Tommy Moroney (10 November 1923 – 2 May 1981) was an Irish soccer and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player. Moroney played soccer for Cork United,

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

Evergreen United Cork Celtic F.C., originally Evergreen United F.C., was an Irish football club based in Cork. They played in the League of Ireland between 1951 and 1979 and played their home games at Turners Cross. In 1974, they were League of Ireland champ ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In 1949 he was a member of the Ireland team that defeated

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 ...

2–0 at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a association football, football stadium in the Walton, Liverpool, Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area ...

, becoming the first non-UK team to beat England at home. He also represented both

Cork Constitution The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the ''Cork Constitution'' newspaper. Since the paper did not publish on Sundays, the staff were lookin ...

and Munster at rugby union.

Early years in Cork

Together with

Frank O'Farrell Francis O'Farrell (9 October 1927 – 6 March 2022) was an Irish football player and manager. He played as a wing half for Cork United, West Ham United and Preston North End. He made over 300 appearances in the Football League before joining ...

, Moroney was a member of the successful Cork United team of the 1940s, helping them win several

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 ...

titles. A brilliant all-round sportsman, Moroney had also played rugby union for Presentation Brothers College and

, helping the latter to win the Munster Senior Cup three times. He also represented Munster, but with the

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

suspended because of the

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 ...

, he never got the chance to play for the Ireland national rugby union team.

West Ham United

Moroney moved to

in 1947, making his debut in the English Second Division on 1 September 1947 against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

. In January 1948 he was joined at the Hammers by his former Cork United teammate,

. Moroney played 148 league games for the Hammers, scoring 8 goals. He also played a further three games for the club 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 competi ...

. He played his last game for West Ham on 3 April 1953 in a 2–1 defeat against Fulham. He subsequently returned to Cork where he finished his playing career with Evergreen United.

Irish international

Moroney made 12 appearances for

between 1948 and 1953. He scored his only goal for Ireland, on his international debut, in a 2–1 away defeat against

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") , i ...

on 30 May 1948. He was also a member of the Ireland team that defeated

2–0 at

, becoming the first non-UK team to beat England at home. He played his last game for Ireland on 4 October 1953 against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

qualifier.

Honours

''Rugby Player'' Cork Constitution * Munster Senior Cup **''Winners'' 1942, 1943 1946 3 ''Soccer Player'' Cork United *

**''Winners'' 1941, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1946 5 * FAI Cup **''Winners'' 1942, 1947 2 *

League of Ireland Shield The League of Ireland Shield ( ga, Sciath Sraithe na hÉireann) is a defunct Irish football tournament which was introduced when the League of Ireland started in 1921 and ran uninterrupted until 1972. It was played before the league season began ...

**''Winners'' 1943 1 * Munster Senior Cup **''Winners'' 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947 4

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Ireland stats Goal against SpainGoal against Spain West Ham stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moroney, Tommy 1923 births 1981 deaths Association footballers from Cork (city) Association football midfielders Republic of Ireland association footballers Irish rugby union players Munster Rugby players Cork Constitution players Ireland (FAI) international footballers West Ham United F.C. players Cork United F.C. (1940–1948) players League of Ireland players League of Ireland managers Rugby union players from County Cork Republic of Ireland football managers