Paddy McIlvenny
Personal information
Full name Patrick Dennis McIlvenny[1]
Date of birth (1924-09-11)11 September 1924[1]
Place of birth Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date of death 6 March 2013(2013-03-06) (aged 88)[2]
Place of death Burgess Hill, England
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[3]
Position(s) Right half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Distillery
1947–1950 Merthyr Tydfil
1950 Glenavon
1950–1951 Cardiff City 0 (0)
1951–1955 Brighton & Hove Albion 60 (5)
1955–195? Aldershot 16 (0)
Hastings United
Dover
Managerial career
1961–196? Southwick
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Patrick Dennis McIlvenny (11 September 1924 – 6 March 2013) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played in the Football League as a wing half for Brighton & Hove Albion and Aldershot in the 1950s.[1] He also played in Northern Ireland for Distillery and Glenavon, was on the books of Cardiff City without playing for their first team, and appeared in the Southern League for Merthyr Tydfil, Hastings United and Dover.

Life and career

McIlvenny was born in Belfast in 1924,[1] and named after his father, the Ireland international footballer Paddy McIlvenny. His younger brother Bobby also played in the Football League.[3][4]

McIlvenny was on the books of Distillery as an amateur before signing for Merthyr Tydfil of the Southern League in 1947.[3][5] He played alongside his brother Bobby in the team that won the 1947–48 Southern League title.[6][7] Both contributed to Merthyr reaching the final of the 1948–49 Welsh Cup, but only Bobby was a member of the eleven that won the trophy for the first time in the club's history.[8] In late 1949, McIlvenny returned to Ireland apparently without his club's permission.[9] A few weeks later, he joined Irish League club Glenavon, having reportedly been released at his own request after Merthyr reneged on a promise of a house when he married.[5]

He signed for Cardiff City later that year, but never made the breakthrough to their first team, and moved on to Brighton & Hove Albion in 1951. Kept out of the team by Jess Willard in his first season, he was a regular thereafter until, in March 1954, torn knee cartilage effectively ended his Albion career. Although the club offered him a new contract, he was unable to agree terms, and joined another Third Division South club, Aldershot, in December 1955.[3][10] After 16 league appearances, McIlvenny returned to the Southern League with Hastings United and Dover, and then managed Sussex County League side Southwick.[3]

After leaving professional football, McIlvenny set up and ran a building firm in the Brighton area.[3] He was an active golfer, captained the Sussex county team in the 1970s, and was a vice-president of the Sussex Golf Union.[11] He died in a Burgess Hill care home in 2013 at the age of 88.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Paddy McIlvenny". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Paddy McIlvenny 1924 to 2013 R.I.P." Sussex County Golf Union. March 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-9521337-1-1.
  4. ↑ "Bobby McIlvenny". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Glenavon's new signing". Irish Independent. 13 January 1950. p. 9.
  6. ↑ "Snow did not prevent good football". Merthyr Express. 28 February 1948. p. 10.
  7. ↑ "Merthyr Tydfil". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  8. ↑ Candac (7 May 1949). "Merthyr win Welsh Cup for first time". Merthyr Express. p. 14.
  9. ↑ Candac (17 December 1949). "Talking sport". Merthyr Express. p. 14.
  10. ↑ "Jerry the Sport meets: Paddy McIllvenney". The Seagull Love Review. September 2008. pp. 28–29. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  11. ↑ "News in brief: Farewell Paddy". Golf News. No. 221. May 2013. p. 7.
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