Rodrigo Tosi announced his arrival at Limerick by scoring a fine hat-trick against Sligo Rovers in the opening day of the SSE Airtricity League season. A hat-trick on debut on the opening day of the season is an extremely rare feat and with the help
Rodrigo Tosi announced his arrival at Limerick by scoring a fine hat-trick against Sligo Rovers in the opening day of the SSE Airtricity League season.
A hat-trick on debut on the opening day of the season is an extremely rare feat and with the help of Michael Hayes from the SSE Airtricity League office, we've looked back into the history books to see who else achieved this feat.
Eddie Carroll
Eddie Carroll scored a hat-trick for Dundalk on his League of Ireland debut in the opening match of the 1927/28 season in a 5-2 win over Athlone Town at the Ranelagh Grounds on 20th August 1927.
He went on to score a total of 47 League goals in 73 appearances for Dundalk and was the League’s leading goalscorer in 1928/29 season.
He scored a total of 113 goals in all competitions for Dundalk.
And a total of 88 League goals for Dundalk, Dolphin and Drumcondra.
Syd Rellis
Syd Rellis (aged 19) scored a hat-trick for Waterford on his LOI debut in the opening match of the 1959/60 season in a 4-1 win over Transport at Kilcohan Park on 8th November 1959.
The former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland great, Jackie Carey who was then the manager of Everton was introduced to the players prior to kick-off.
Rellis was to score only once more in his career total of six League appearances.
John McCole
John McCole scored four goals for Cork Hibernians on his LOI debut in a 5-3 win over Waterford at Flower Lodge on 21st February 1965.
McCole, who was born in Gweedore but raised in Glasgow, had scored over a century of League goals for Falkirk, Bradford City, Leeds United (45 in 78 appearances), Rotherham United and Newport County before joining Cork Hibernians scoring a total of nine League goals for the club.
He is the only player to score four goals in a Football League Cup match for Leeds United scoring all four goals in the 4-0 win over Brentford at Elland Road on 13th September 1961 and was subsequently often referred to as “Four Goals McCole”. He died in 1982 at the age of 46.
Jim Behan
Jim Behan scored four goals for Thurles Town on his LOI debut in a 7-3 win over Galway United at Terryland Park (now named Eamonn Deacy Park) on 14th March 1982.
Behan did not score again in any of the other five League appearances that he made in what was the final season in the League for Thurles Town.
Pat Morley
Pat Morley (also aged 19) scored a hat-trick for Waterford on his LOI debut in a 4-1 win over Finn Harps at Finn Park on 25th November 1984.
Morley, the son of the late Cork Hibernians and Waterford stalwart Jackie, went on to play with Limerick, Shelbourne and Cork City scoring a total of 182 League goals in 448 appearances to become the third highest goalscorer in League history.
He was twice the leading goalscorer in the Premier Division – in 1992/93 and 1999/00.
The following are amongst the players to have scored a hat-trick on their League debut for a new club:
Paul Scully scored six goals on his League debut for Shamrock Rovers in the opening match of the 1935/36 season in a 9-3 win over Bray Unknowns at Glenmalure Park on 10th November 1935.
Brian Duff scored a hat-trick on his League debut for Galway United in a 3-0 win over Finn Harps at Terryland Park on 14th February 1982.
Liam Coyle scored a hat-trick on his League debut for Derry City in a 5-0 win over Cobh Ramblers as a substitute at Brandywell Stadium on 6th November 1988.
Ian Gilzean scored a hat-trick on his League debut for St. Patrick’s Athletic in a 4-3 win over his former club Sligo Rovers at The Showgrounds on 12th October 1997.
