On This Day in the LOI – 18th May 18th May 1965: Pat Morley was born on this day in Cork. The former Cork City striker scored 182 goals (third on the all-time list behind only Brendan Bradley and Jason Byrne) in 448 league appearances and is also Co
On This Day in the LOI – 18th May
18th May 1965: Pat Morley was born on this day in Cork. The former Cork City striker scored 182 goals (third on the all-time list behind only Brendan Bradley and Jason Byrne) in 448 league appearances and is also Cork City's joint record goalscorer. He started his career at Waterford United in 1984 for whom he scored a hat-trick on his League debut against Finn Harps in Ballybofey and after a year at the club, attracted the attentions of Limerick City where he moved. He briefly moved back to Waterford in 1987 before another brief move to Sunshine Springs George Cross in Australia. He returned to Ireland shortly thereafter and signed for his hometown club in 1989. He spent seven years at Cork in his first spell before moving to Shelbourne where he scored 15 goals in 34 appearances in two years at the club before spending the final four years of his career at Cork. He won a Premier League championship medal with Cork City in 1992/93 and he was leading goal scorer in the League that season and again in 1999/2000.
18th May 1985: John Russell was born on this day in Galway. The current Sligo Rovers midfielder and assistant manager started his career in 2003 with hometown club Galway United where he spent six years before a move to Sligo in 2010. His form impressed at the Showgrounds and he was snapped up by St. Patrick's Athletic in 2012. Russell moved back to Sligo in 2014 and after a brief spell at Westport United, returned to the club in 2019. He is also an FAI Development Officer and his sister Julie-Ann is a Republic of Ireland international.
18th May 1989: Danny Lafferty born on this day in Derry. The former Northern Ireland international started his career with Oxford United Stars before joining Scottish giants Celtic in 2006. He moved back home to Derry City in 2010 and helped the Candystripes secure the League Cup in 2011 and impressed during his two years with the club to earn a move to Burnley. He spent five years at Turf Moor where he also had a number of loan spells at Rotherham United, Oldham Athletic and Sheffield United. He signed for the latter permanently in 2017 and also had a loan spell at Peterborough United in 2019 before signing for Shamrock Rovers that summer. He helped Rovers lift the FAI Cup in November 2019 with victory over Dundalk at the Aviva Stadium. He has won 13 senior caps for Northern Ireland and has also been capped at U19, U21 and B levels.
18th May 1990: Conor McCormack was born on this day in Carlingford, County Louth. The 30-year old was on the books of Manchester United as a youngster and also moved to Italy with Triestina before signing his first professional contract with Shamrock Rovers in 2011. In two years at the club, he made over 50 appearances for Rovers, winning the 2011 Premier Division title, 2013 League Cup & the Setanta Sports Cup in 2011 & 2013. He signed for St. Patrick's Athletic in 2014 where he won the FAI Cup but spent one season with the club before signing for Derry City in 2015. His form attracted the attentions of John Caulfield's Cork City and he was a key member of the double winning team of 2017. He left Leeside in 2019 and returned to Derry for the 2020 season.
On This Day in Irish Football - 18th May
18th May 1938: The Republic of Ireland drew 2-2 with Czechoslovakia in a friendly match played at the Letna Stadium in Prague before an attendance of 18,000 spectators. The home side led twice from goals scored by Oldrich Nejedly ( pen.3, 46) but Ireland secured a draw through goals by Tom Davis (42) and Jimmy Dunne (90). Dunne, who was now with Shamrock Rovers, scored his 10th international goal in only his ninth appearance. Matt O’Mahoney (Bristol Rovers) who was born in Mullinavat, Co. Kilkenny made his international debut in this match.
18th May 1939: The Republic of Ireland drew 2-2 with Hungary in a friendly match played at the Hungaria Koruti Stadion in Budapest before an attendance of 25,000 spectators. The teams had also drawn 2-2 just two months earlier at The Mardyke, Cork. Ferenc Kollath (41, 86) scored both goals for the Hungarians and Kevin O’Flanagan (55, 70) scored both of the Irish goals. It was the first Irish international match to be played on a Thursday.
18th May 1960: The Republic of Ireland lost by 4-1 to Sweden in a friendly match played at the Malmo Stadium in Malmo before an attendance of 20,000 spectators. Sweden, who were runners-up in the 1958 World Cup, scored through Agne Simonsson (25,30), Seamus Dunne (o.g. 43) and Rune Borjesson (89). Ireland’s goal was scored from a 77th minute penalty by Fionan Fagan. Goalkeeper Maurice Swan of Drumcondra won his only cap as a half-time substitute for the injured Noel Dwyer. Six months earlier, the Swedes were beaten 3-2 at Dalymount Park with debutant Johnny Giles getting on the score sheet.
18th May 1975: The Republic of Ireland lost by 2-1 to the Soviet Union in a European Championship qualifying match played in the Central Stadium in Kiev before an attendance of 100,000 spectators. Ireland had started their six match campaign with two wins and a draw including the famous 3-0 win over the Soviets at Dalymount Park seven months earlier. However, this defeat swung the pendulum back in favour of the Soviets who lined out with an entire Dynamo Kiev team (also managed by Valeriy Lobanovskyi) including ten of the team that four days earlier had won the European Cup Winners’ Cup Final against Ferencvaros in Basel. Oleg Blokhin (13) and Viktor Kolotov (29) scored for the home side with Eoin Hand (79) replying for Ireland.
18th May 1999: Mark Travers was born on this day in Maynooth, Co. Kildare. Travers played for Lucan United, Cherry Orchard and Shamrock Rovers before moving over to AFC Bournemouth at the age of 17 in 2016. He has since made three appearances for the Cherries in the Premier League. He has represented the Republic of Ireland at every under-age level and earned his first senior cap in September 2019 in the 3-1 win over Bulgaria and his second cap against New Zealand two months later.
