Patrick Joseph O'Beirne (15 June 1900 – 1980) 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 an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

. During a career spanning more than ten years, he played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921, Stalybridge Celti ...

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 ...

and

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, in addition to spells with several non-league clubs. Outside of football, O'Beirne served with the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and worked in the printing industry.

Biography

Joseph Patrick O'Beirne was born on 15 June 1900 in the town of

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

in south-east Ireland. He moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England with his family when he was young and grew up in the city, continuing to live there for the rest of his life, where he married Edith, his wife. They had a daughter called Patricia Ann. In his late teens, O'Beirne served in the

Welch Regiment The Welch Regiment (or "The Welch", an archaic spelling of "Welsh") was an infantry regiment line infantry, of the line of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1969. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the am ...

of the

. After retiring from professional football, he was employed as a

typesetter Typesetting is the composition of Written language, text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging metal type, physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''char ...

for the Daily Mail and was also an

Air Raid Precautions Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s a ...

warden during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He died in Manchester in the summer of 1980, at the age of 80.

Football career

O'Beirne played football for the Welch Regiment while in the Army, before joining local club Norman Athletic in 1920. A year later, he joined

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

side

on amateur terms, making one first-team appearance in the 1921–22 season. He was awarded a professional contract in March 1922 and played a further nine league matches in the following campaign. In August 1923, O'Beirne was signed on a free transfer by

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

outfit

. He made his debut for the club on 15 September 1923, replacing Albert Freeman, who had played in the previous two matches, in the goalless draw away at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. He appeared in the next three league games, and scored his first competitive goal in the

Lancashire Senior Cup The Lancashire County Football Association Cup (commonly known as the Lancashire Senior Cup) is an association football knockout tournament involving teams from Lancashire, England. It is a County Cup competition of the Lancashire County Footbal ...

tie against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

on 15 October 1922. He then spent over four months out of the team, unable to oust regular inside-left Benny Cross. O'Beirne was reinstated to the starting line-up for the 2–2 draw with Manchester City on 16 February 1923, but subsequently returned to the reserves for the remainder of the season.Simpson, p. 165 In the close season of 1924, O'Beirne moved to Third Division North club

for a fee of £150. He played his first league game for the club on 30 August 1924, in the 0–1 loss to

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

. He was a regular in the starting line-up throughout the opening weeks of the campaign, and was one of five goalscorers in the 7–1 win against Durham City at Seedhill on 16 September 1924.Dykes, p. 78 O'Beirne netted the only goal of the game as Nelson defeated Lincoln City two weeks later. He scored the final goal in the 4–1 defeat of

Winsford United Winsford United Football Club are a football club based in Winsford, Cheshire, England. The club was founded in 1883, they're nicknamed ''The Blues'' and their home ground is ''Barton Stadium''. Their all-time top scorer is Perry Plowman with 25 ...

in the Fifth Qualifying Round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

on 29 November 1924. Towards the middle of the season, he played several matches in an unfamiliar

outside-left In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

position before being dropped from the side following the 1–1 draw with

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

on 3 January 1925. O'Beirne was selected for the 0–2 loss away at

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

on 14 March 1925, which proved to be his final league appearance for Nelson. In December 1925, he was sent on loan to

non-league Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

side

Middlewich Middlewich is a town and civil parish in Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is located east of Chester, east of Winsford, south-east of Northwich and north-west of Sandbach. The population of the parish at the United Kingdom 2021 census, ...

until the end of the 1925–26 season. O'Beirne then spent two years out of football before joining Cheshire outfit

Congleton Town Congleton Town Football Club is an association football club based in Congleton, Cheshire, England. They currently play in the and are full members of the Cheshire County Football Association. The club have played in a number of regional leagu ...

in the summer of 1928. He signed for Manchester Central two seasons later, before re-joining Stalybridge Celtic in 1931. He retired from playing football in 1932 to work in the printing industry. He also worked as a scout for Manchester City, until the 1970s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obeirne, Joseph 1900 births Men's association football forwards Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Nelson F.C. players Congleton Town F.C. players English Football League players 1980 deaths Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Irish association footballers (before 1923) Association footballers from County Waterford Manchester Central F.C. players 20th-century British Army personnel Welch Regiment soldiers Civil Defence Service personnel 20th-century Irish sportsmen