Noel McFarlane
Personal information
Full name William Noel McFarlane
Date of birth (1934-12-20)20 December 1934
Place of birth Bray, County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland
Date of death 19 March 2019(2019-03-19) (aged 84)
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1952–1953 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1953–1956 Manchester United 1 (0)
1956–? Waterford
Altrincham
International career
Republic of Ireland Schoolboys
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Noel McFarlane (20 December 1934 – 19 March 2019) was an Irish footballer who played as a forward. Born in Bray, County Wicklow, he played junior football in Ireland before moving to England to join Manchester United in 1952. After four years in England, he returned to Ireland with Waterford before briefly retiring due to illness, only to return to England to play non-league football with Altrincham.

Career

McFarlane was born in Bray, County Wicklow, and played junior football in the area, earning a call-up to the Republic of Ireland Schoolboys national team. In April 1952, he signed for English club Manchester United, joining a youth team filled with players known as the Busby Babes after the club's manager, Matt Busby. McFarlane was a regular for the youth team during the 1952–53 season, and played in both legs of the inaugural FA Youth Cup final in 1953, scoring twice in a 7–1 win in the first leg, leading to a 9–3 victory on aggregate.[1]

Despite being a mainstay in the youth team, McFarlane was unable to displace Johnny Berry in the senior side and did not make his first-team debut until February 1954, playing on the right wing in a 2–0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur. It was to be his only appearance for the club, with Colin Webster preferred as Berry's understudy, and in June 1956, McFarlane returned to Ireland to play for Waterford.[2] A knee injury forced him to retire, but he did later return to play non-league football in the Manchester area with Altrincham and Hyde United.[3]

Personal life

Noel's son Ross McFarlane was a successful professional golfer,[4] and went on to become a commentator for Sky Sports and other TV and media outlets. In 2014, Ross was convicted of paedophilia-related offences and given a 10-month suspended jail sentence; however, within weeks he was convicted of further offences and sentenced to 18 months in prison.[5]

McFarlane died in March 2019.[2]

References

Bibliography

  • Dykes, Garth (1994). The United Alphabet: A Complete Who's Who of Manchester United F.C. Leicester: ACL & Polar Publishing. ISBN 0-9514862-6-8.

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Dykes (1994), p. 239.
  2. 1 2 "Obituary: Noel McFarlane". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  3. ↑ "Altrincham FC Legends".
  4. ↑ "Ross McFarlane". europeantour.com. The PGA European Tour. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  5. ↑ Smith, Vicky (3 March 2014). "Paedophile Sky Sports commentator Ross McFarlane behind bars FOUR WEEKS after being spared jail". Daily Mirror. Mirror Group Newspapers. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.