Joe_McAleer

Joe McAleer

Joe McAleer

Scottish footballer (1910–1949)

Joseph Edward McAleer (8 March 1910 – 17 April 1949) was a Scottish professional footballer. During his career he played for clubs in all the countries of the British Isles.

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In 1930, following playing over several seasons for Junior League level clubs around Glasgow, he signed with east coast Scottish Football League Second Division club Arbroath.[7] In his second league game for 'the Red Lichties' he scored all five goals in a 5–1 defeat of Armadale.[8] After one season with Arbroath he moved south to England and signed with Football League Third Division North team Rochdale.[9] He remained there for two seasons – during the first of which, 1931–1932, the club finished bottom of the league (but were re-elected) and with seven strikes from his 20 matches he was the club’s second highest league goalscorer.

Over the next eight seasons he became a nomadic player: not commanding a regular spot he spent no more than a single season with any club. After leaving Rochdale he signed in July 1933 with Irish League club Glenavon[10] but by early August, before the season commenced, he had been granted release from his contract.[11] At the end of that month he joined Northampton Town[12] of the Football League Third Division South and stayed for the remainder of the 1933–1934 season. Over the next three years he had single season stays at Football league clubs Lincoln City[13] of the Third Division North and then two Third Division South clubs Clapton Orient[14] and Gillingham[15] for whom he scored a winning goal on his debut.[16]

In August 1937 it was reported he had signed for Kent League outfit Ashford and was named in a prospective teamsheet[17] but nothing came of this and by mid October he was with Brideville of the League of Ireland.[18] However at the end of the same month he signed on with Welsh club Wrexham[19] who were members of the Football League Third Division North and stayed until the season’s end. During the next season in late October 1938 he played as a trialist for Stirling based King's Park of Scottish Football League Second Division and scored a hat-trick:[20] in early December he signed for the club[21] and played with them for the remainder of the campaign.

In August 1939 he returned to Northern Ireland signing with Glentoran.[22] However once again his stay in the country was short – in mid September with football in the United Kingdom being disrupted by the Second World War his contract was cancelled by mutual consent[23] and he moved over the border to Ireland and signed-on with League of Ireland Sligo Rovers.[24] He was the league’s third-equal highest goalscorer over the 1939–1940 season with 15 goals[25] and played for the club in their losing appearance in the final of the 1940 FAI Cup.[26]

In the summer of 1940 he stayed within the same league but changed clubs to Limerick.[27] The 1940–1941 season was the first of a multi-season stay at the club: he was connected to Limerick over the next nine years and was club coach at his death in April 1949.[28]

In 1948 he had been the team trainer for the League of Ireland team to face a Scottish League XI.[29]

References

  1. [1]
    Joe McAleer at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  2. [2]
    "In Memoriam: McAleer, First Anniversary". Irish Independent. 17 April 1950. p. 2.
  3. [3]
    "St Roch's FC: Club Notes". St Roch's FC. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  4. [4]
    "St. Roch's, 6; Bellshill Athletic, 1". Motherwell Times. 16 April 1926. p. 7.
  5. [5]
    "Rob Roy v. Bridgeton Waverley". Kirkintilloch Herald. 22 December 1926. p. 3.
  6. [6]
    "Scottish Junior A.G.M.". Wilshaw Press. 28 June 1929. p. 7.
  7. [7]
    "Maroons Sign On New Centre Forward". Arbroath Herald. 4 July 1930. p. 9.
  8. [8]
    "Joe McAleer Player Profile". Arbroath Archive. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  9. [9]
    "En Passant". Arbroath Herald. 17 July 1931. p. 7.
  10. [10]
    "Glenavon F.C.: Players Signed To Date". Lurgan Mail. 22 July 1933. p. 7.
  11. [11]
    "Football Topics". Londonderry Sentinel. 8 August 1933. p. 6.
  12. [12]
    "Football:Cobblers Draw at Aldershot". Northampton Mercury. 1 September 1933. p. 16.
  13. [13]
    "City Sign New Forward: Scot Who Can Play On Either Wing". Lincolnshire Echo. 8 August 1934. p. 1.
  14. [14]
    "Former Gayfield Player Transferred". Arbroath Guide. 20 July 1935. p. 7.
  15. [15]
    "Many Newcomers For Kent Football: Gillingham". Kentish Express. 14 August 1936. p. 14.
  16. [16]
    "All games featuring Joe McAleer". Gillingham FC Scrapbook. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  17. [17]
    "Football: Ashford Signings". Kentish Express. 27 August 1937. p. 12.
  18. [18]
    "Tommy Morrison". Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette. 16 October 1937. p. 6.
  19. [19]
    "Joe McAleer". Wrexham AFC Archive. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  20. [20]
    "Cook To Play". Edinburgh Evening New. 2 November 1938. p. 16.
  21. [21]
    "Unchanged Fifers". Dundee Courier. 7 December 1938. p. 9.
  22. [22]
    "Big Crowd At Shamrock Park". Belfast Telegraph. 28 August 1939. p. 11.
  23. [23]
    "McAleer Leaves Glentoran". Belfast Telegraph. 23 September 1939. p. 3.
  24. [24]
    "Keen Game In Show Grounds: Rovers Share Points With Gate". Sligo Champion. 30 September 1939. p. 3.
  25. [25]
    "League of Ireland Seasons: 1940-40 League of Ireland Season". League of Ireland Seasons. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  26. [26]
    "Previous Cup Finals". Sligo Champion. 13 May 1994. p. 36.
  27. [27]
    "Shield Leaders Clash". Irish Independent. 14 September 1940. p. 2.
  28. [28]
    "Limerick's New Coach And Team Manager". Edinburgh Evening Herald (Dublin). 7 December 1949. p. 10.
  29. [29]
    "League Of Ireland Team v Scots". Edinburgh Evening Herald (Dublin). 20 April 1948. p. 8.
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