Ronnie Whelan Sr. (17 November 1936 – 16 July 1993) was a Republic of Ireland international footballer, who played for several clubs, most notably St. Patrick's Athletic. He is the father of Ronnie Jr. Another son, Paul, and a grandson, Gavin, were also

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 ...

players. Whelan died in July 1993 at the age of 56 from

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

Playing career

Clubs

Two fellow Ireland internationals played a role in the development of Whelan's early career. Legend has it, Whelan was initially "discovered" by the wife of Paddy Moore, who then recommended him to her husband who was coaching Stella Maris at the time. Later Whelan was invited by his neighbour, Liam Whelan, to join him at Home Farm. After an unsuccessful trial with Chelsea, Whelan signed for St Patrick's Athletic. Between

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

he was a prominent member of the St. Pat's forward line and was the club's leading goalscorer in five out of twelve seasons, scoring a total of 89 goals. During this time he helped St. Pat's win the 1958–59 and 1960–61

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 ...

finals and the 1959–60 League of Ireland Shield. Whelan was awarded a benefit game in May 1963 and in May 1965 he guested for

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 ...

in another benefit game . A run of injuries, effectively ended his St. Pat's career but he subsequently joined

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

for a further six seasons, helping them reach the 1970–71

final. While with Drogheda, Whelan also scored a further 20 league goals. He later played for Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) in the League of Ireland B Division and then

Aer Lingus Aer Lingus ( ; an anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish , meaning "air fleet") is an Irish airline company which is the flag carrier of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 201 ...

of the Leinster Senior League. Whelan also worked for Aer Lingus.

Representative career

Republic of Ireland

In the 1963–64 season Whelan made two full appearances for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. On 25 September 1963 Whelan played in a European Nations Cup qualifier against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. The game finished 0–0. On 24 May 1964 Whelan came on as a substitute after just five minutes for an injured Joe Haverty in a friendly against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

. Ireland lost this game 3–1.

League of Ireland XI

Whelan played for the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the Airtricity League XI for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of Ireland. For much of its history, the League ...

on at least two occasions. On 17 March 1961 he played against an Irish League XI. On 2 October 1963 at

, Whelan scored the winner for the League of Ireland XI in a 2–1 win against an English League XI. This English League XI included four players – Ray Wilson,

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA ...

Roger Hunt Roger Hunt (20 July 1938 – 27 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Eleven years with Liverpool, he was the club's record goalscorer with 285 goals until being overtaken by Ian Rush. Nonetheless, H ...

and

Martin Peters Martin Stanford Peters (8 November 1943 – 21 December 2019) was an English Association football, footballer and manager. As a member of the England national football team, England team which won the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he scored the second o ...

– who subsequently went on to help

win the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

. At the time Whelan was working for Unidare, a

Finglas Finglas (; ) is a northwestern outer suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies close to Junction 5 of the M50 motorway (Ireland), M50 motorway, and the N2 road (Ireland), N2 road. Nearby suburbs include Glasnevin and Ballymun; Du ...

-based electrical firm. Whelan subsequently received a warning from his boss at Unidare for taking time off to play in this game.foot.ie/archive
/ref> ''Balls Remembers The Night The League Of Ireland Beat The English Football League''
/ref>

Dublin XI

In 1964 Whelan played for a Dublin XI against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Honours

St Patrick's Athletic

**''Winners'': 1958–59, 1960–61 * League of Ireland Shield **1959–60

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

**''Runners-up'': 1970–71

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whelan, Ronnie Sr. 1936 births 1993 deaths Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Stella Maris F.C. players Home Farm F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Drogheda United F.C. players League of Ireland players League of Ireland XI players Shamrock Rovers F.C. guest players Deaths from stomach cancer in the Republic of Ireland Association footballers from County Dublin Leinster Senior League (association football) players 20th-century Irish sportsmen