William Anthony O'Neill (born 29 December 1919, date of death unknown) was an Irish 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 lea ...

who played as a midfielder.

Club career

O'Neill began his career in his native

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, beginning his career at Glasheen, before playing for

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

and Cork United. In 1942, O'Neill embarked on a move up north to play for

Belfast Celtic Belfast Celtic Football Club was an Irish football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for political reaso ...

. O'Neill spent six season at Belfast Celtic playing in the Irish League. During his time at Belfast Celtic, O'Neill scored 38 goals in the 1944–45 season as he finished the season as top scorer."O'Neill for Walsall", ''Burnley Express'', 20 January 1951, p. 9 In 1948, O'Neill moved to England, signing for Southern League side Chelmsford City. During his first season in England, O'Neill made 39 appearances in all competitions, scoring 22 times as the ''Clarets'' finished runners up to Gillingham. O'Neill's form at Chelmsford earned him a move to

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

outfit

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. Whilst at Burnley, O'Neill primarily played for the club's reserve side in the

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League i ...

, as injuries plagued his time at Burnley. On 2 December 1950, O'Neill made his only first team appearance for Burnley, scoring in a 4–1 defeat away to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. In January 1951, O'Neill signed for

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

. During his time at Walsall, O'Neill scored 16 league goals in 51 games, before returning to Ireland, signing for

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 champio ...

in December 1952.

Managerial career

During the 1961–62 League of Ireland season, O'Neill returned to former club Cork Celtic as manager, with whom he formerly played for under the guise of Evergreen United.

Personal life

In 1950, O'Neill married Rita McFerran, who played

camogie Camogie ( ; ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...

for

Antrim GAA The Antrim County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association () or Antrim GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The county board is also responsible for t ...

, at Corpus Christi Church,

Whitehall, Dublin Whitehall () is a Northside suburb of Dublin City, Ireland. Whitehall is a residential area on the northern outskirts of Dublin's inner city, located near the M1 motorway leading to Dublin Airport, Swords and Belfast. It is situated between ...

."Liam weds", ''Essex Chronicle'', 7 July 1950, p. 8

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:O'Neill, Liam 1919 births Year of death missing Men's association football forwards Association footballers from Cork (city) Belfast Celtic F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Cork United F.C. (1940–1948) players English Football League players Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Walsall F.C. players Southern Football League players Republic of Ireland association football managers 20th-century Irish sportsmen NIFL Premiership players