“The ball was about a yard over the line” – My Dad, Joe Blair (in Ballywalter, 1991).
As time goes on, I became more and more interested in the football career of my Dad. My Dad Joe Blair played 11 a side football in three countries (Northern Ireland, England, Scotland) spanning 7 decades in a decorated career that makes more interesting reading now, than it did when I was younger. The reason is, as recently as 2017 (when he was aged 68!!) my Dad still played a 60 minute match (4 a side) and was the best player on the pitch! I aim to get some more videos, photos and stats added here. Piece by piece. Sadly in the early days of Dad’s playing career not many photos or videos, or match reports exist.
This is an overview of all the teams I have records of Dad playing for, with some incredible facts and stories to come. While Dad never played top flight Irish League or any major leagues in England and Scotland, he played for over 15 different teams and will always be my football hero and my epic journeyman. When I realised how many clubs Dad had played for and the fact that he played in a 4 a side match for 60 minutes with me aged 68 I realised time slipped away and I forgot how good Dad was. Dad played the game for fun and he always played with passion and flair. His mentality and love for the game never wilted. He’d still “drill a penalty hard and low beyond the keeper’s reach”.
As a kid, Dad had a trophy cabinet brimming with trophies from his multiple club career. They will hopefully be around somewhere. It really put my football awards to shame – All I have to show are a BB Jubilee Cup runners up medal and a BB Northern Ireland Cup winners medal, both in the 1990s. Dad played for some crazy teams, and in plenty of different weathers, pitches, stadiums, conditions, colours. Dad rarely said no to a match.
In those days, there are not many records of Dad’s career so I have to piece it all together using the few photos I have, plus my Dad’s chats to me about it as well as some input from my Mum, brothers Marko and Daniel. I really need a long video chat with my Dad to be recorded so I have it all as proof from Dad himself. Most of the stuff written here was peiced together over a number of years and with some research. My brothers are younger than me and didn’t even see Dad play for Bangor Amateurs in what was his Swansong season in 1990 – 1991, when Dad flourished and still played and scored in Amateur League football up to his 42nd birthday. I watched most Dad’s matches live that season, mixed with watching Glentoran FC and the Northern Ireland international team.
Video footage of Dad playing football is also rare or non existent – in fact, I couldn’t find ANY video footage of Dad in an 11 a side match. Probably the best video which only shows a glimpse of Dad’s skills and reading of the game, can be seen in the clip below. What’s incredible is that in this clip, it is just a 4 a side match in Belfast in November 2017 and my Dad is 68 years old!! I am the second oldest player on that pitch at 37, so Dad is the oldest player on the pitch by 31 years, yet he was the best player on the pitch. I am in the same team as my Dad here. We are attacking to the right. Dad is wearing the red shirt (a Gibraltar shirt I brought him from my travels) and I am the white shirt as a goalkeeper. Watching this clip from the start, Dad takes his position on the right side of the pitch. From the goalkeeper box, I launch the ball to him. Dad runs and spots Parker in our team just behind and lays the ball back to Parker. Parker shoots and it is saved. Dad tries with the rebound and it is saved again. It is my cousin Connor that makes both saves. Then my cousin Matty shoots against me. I save it and my friend Rafal (from Poland, with a white t shirt and black shorts) taps it to me. Dad has shouted for the ball, so I hit it first time left footed straight to Dad. Dad takes a touch and slots the ball into the bottom corner. He scored goals like that for fun for over 60 years!! In that match, when Dad was aged 68, he scored 6 goals. I was so lucky that my Polish friend Julia actually caught TWO of them on video. Here they are!
Watch one of Dad’s 6 goals here (I set him up for this one):
Watch another of Dad’s 6 goals here (I also set him up for this one):
Dad also goes close to scoring in this clip:
Year – Club – Appearances
Here is a list of clubs/teams/selects that my Dad played football for, at any level be it 11 a side, 5 a side, 4 a side, beach football, walking football etc. Some clubs and teams are certainly missing, especially from 1976 – 1989 and not all stats are accurate. After the list, I detail a little bit about each team.
Ravenhill United – 1959 – 1961
Park Parade 1960 – 1964
Lombard Boys Club 1960 – 1961
Willowfield Parish 1964
Kinnegar United 1964 – 1965
Crusaders Reserves 1965 – 1967
Dunmurry Rec 1965 – 1969
Distillery Reserves 1968 – 1969
Second Bangor Old Boys 1970 – 1974
ICL Seconds 1969
BT Northern Ireland 1971 – 1975
Belfast Phones – Early 70s
Construction ‘A’ 1970 – 1976 (Summer League, dates unclear)
Northern Ireland Tourist Select Boswinger Summer Friendly 1989
Bangor Amateurs 1990 – 1991 Played 6 Scored 3
British Telecom Northern Ireland (tour of Scotland) 1991-1992
Bangor Over 35s 1993
Busby Babes (5 a sides) 1992-1993
Friday Night Club (5 a sides) 1986 – 2000
10th Bangor Old Boys 1998 – 2000
Business In The Community (5 a sides) 2005
Ballyholme Bombers (beach football) – 2011
Daniel’s 18th Birthday Select (5 a sides)
Bangor Walking Football 2016 (5 a sides)
NIMIP Polish Select 2017 (4 a sides) Played 1 Scored 6
Dad’s Notable Matches
1965 – Skegoneil Avenue – Kinnegar United 4-1 Star of the Sea.
Dad scored 2 goals and had 2 assists and was signed for Crusaders after this match.
1967 – The Oval Belfast – Glentoran Seconds 2-1 Crusaders Reserves (Att: 10,000, George Wilson Cup Final) Dad was only 17 when this match happened and was the named sub for Crusaders. He came on early in the match due to an injury and this was his Crusaders debut.
1968 – Seaview, Belfast – Crusaders Select XI v. Northern Ireland Select XI
This match was played behind closed doors in 1968 between a Northern Ireland Select. Dad cannot remember every player on the pitch, but he certainly remembered that he nutmegged Derek Dougan! Derek Dougan played in the 1958 World Cup, played in two European finals and won 43 caps, scoring 8 goals for Northern Ireland in 3 different decades.
1974 – Belfast – Dad’s Electrician Team 5-1 Churchill House (Dad set up Gerry for a hat-trick as they beat favourites Churchill House in a final)
1975 – Valentines, Bangor – Dad went down with a horrific knee injury. Second half, he played on as they only had 11 players, but he was wrecked. He needed to go to hospital on the cartilidge and as Dad sadly professed “I was never the same player again after that”. Dad was only 26 when that happened.
1991 – Ballywalter – Ballywalter 1-0 Bangor Amateurs (Dad sent off for complaining about a goal that was 100% legit)
1999 – Bloomfield Playing Fields – 10th Bangor Old Boys 2-2 ?????????? (Dad and Jonny played ONE full competitive 11 a side match together – Dad centre half, Jonny right back)
2017 – NIMIP Poland Select 28 – 28 Northern Ireland Select – Aged 68 Dad scored 6 goals and was the best player on the pitch by a mile.
Joe Blair’s Career – Club by Club
Below I have gone club by club through my Dad’s career as best I could. I hope to fill all the facts in piece by piece.
Ravenhill United
Dates – 1959 – 1961
League –
Stadium / Pitches – Varied. Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Kit colours –
Played – 10+
Scored – 5+
Park Parade
Dates – 1960 – 1964
League –
Stadium / Pitches – Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Kit colours – Yellow shirt with blue trim
Played – 10+
Scored – 5+
Dad was captain of Park Parade.
Lombard Boys Club
Dates – 1960 – 1961
League –
Stadium / Pitches – Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Kit colours –
Played –
Scored –
Willowfield Parish
Dates – 1964
League –
Stadium / Pitches – Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Kit colours –
Played –
Scored –
Kinnegar United
Dates – 1964 – 1965
League –
Stadium / Pitches – Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Kit colours –
Played –
Scored –
Crusaders Reserves
Dates – 1965 – 1967
League – Northern Ireland Reserve League
Stadium / Pitches – Seaview, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Kit colours – Red and Black stripes, black shorts, white socks
Played –
Scored –
Dad’s most prestigious match was with Crusaders Reserves – the George Wilson Cup Final 1996-1967.
Dunmurry Rec
Dates – 1965 – 1969
League – Division 1 A
Stadium / Pitches – Ashley Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Kit colours – sky blue shirts
Played – Over 100
Scored – Over 50
Dunmurry Rec FC on Twitter
Dunmurry Rec FC on Facebook
(Back row – J nesbitt 3 G mcadams 4 T banfield 5 R Watson 9 B gamble
Front row Albert 10 Joe Blair 3 J Milligan 5 Tinkle. Taken circa 1967)
Distillery Reserves
Dates – 1968 – 1969
League –
Stadium / Pitches – Grosvenor Park / Ballyskeagh, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Kit colours – White tops, black shorts
Played –
Scored –
Second Bangor Old Boys
Dates – 1970 – 1974
League –
Stadium / Pitches – Valentines, Bangor, Northern Ireland.
Kit colours – Red and black
Played
Scored
Things are sketchy here. Formed in 1969 as 2nd Bangor Old Boys the club competed in the Old Boys League up until 1977 before joining the Northern Amateur League. In 1979 the club changed it’s name to Bangor Amateurs Football Club and in the 1985-86 season won the Junior Cup.
ICL Seconds
Dates – 1969
League –
Stadium / Pitches – Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Kit colours –
Played –
Scored –
BT Northern Ireland
Dates -1971 – 1975
League –
Stadium / Pitches – All over Northern Ireland and away matches in Scotland and England.
Kit colours –
Played Scored –
Belfast Phones
Dates – Early 70s
League –
Stadium / Pitches –
Kit colours
Played Scored
Construction ‘A’
Years – 1970 – 1976
League – Belfast Summer League (dates unclear)
Stadium / Pitches – Dunmurry, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Kit colours – White shirts, white shorts, white socks
One of the rare newspaper clippings of my Dad comes from his time at Construction “A”. This paper cutting was so important to me that I had it in a box for years in the 1990s and 2000s, before finding a way to scan it and reproduce it. In that match, Dad scored a hat-trick and was included in two photos in the paper.
Northern Ireland Tourist Select
Year – 1989
League – Boswinger Summer Friendly
Stadium / Pitches – Caravan Park pitch, Boswinger, Cornwall, ENGLAND.
Kit colours – NO.
I actually played in this match alongside Dad and three guys from Omagh (2 sons and their Dad) in an England v. Northern Ireland friendly match on a real pitch at a caravan park in the Boswinger Summer Holiday Camp. There are no photos of that match and I don’t know the score but it was definitely a full pitch and 11 a side. It is possible that my brother Marko also played in this match.
Bangor Amateurs
Year – 1990 – 1991
League – Down Area League
Stadium / Pitches – Ballyvarnet. Varied. Valetines, Bangor. Ballywalter, Abbey Villa, Ards Roundabout., all Northern Ireland.
Kit colours – red and black
Played 6+ Scored 3+
1 red card
Dad made a triumphant return to league football in 1990 – 1991 and I was delighted with this. I watched him every week and he played for Bangor Amateurs. This had Dad rolling back the years and I remember how well he played in those matches. It felt like a swansong. He had played for a team called 2nd Bangor Old Boys in the late 1960s and early 1970s. That team changed its name in 1979 to…Bangor Amateurs.
Formed in 1969 as 2nd Bangor Old Boys the club competed in the Old Boys League up until 1977 before joining the Northern Amateur League. In 1979 the club changed it’s name to Bangor Amateurs Football Club and in the 1985-86 season won the Junior Cup. After this successful season the club attained intermediate status football and have gone on to win various other trophies over the years.
A successful 2018/19 season in which the Amateurs 1st team finished 2nd in division 1C they achieved promotion to Division 1B for the 2019/20 season. The 2nd Team finished 2018/19 season in 4th place and will push for promotion in Division 3D of the Northern Amateur League for the 2019/20 season.
Bangor Amateurs on Facebook
Bangor Amateurs on Twitter
British Telecom Northern Ireland (tour of Scotland)
Dates – 1991 – 1992 – 1993
League – Tour of Scotland
Stadium / Pitches – SCOTLAND
Kit colours – BT Northern Ireland wore Green shirts, white shorts and green socks.
Played – 3 (v. Wales, Scotland and England)
Scored – ?
Bangor Over 35s
Dates – 1992 – 1993
League – Summer League
Stadium / Pitches – Ards Rugby Club, Newtownards, NORTHERN IRELAND
Kit colours –
Played – 6
Scored – ?
Peter Dornan, who played for Linfield and Sheffield Wednesday played alongside my Dad in this summer tournament in 1993. I think it was held over three nights but I just cannot remember. Two other players were Jonesy and Roy Mairs, both were teachers at Bangor Grammar School.
Busby Babes (5 a sides)
Dates – 1992 – 1993
League –
Stadium / Pitches – Maysfield Leisure Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Kit colours – grey t shirt with red and blue BT logo
Played – 3
Scored – At least 3
Nickname Busby Babes came from the fact it was BT in a companies tournament at Maysfield Leisure Centre in Belfast.
BT (5 a sides)
Dates – 1992 – 1994
League –
Stadium / Pitches – Abbey Leisure Centre, Rathcoole, NORTHERN IRELAND
Kit colours
Played Scored
Robbie Cowan and I played with his son, Mark Cowan.
Friday Night Club 1986 – 2000 (5 a sides)
Dates – 1986 – 2000
League – Every Friday Night
Stadium / Pitches – Bangor Leisure Centre, Rathcoole, NORTHERN IRELAND
Kit colours – None.
Played 400+
Scored 400+
Dad played 5 a side football EVERY Friday night for years and years. I couldn’t believe the stamina of him sometimes. He would be home from work at 6 p.m., have his dinner and showered by 7 p.m. and play 5 a side for a full hour from either 8 – 9 p.m. or 9 – 10 p.m.
Participants – Victor Bower, Robin Whitford, Stephen Dumigan, Brian, Gary
BT Euro 1996 Friendly Select
Date – 26th June 1996
League – One-off Euro 1996 Friendly
Stadium / Pitches – Dunmurry, NORTHERN IRELAND
Kit colours – Don’t remember
Played – 1
Scored
When I started to write and research this article, something amazing happened. I suddenly remembered about a forgotten game. Originally, I thought that I had only ever played one competitive 11 a side match alongside my Dad, but this was wrong. As a 16 year old, I headed to Dunmurry with Dad on the same day as the England v. Germany Euro 1996 final. Dad played the full match for a BT select side, but in the second half, they allowed some of the sons to come on and I was one of them. This means, I actually played twice alongside Dad in a proper 11 a side match, but this was simply a friendly. I don’t remember the score, the kit colours or anything else about it except for the fact that I think I played in left midfield and I didn’t score any goals. The match may have finished 2-2.
10th Bangor Old Boys
Dates – 1998 – 2000
League –
Stadium / Pitches – Belfast, Ards and Bangor, NORTHERN IRELAND
Kit colours – Blue shirts
Played –
Scored –
Business In The Community (5 a sides)
Dates – 2005
League –
Stadium / Pitches –
Kit colours –
Played –
Scored –
Ballyholme Bombers (Beach football)
Dates –
League –
Stadium / Pitches – Ballyholme Beach, Bangor, NORTHERN IRELAND (jumpers for nets)
Kit colours –
Played –
Scored –
Ballyholme Bombers on Facebook
A Blog About the Ballyholme Bombers
Daniel’s 18th Birthday Blairs Select (6 a sides)
Date – Saturday 7th April 2012
5 a side family and friends friendly
Stadium / Pitches – Eddie Irvine Sports, Bangor.
Kit colours – Orange Bibs (Blairs)
Played – 1
Scored – 3+
Attendance – 4 (Cathy Blair, Anna McCullough, Claire McCullough, Panny Yu)
I was living in Hong Kong and made a surprise trip back to Northern Ireland for my brother Daniel Blair’s birthday. To date, this is the ONLY match that I have played with my Dad and both brothers.
Participants –
Blairs Select – Joe Blair (captain), Jonny Blair, Marko Blair, Daniel Blair, Connor Blair (late pullout), Matty Blair, Gary McCullough, Lewis McCullough.
Northern Ireland Select – Robin Whitford, Michael Whitford, Philip Whitford, Michael McClelland, Gavin McClelland, Brendan Burdock.
Bangor Walking Football 2016 (5 a sides)
Dates –
League –
Stadium / Pitches –
Kit colours –
Played –
Scored –
NIMIP Polish Select 2017 (4 a sides)
Date – Thursday November 2017
4 a side family and friends friendly
Stadium / Pitches – Stormont, Belfast, NORTHERN IRELAND.
Kit colours – Poland Select (white and red) v. Northern Ireland Select (green and white)
Played – 1
Scored – 6
Attendance – 1 (Julia Korcz)
Having relocated to Poland in 2016, I organised a trip home to Northern Ireland in November 2017 to show my two Polish friends Rafal and Julia around my country. On the Thursday night of that trip.
Participants
Poland Select – Jonny Blair (captain), Joe Blair, Rafal Kowalczyk, Parker
Northern Ireland Select – Matty Blair, Connor Blair, Gary McCullough, ***********
Joe Blair – Football Management
Dad managed quite a few teams as well and was at one point a player-manager for 10th Bangor Old Boys.
10th Bangor B team 1992 – 1993
10th Bangor A team 1993 – 1996
10th Bangor Old Boys 1999 – 2000
10th Bangor Juniors 2004 – 2006
Dad was my manager for the 10th Bangor B and A team in the 1990s. The weirdest thing about this is that I have three team photos from that era that I am in, and they are all either side of Dad’s time as manager!! (1 is in May 1991, the other 2 are both from 1998). So none of those team photos show Dad and I – in fact Dad probably took those photos.
Joe Blair – Awards and Honours
1967 – George Wilson Cup runner-up (Crusaders Reserves)
(to be updated)
Joe Blair – Video Footage
Unfortunately in the era that my Dad played from 1958 – 1993, most Amateur matches in Northern Ireland have no videos. I haven’t been able to find ANY video footage of his matches. However, I have myself managed to make some videos of Dad playing football on Copacabana Beach in Brazil during the 2014 World Cup and some 5 a side matches I have played with my Dad down the years.
Northern Irish grounds that Dad confirmed he DEFINITELY played at
Clandeboye Park, Bangor.
Seaview, Belfast.
The Brandywell, Londonderry.
The Oval, Belfast.
New Grosvenor, Belfast.
Solitude, Belfast.
The Valentines, Bangor.
Connor Park, Bangor.
The Bullring, Bangor.
Ashley Park, Dunmurry.
Castlereagh Park, Newtownards.
Wilgar Park (The Hen Run), Belfast.
Northern Irish grounds that Dad confirmed he DIDN’T play at
Stangmore Park – Dungannon Swifts FC.
Milltown – Warrenpoint Town FC.
This page will be updated little by little.
Thanks for such amazing football memories, Dad!
