Five Manchester United players featured in Northern Ireland’s starting line-up for six matches in the late 1970s: Tommy Jackson, David McCreery, Chris McGrathand, Sammy McIlroy and Jimmy Nicholl. Former Manchester United favorites Trevor Anderson and George Best also took part.
Samuel McIlroy was born on August 2, 1954 in the troubled city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Having been brought up in the heart of Protestant East Belfast, he was steeped from an early age in a marinade of politics and religion. Nonetheless, East Belfast has produced a host of immensely talented Manchester United players over the years, including household names like George Best, Eric McMordie, David McCreery and Norman Whiteside. After being spotted by famed United scout Bob Bishop while still a schoolboy, his family advised McIlroy to seek his footballing fortune in the calm climes of Lancashire, as Northern Ireland teetered on the brink of collapse. the civil War.
The last youth player to be signed by legendary Manchester United manager Sir Matt Busby, Sammy McIlroy arrived in Manchester as an unassuming 14-year-old in the summer of 1969. He found the net on his United debut against the fierce rival Manchester City in November. 1971, the talented youngster quickly became a huge hit with the Old Trafford faithful. Eventually establishing himself in the Manchester United first team during the 1974-75 season, McIlroy went on to make a total of 391 appearances for the Reds. The young veteran also played a part in United’s fantastic revival under Tommy Docherty in the mid-1970s, winning the Second Division title with the Reds in 1975 and the FA Cup two years later.
Sammy McIlroy ultimately decided to leave Manchester United at the end of the 1981-82 season and went on to play for Stoke City, Manchester City, Bury, Preston North End and Northwich Victoria. The hard-working Ulsterman also had an extraordinary international career, winning a total of 88 caps for his beloved Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1987.
“Protestant people in Northern Ireland were used and abused by the British. How can you have working class people living in poverty voting Conservative? You watched two working class people shoot each other and asked what it was like that possible. It was divide and conquer, the British trait of the year’s item.”
Paddy Crerand quote.