On This Day in the LOI – 20th April 20th April 1939: Paddy Turner was born on this day in Dublin. Turner started his career in 1957 at Shamrock Rovers before a brief spell at Shelbourne. He moved across to Scotland with Morton in 1961 and his form a
On This Day in the LOI – 20th April
20th April 1939: Paddy Turner was born on this day in Dublin. Turner started his career in 1957 at Shamrock Rovers before a brief spell at Shelbourne. He moved across to Scotland with Morton in 1961 and his form attracted the attention of Celtic. Turner stayed for one year at Celtic before he moved to Belfast with Glentoran and after two years in the Irish League, he moved to Dundalk. A six-year spell at Oriel Park followed where he made over 140 league appearances for the club, scoring 54 goals. He ended his career at a short spell at Bohemians in 1973. Turner made two appearances for the Republic of Ireland national team.
20th April 1995: Current Sligo Rovers captain Kyle Callan-McFadden was born on this day in Ramelton, Donegal. He was signed by Norwich City in 2011 where he joined their Academy side and was part of the FA Youth Cup winning team in 2013, where he played every minute of the two-legged final. He made one appearance for Norwich before he moved to Orlando City B in 2016. After one year in America, Callan-McFadden moved back to Ireland with Sligo Rovers and the 24-year old has impressed for the Bit O'Red ever since.
On This Day in Irish Football - 20th April
20th April 1928: Johnny Gavin was born on this day in Limerick. He played with Limerick before joining Norwich City in 1948. He spent a season with Tottenham Hotspur before rejoining the Canaries for whom he scored a club record of 132 goals in 338 matches. He also played for Crystal Palace, Watford and Cambridge City. He was capped seven times for the Republic of Ireland between 1949 and 1956, scoring two goals. His goals both came in World Cup matches – on his debut against Finland at Dalymount Park on 8th September 1949 and from the penalty spot against Denmark also at Dalymount Park in October 1956. He passed away on 20th September 2007 at the age of 79 years.
20th April 1929: Ireland secured a 4-0 win over Belgium at Dalymount Park. The prolific John Joe Flood scored Ireland’s first hat-trick in what was our fourth international match. Flood scored his goals in the 32an impressive hat-trick, having put Ireland into the lead a minute before the break. He added two more goals in the second-half before David Byrne added a fourth two minutes from time.
20th April 1967: Former Republic of Ireland international Alan McLoughlin was born on this day in Manchester, England. After starting his career at Manchester United, McLoughlin went on to play for Swindon Town, Torquay United, Southampton, Aston Villa, Portsmouth, Wigan Athletic, Rochdale and Forest Green Rovers. McLoughlin made 42 appearances for the Republic of Ireland national team, including two appearances at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, coming on against England and Egypt. His most famous moment in an Ireland shirt came in the 1-1 draw against Northern Ireland in 1993 where his equaliser sent Ireland to the 1994 World Cup.
20th April 1976: Former Republic of Ireland international Steve Finnan was born on this day in Limerick. He started his career in the youth system at Wimbledon before he joined Welling United to kick-start his career in 1993. He went on to play for Birmingham City and Notts County before his move to Fulham accelerated his career. He won the First and Second Division with the club to earn promotion to the Premiership where his form attracted the attentions of Liverpool. He had a hugely successful five-year spell with Liverpool where he won the UEFA Champions League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. He made 53 appearances in an Ireland shirt, scoring two goals against Cyprus and Finland. Finnan played in every match at the 2002 World Cup.
20th April 1976: Former Republic of Ireland international goalkeeper Shay Given was born on this day in Lifford. Given had a glittering career at club level after starting his professional career at Blackburn Rovers in 1994. He went on to play for Swindon Town, Sunderland, Newcastle United, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Stoke City. He won the FA Cup with Manchester City in 2011 and the UEFA InterToto Cup in 2006 with Newcastle United. His international career started in 1996 against Russia and he went on to make 134 appearances for his country. He became Ireland's longest serving player of all-time in the 2-1 home defeat against Belarus in 2016, beating Johnny Giles' previous record.
20th April 1994: As Ireland prepared for their trip to America for the 1994 World Cup, Ireland travelled to Tilburg to take on the Netherlands in a tough friendly encounter. Backed by a large travelling support, Ireland secured an impressive 1-0 victory thanks to Paddy Coyne's close-range finish.
