Peter McParland
 McParland in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Peter James McParland | ||
| Date of birth | 25 April 1934 | ||
| Place of birth | Newry, Northern Ireland | ||
| Date of death | 4 May 2025 (aged 91) | ||
| Position(s) | Outside left | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1951–1952 | Dundalk | 14 | (2) |
| 1952–1962 | Aston Villa | 293 | (98) |
| 1962–1963 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 21 | (10) |
| 1963–1964 | Plymouth Argyle | 38 | (15) |
| 1964–1965 | Worcester City | (11) | |
| 1965 | Toronto Inter-Roma | ||
| 1965 | Peterborough United | 0 | (0) |
| 1965–1967 | Worcester City | (7) | |
| 1967–1968 | Atlanta Chiefs | 54 | (14) |
| 1968–1971 | Glentoran | 7 | (3) |
| Total | 427 | (160) | |
| International career | |||
| 1954–1962 | Northern Ireland | 34 | (10) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1968–1971 | Glentoran | ||
| 1980 | Hong Kong | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Peter James McParland (25 April 1934 – 4 May 2025) was a Northern Irish footballer who played as an outside left. He was the last surviving member of the Aston Villa team which won the 1957 FA Cup, in which game he scored twice.[1] McParland won 34 caps for Northern Ireland, scoring 10 international goals including the winner that sent the team into the World Cup quarter-finals in 1958. He is Northern Ireland's leading scorer at a World Cup tournament.[2]
His international captain and English Hall of Fame member Danny Blanchflower considered McParland "the finest ever inside forward in British football".[3]
Club career
[edit]Dundalk
[edit]McParland was born in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland. He was spotted playing for Dundalk in the League of Ireland by Aston Villa manager George Martin.
Aston Villa
[edit]A fine header and striker of the ball, McParland holds a unique place in English football history as the first player to score in and win both English major domestic knockout finals. During his time with Aston Villa, McParland was influenced by Jimmy Hogan.[4] He later won the FA Cup in 1957, scoring twice in the final against Manchester United but also becoming involved in an incident in which he shoulder-charged (at the time a legitimate form of challenge) the Manchester United goalkeeper, Ray Wood, after only six minutes which left Wood unconscious and with a broken cheekbone. McParland scored both goals in his team's 2-1 victory.[3]
McParland also won the Second Division title in 1960 and the League Cup in 1961 with Aston Villa. He was on the scoresheet for the second leg of the 1961 League Cup Final, when the home team overturned a 2–0 deficit against Rotherham United to win the second leg 3–0 at Villa Park and became the winners of the first Football League Cup.
McParland became the last surviving player from the 1957 FA Cup Final after the death of Bobby Charlton in October 2023.
Wolverhampton Wanderers and Plymouth Argyle
[edit]Following Aston Villa, McParland joined local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers for a brief spell in 1962. Although he was only there for one season, he did manage to score 10 goals in 21 games. The following season McParland moved on to Plymouth Argyle, his final English league club (although he later turned out for Worcester City in the Southern League), before hanging up his boots. In 1965, McParland was recruited to play for Toronto Inter-Roma FC of the Eastern Canadian Professional Soccer League.[5] He scored many memorable goals, especially one against the Hamilton Steelers to give his side the victory.
McParland played for the Atlanta Chiefs of the North American Soccer League in 1967 and 1968.[6] He ended his career as player-manager of Glentoran.[7]
International career
[edit]McParland scored twice in his debut against Wales in 1953–54 season and played very well for Northern Ireland in the 1958 FIFA World Cup in which he scored five goals and helped his team to the quarter-final against France.
In April 2015, the feature-length documentary Spirit of '58 was screened as part of the Belfast Film Festival. It featured Peter McParland prominently alongside the other surviving players at the time (Billy Bingham, Billy Simpson, Jimmy McIlroy and Harry Gregg) as it told the story of Northern Ireland's journey throughout the 1950s under the managership of Peter Doherty, culminating in the 1958 World Cup. Following the death of Billy Bingham in June 2022, McParland was the last surviving member of the Northern Ireland team that played during the 1958 FIFA World Cup.
Personal life
[edit]McParland died on 4 May 2025, at the age of 91.[1][8]
Career statistics
[edit]International
[edit]- Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each McParland goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 31 March 1954 | Wrexham, Wales |  Wales |
2–0 | 1954 British Home Championship |
| 2 | |||||
| 3 | 11 June 1958 | Halmstad, Sweden |  Argentina |
1–3 | 1958 FIFA World Cup |
| 4 | 15 June 1958 | Malmö, Sweden |  West Germany |
2–2 | 1958 FIFA World Cup |
| 5 | |||||
| 6 | 17 June 1958 | Malmö, Sweden |  Czechoslovakia |
2–1 | 1958 FIFA World Cup |
| 7 | |||||
| 8 | 22 April 1959 | Wrexham, Wales | Wales |
4–1 | 1959 British Home Championship |
| 9 | |||||
| 10 | 9 November 1960 | Glasgow, Scotland |  Scotland |
2–5 | 1961 British Home Championship |
Honours
[edit]Aston Villa
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Tribute to Peter McParland". Aston Villa Football Club. 4 May 2025.
- ^ Graham Luney, "'He was a very honest guy': NI's 1958 World Cup hero Peter McParland fondly remembered after passing at age of 91". Belfast Telegraph, 4 May 2025. Retrieved 5 May 2025
- ^ a b Steven Beacom, 'The Newry-born striker who stole the limelight from Brazil legend Pele at World Cup finals in Sweden'. Belfast Telegraph, 5 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025
- ^ "How total football inventor was lost to Hungary". The Guardian. 22 November 2003. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
- ^ "Crosswords". The Province. Vancouver. 26 April 1965. p. 15. Retrieved 22 August 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "NASL". Nasljerseys.com. 25 April 1934. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
- ^ "Peter McParland". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
- ^ "Northern Ireland and Aston Villa legend Peter McParland dies at 91". The Express Tribune. 4 May 2025. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
- ^ Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack (1977). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977–78. London: Brickfield Publications Ltd. p. 490. ISBN 0354-09018-6.
- ^ Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack (1977). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977–78. London: Brickfield Publications Ltd. p. 505. ISBN 0354-09018-6.
External links
[edit]- Peter McParland at IMDb
- Peter McParland at Soccerbase
- 1934 births
- 2025 deaths
- Aston Villa F.C. players
- Dundalk F.C. players
- League of Ireland players
- 1958 FIFA World Cup players
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Northern Ireland men's international footballers
- Expatriate men's association footballers from Northern Ireland
- National Professional Soccer League (1967) players
- North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
- Atlanta Chiefs players
- Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
- Association footballers from Newry
- Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland
- Plymouth Argyle F.C. players
- Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
- Worcester City F.C. players
- Toronto Roma players
- Association football managers from Northern Ireland
- Glentoran F.C. managers
- AEL Limassol managers
- Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League players
- English Football League players
- English Football League representative players
- Expatriate association football managers from Northern Ireland
- Expatriate football managers in Hong Kong
- Hong Kong national football team managers
- Expatriate football managers in Cyprus
- Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Cyprus
- Men's association football forwards
- Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada
- Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Canada
- Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in the United States
- Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Hong Kong
- Glentoran F.C. players
- NIFL Premiership players
- NIFL Premiership managers
- Men's association football player-managers