Tydfil. He moved to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

in March 1950 but did not get off to a great start to his career with the Tractor Boys; he became the first Ipswich player to be sent off in league football in a match against

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

in April 1950. However the following season he was their top goalscorer in all competitions, and in total made over 100 appearances for the club. He then had a spell with Plymouth Argyle but struggled for form in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, before moving to

in 1955. He scored the first goal at United's new stadium,

, on 20 August 1955 against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. He was also the joint top scorer of the last edition of the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

with 31 goals in the 1957–58 season. After leaving Southend in 1960 he joined Southern League side

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

, where he spent two years before returning home for a one-year spell as player-manager of Irish League side

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

. After retiring, he settled in

Donaghadee Donaghadee ( , ) is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor. It is in the civil parish of Donaghadee and ...

where he ran a pub. McCrory died in 2011 at the age of 86.

International career

He earned a cap 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 1957, scoring in a 3–2 victory over

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 b ...

, and at the age of 33 was at that time the side's oldest post-

World War II 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 opposing ...

debutant. He was also part of the 1958 FIFA World Cup squad although he did not feature at the tournament. Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats
/ref>

Honours

Linfield *

: 1944–45, 1945–46 * Gold Cup: 1944–45 Swansea Town *

: 1948–49

References

External links

Sammy McCrory
Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Transfer Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Mccrory, Sammy 1924 births 2011 deaths Association footballers from Northern Ireland Linfield F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Crusaders F.C. players Crusaders F.C. managers 1958 FIFA World Cup players Northern Ireland international footballers Association footballers from Belfast Association football inside forwards English Football League players Irish League representative players Football managers from Northern Ireland