Jack O'Reilly (born 7 May 1914, date of death unknown) was an Irish

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 ...

. He was born in Queenstown. He joined

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 * ...

in 1935 as an outside right. The following year he was a runner up in the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

Final to

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

. However shortly afterwards he became embroiled in controversy when it emerged that, together with Owen Madden, he had signed for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

before playing in the cup final on 19 April. When Cork F.C., who received no fee, protested over the moves, both O'Reilly and Madden were suspended by the FAI for three years. Although he scored twice on his Norwich debut he was never a regular and returned to Cork in 1939 where he went on to win six

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

championships and 2

s. Played in a total of 5 Cup Finals scoring seven times. Scored twice in the 1941 FAI Cup final. www.irishtimes.com
/ref> He won his two senior caps for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in the space of a week in 1946. He scored on his debut on 16 June in a 3-1 defeat to Portugal and seven days later won his only other cap in a 1-0 win over Spain in Madrid. After retiring from the game, O'Reilly emigrated to Canada.

Honours

: 6 ** Cork United 1940/41, 1941/42, 1942/43, 1944/45, 1945/46 **

Cork Athletic Cork Athletic Football Club was an Irish football club based in Cork. History The club played in the League of Ireland between 1948 and 1957. It were the successor club of Cork United; when United quit the league in October 1948, Cork Athle ...

1949/50 *

: 2 ** Cork United 1941, 1947

References

Sources

Details of Spain v Ireland 23/6/1946Details of Portugal v Ireland 16/6/1946
* The Complete Who's Who of Irish International Football, 1945-96 (1996):Stephen McGarrigle * The Boys In Green - The FAI International Story (1997): Sean Ryan {{DEFAULTSORT:Oreilly, Jack 1914 births Year of death missing Association footballers from County Cork Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Ireland (FAI) men's international footballers League of Ireland players Cobh Ramblers F.C. players Cork F.C. players Cork United F.C. (1940–1948) players Cork Athletic F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players League of Ireland XI players Men's association football forwards Sportspeople from Cobh 20th-century Irish sportsmen