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Gerry McAloon

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Gerry McAloon
Personal information
Full name Gerald Padua McAloon[1]
Date of birth (1916-09-13)13 September 1916
Place of birth Gorbals, Scotland[2]
Date of death 13 April 1987(1987-04-13) (aged 70)[2]
Place of death Glasgow, Scotland[2]
Height 5 ft 9+1⁄2 in (1.77 m)[3]
Position(s) Inside forward
Youth career
1933–1934 St Francis
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1934–1939 Brentford 21 (8)
1939–1945 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 (1)
1945–1946 Brentford 7 (4)
1946–1948 Celtic 20 (12)
1948–1949 Belfast Celtic (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gerald Padua McAloon (13 September 1916 – 13 April 1987) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside forward in the Football League for Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He later played for Celtic and in Northern Ireland.

Career

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Early years

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An inside forward, McAloon began his career with his hometown Glasgow junior club St Francis in 1933.[4] He departed the following year.[5]

Brentford

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McAloon moved to England to sign for Second Division club Brentford in June 1934.[1] Well down the forward line pecking order, he played exclusively for the reserve team between 1934 and 1938.[5] McAloon's prolific goalscoring form in the first half of the 1937–38 season, with 18 goals, led manager Harry Curtis to give him his senior debut in a First Division match versus Middlesbrough on 26 March 1938, which resulted in a 1–0 win for Brentford.[6] McAloon scored his first goal for the club in the following game (a 6–1 win over Grimsby Town) and he made a significant impact in the Bees' end-of-season run in, scoring five goals in six games to help the club to a second successive sixth-place finish.[6][7] Brentford's league form was poor during the 1938–39 season and McAloon made 16 appearances, scoring four goals, before departing the club in March 1939.[6][7] In a year as a first team player at Griffin Park, McAloon made 24 appearances and scored 9 goals.[6]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

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In March 1939, McAloon joined First Division high-flyers Wolverhampton Wanderers for a £5,000 fee.[5] He made just two appearances (scoring one goal) before competitive football was suspended due to the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939.[1] McAloon departed Molineux in December 1945, after the cessation of hostilities.[5]

Wartime guest appearances

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During the Second World War, McAloon guested for Hamilton Academical, Airdrieonians, Albion Rovers, Dumbarton, Dunfermline Athletic, Celtic and Morton.[2][8][9] He won the Lanarkshire Cup with Hamilton in 1939, scoring in a 5–1 victory over future club Airdrieonians in the final.[8]

Return to Brentford

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McAloon returned to Brentford in December 1945 and scored 23 goals in 27 Football League South and FA Cup appearances.[6] After four goals and seven appearances early in the 1946–47 First Division season, McAloon departed Brentford once again.[6] Across his two spells at Griffin Park, McAloon scored 18 goals in 37 appearances.[5]

Return to Celtic

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On 4 October 1946, McAloon transferred Scottish League Division A club Celtic,[5] in exchange for George Paterson.[10][11] He had previously guested for the club during the Second World War.[10][12] Commuting from London to Glasgow for matches,[13] McAloon failed to fully settle at the struggling club,[10] but he finished the 1946–47 season as top scorer,[5] with 15 goals in 24 appearances.[12] He made just two appearances in the 1947–48 season,[12] before departing Parkhead in August 1948.[8]

Belfast Celtic

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McAloon signed for high-flying Irish League club Belfast Celtic in August 1948.[8] Commuting to Northern Ireland from London was again problematical for McAloon,[10] though he managed 10 goals during the 1948–49 season,[14] at the end of which the club withdrew from the Irish League.[15]

Personal life

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After retiring as a footballer, McAloon worked as a janitor at Bridgeton School in Calton.[8] On 13 April 1987, he died of hypothermia in Glasgow, at the age of 70.[16]

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Brentford 1937–38[6] First Division 7 5 0 0 — 1[c] 0 8 5
1938–39[6] First Division 14 3 1 0 — — 15 3
Total 21 8 1 0 — 1 0 23 8
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1938–39[1] First Division 2 1 — — — 2 1
Brentford 1945–46[6] — 7 6 — — 7 6
1946–47[6] First Division 7 4 — — — 7 4
Total 28 12 8 6 — 1 0 37 18
Celtic 1946–47[12] Scottish Division A 19 13 1 1 4 1 — 24 15
1947–48[12] Scottish Division A 1 0 0 0 1 0 — 2 0
Total 20 13 1 1 4 1 26 15
Career total 48 25 9 7 4 1 1 0 63 33
  1. ^ Includes FA Cup, Scottish Cup
  2. ^ Includes Scottish League Cup
  3. ^ Appearance in Empire Exhibition Trophy

Honours

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Hamilton Academical

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Gerry McAloon". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Litster, John. Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.
  3. ^ "Brentford. Only one change in 'Bees' team". Sunday Dispatch Football Guide. London. 23 August 1936. p. iv – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "McAloon Gerry Brentford 1938". Vintage Footballers. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 374–379. ISBN 0951526200.
  7. ^ a b "Brentford Complete History". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "McAloon, Gerry (1939)". Hamilton Academical Memory Bank. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  9. ^ "Gerry McAloon – Player Statistics". The Sons Archive – Dumbarton Football Club History. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d "McAloon, Gerald". The Celtic Wiki. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  11. ^ Mitchell, Andy (2021). The Men Who Made Scotland: The Definitive Who's Who Of Scottish Football Internationalists 1872–1939. Amazon. ISBN 9798513846642.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Celtic Player Gerry McAloon Details". Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  13. ^ Henderson, Mark. "Happy Birthday to the oldest living Celt". www.celticfc.net. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  14. ^ "Belfast Celtic Football Club – Season 1948/49". Irish Football Club Project. Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  15. ^ "The Grand Old Team". www.belfastceltic.org. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  16. ^ "An Interview with Tom Campbell". The Shamrock. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
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