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Belfast Telegraph
2 days ago
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
NI and Aston Villa legend Peter McParland laid to rest in home city of Newry
The former forward, who won 34 caps and holds the record for most goals scored for his country at World Cup finals, was laid to rest following Requiem Mass in his home city of Newry yesterday. Mourners who gathered in St Mary's Church on Chapel Street were reminded of the five goals the last surviving member of the 1958 squad scored during the international tournament to help his country reach the quarter-finals. The parish priest recalled how the retired sportsman, who passed away peacefully on May 4 at the age of 91, had a deep affection, which was passed down to him, for 'The Villans'. 'His father worked in Birmingham during the Second World War and sent many reports home. In those days you wrote letters, and he would send home reports of Aston Villa, fuelling Peter's affection for the club,' the cleric said. McParland was an iconic figure for Aston Villa, scoring 121 goals in 341 appearances. He scored twice in the 1957 FA Cup final, helping the club secure a 2-1 win over Manchester United, which was the last time the club lifted the coveted trophy. Hailing the deceased as an 'outstanding man', the priest spoke of the footballer's journey from being scouted to spending just one day with Leeds United. 'He was only a teenager when he was signed in Dundalk after someone watched him play in Newry. In his first game for Dundalk against Bohemians, he scored twice,' the cleric continued. 'In 1951, Leeds offered him a month's trial, but he was homesick, and he said to his family: 'They didn't call me for Mass in the morning. I'm going home.' And he did. He stayed for a day with Leeds. 'He got a job in the railway company in Dundalk and continued playing for Dundalk. He went on a trip to Birmingham to play with Newry Shamrocks and he was spotted by a Villa scout. 'They alerted Villa and paid Dundalk the princely sum of £4,000.' The priest added: 'In 1957, Aston Villa were mid-table of the league. Manchester United had charged through the league and were favourites to win the FA Cup, where they would play Aston Villa. 'After six minutes, Peter headed a ball towards the goalmouth and the goalkeeper fumbled the ball. Peter charged on, and the ball, Peter and the goalkeeper finished in the back of the net. 'He went on to score a second goal and Villa won the FA Cup.' In his later years, the NI footballer played in Canada and the United States and joined Glentoran in 1968, spending three years as player-manager, winning the Irish League at the first attempt. After retiring from playing in 1971, he went on to coach in Libya, Hong Kong, Cyprus, and Kuwait. The priest reflected on how Peter was a guest of honour at Aston Villa's 150th anniversary celebrations in January this year, and quoted him saying: 'My ambition was to play for Aston Villa and I achieved it. I loved playing for the club. It was my life.' Prayers were offered for Peter's wife, Carol, who was unable to attend the funeral due to illness. Condolences were also offered to his children, Nicholas and Paul, his four grandchildren, and his siblings, before Peter's ashes were buried in the adjoining cemetery.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Peter McParland obituary
The footballer Peter McParland, who has died aged 91, will best be remembered for the five goals he scored in the 1958 World Cup finals for Northern Ireland as they made progress to the quarter-finals. He averaged a goal a game during the tournament in Sweden, including two against West Germany in a 2-2 group stage draw and another brace in a 2-1 play-off victory against Czechoslovakia that put Northern Ireland into a quarter-final against France, which they lost 4-0 as they succumbed to exhaustion and injuries. Only Pelé, West Germany's Helmut Rahn and France's Just Fontaine scored more goals than McParland at those finals, and each of their teams went further than the last eight. McParland had also scored two goals in Northern Ireland's qualification campaign for the 1958 World Cup. He was a typically energetic force in the 2-1 win over Italy in Belfast that knocked Italy out of the qualifying competition and put Northern Ireland through to the finals for the first time. Jimmy Greaves rated McParland as 'one of the most dangerous wingers I have ever seen, cutting through defences at tremendous speed and finishing with cannonball shots'. In a career that saw him win 34 Northern Ireland caps and appear in almost 300 league games for Aston Villa, McParland's other great source of renown was the game-changing contribution he made to the 1957 FA Cup final, in which he scored twice for Villa as they beat Manchester United 2-1. Aside from the goals, his most telling intervention was a foul on Ray Wood, United's goalkeeper, just six minutes into the match. The rugged challenge left Wood with a fractured cheekbone, and, in the days before substitutes, forced him ultimately to become a passenger on United's left wing while Jackie Blanchflower took over in goal. On 67 minutes, when Johnny Dixon crossed a low ball, McParland hurled himself to head past Blanchflower. Five minutes later, after Dixon hit the United bar, McParland drove in the rebound. Tommy Taylor headed a goal for United, but the Cup was Villa's – the first trophy they had won since 1920. The foul on Wood hardly endeared McParland to United's supporters, and for many years afterwards he was vilified in anonymous letters. However, he always maintained that there had been no ill intent, and that the clash with Wood was merely the result of a mistimed header. 'Ray turned into me,' he said, 'our heads clashed. It was a complete accident. Ray and I have often talked about it since, and we both agree that it was just one of those things.' Shortly after that cup final, six of the United players who had featured in the match died in the Munich air disaster of February 1958. They included Duncan Edwards, whose coffin McParland helped to carry at his funeral. Born in Newry, County Down, on leaving school McParland became an apprentice in the rail works at Dundalk, just across the border in the Republic of Ireland. He first made his way into football at 15 with Dundalk FC, as a prolific outside-left. Fast and incisive, with an excellent left foot and ability in the air, he was still only 18 when Aston Villa bought him for £3,400. Altogether, from his first season in 1952-53, he would play 293 times in league football for Villa. After the 1957 FA Cup win, Villa dropped down into the Second Division, but McParland's 22 goals in the 1959-60 season helped them come straight back up as Second Division champions, and in 1961 they won the first ever League Cup. McParland was on the scoresheet in the second part of the two-legged final, when Villa overturned a 2–0 deficit against Rotherham United, winning 3–0 at Villa Park and clinching the trophy. However, midway through the next season, 1961-62, Villa sold him to the Division One side Wolverhampton Wanderers, where things went awry. He lost his place to the younger Alan Hinton, and in the 1963-64 season, after 21 league games in which he had scored 10 goals, he was transferred to Plymouth Argyle in Division Two. Leaving them in 1964 after 38 appearances, he then had two separate spells with the non-league Worcester City. He eventually left on a free transfer to play for two years in the US, for Atlanta, then returned to Northern Ireland in 1968 as player-manager of the Belfast side Glentoran, taking them to the Irish League title in 1970. But he left Glentoran the following year, and apart from some subsequent coaching in Libya and Hong Kong, gradually drifted out of the game. Retiring from football to live in Bournemouth, he later helped his son Paul to run a property business, but he retained his connections with Villa, and regularly attended games. With his wife, Carol, McParland had two sons, Paul and Nicholas. • Peter James McParland, footballer, born 25 April 1934; died 4 May 2025
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Peter McParland obituary
The footballer Peter McParland, who has died aged 91, will best be remembered for the five goals he scored in the 1958 World Cup finals for Northern Ireland as they made progress to the quarter-finals. He averaged a goal a game during the tournament in Sweden, including two against West Germany in a 2-2 group stage draw and another brace in a 2-1 play-off victory against Czechoslovakia that put Northern Ireland into a quarter-final against France, which they lost 4-0 as they succumbed to exhaustion and injuries. Only Pelé, West Germany's Helmut Rahn and France's Just Fontaine scored more goals than McParland at those finals, and each of their teams went further than the last eight. Advertisement McParland had also scored two goals in Northern Ireland's qualification campaign for the 1958 World Cup. He was a typically energetic force in the 2-1 win over Italy in Belfast that knocked Italy out of the qualifying competition and put Northern Ireland through to the finals for the first time. Jimmy Greaves rated McParland as 'one of the most dangerous wingers I have ever seen, cutting through defences at tremendous speed and finishing with cannonball shots'. In a career that saw him win 34 Northern Ireland caps and appear in almost 300 league games for Aston Villa, McParland's other great source of renown was the game-changing contribution he made to the 1957 FA Cup final, in which he scored twice for Villa as they beat Manchester United 2-1. Aside from the goals, his most telling intervention was a foul on Ray Wood, United's goalkeeper, just six minutes into the match. The rugged challenge left Wood with a fractured cheekbone, and, in the days before substitutes, forced him ultimately to become a passenger on United's left wing while Jackie Blanchflower took over in goal. Advertisement On 67 minutes, when Johnny Dixon crossed a low ball, McParland hurled himself to head past Blanchflower. Five minutes later, after Dixon hit the United bar, McParland drove in the rebound. Tommy Taylor headed a goal for United, but the Cup was Villa's – the first trophy they had won since 1920. The foul on Wood hardly endeared McParland to United's supporters, and for many years afterwards he was vilified in anonymous letters. However, he always maintained that there had been no ill intent, and that the clash with Wood was merely the result of a mistimed header. 'Ray turned into me,' he said, 'our heads clashed. It was a complete accident. Ray and I have often talked about it since, and we both agree that it was just one of those things.' Shortly after that cup final, six of the United players who had featured in the match died in the Munich air disaster of February 1958. They included Duncan Edwards, whose coffin McParland helped to carry at his funeral. Born in Newry, County Down, on leaving school McParland became an apprentice in the rail works at Dundalk, just across the border in the Republic of Ireland. He first made his way into football at 15 with Dundalk FC, as a prolific outside-left. Fast and incisive, with an excellent left foot and ability in the air, he was still only 18 when Aston Villa bought him for £3,400. Altogether, from his first season in 1952-53, he would play 293 times in league football for Villa. Advertisement After the 1957 FA Cup win, Villa dropped down into the Second Division, but McParland's 22 goals in the 1959-60 season helped them come straight back up as Second Division champions, and in 1961 they won the first ever League Cup. McParland was on the scoresheet in the second part of the two-legged final, when Villa overturned a 2–0 deficit against Rotherham United, winning 3–0 at Villa Park and clinching the trophy. However, midway through the next season, 1961-62, Villa sold him to the Division One side Wolverhampton Wanderers, where things went awry. He lost his place to the younger Alan Hinton, and in the 1963-64 season, after 21 league games in which he had scored 10 goals, he was transferred to Plymouth Argyle in Division Two. Leaving them in 1964 after 38 appearances, he then had two separate spells with the non-league Worcester City. He eventually left on a free transfer to play for two years in the US, for Atlanta, then returned to Northern Ireland in 1968 as player-manager of the Belfast side Glentoran, taking them to the Irish League title in 1970. But he left Glentoran the following year, and apart from some subsequent coaching in Libya and Hong Kong, gradually drifted out of the game. Retiring from football to live in Bournemouth, he later helped his son Paul to run a property business, but he retained his connections with Villa, and regularly attended games. With his wife, Carol, McParland had two sons, Paul and Nicholas. • Peter James McParland, footballer, born 25 April 1934; died 4 May 2025
The Guardian
05-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Peter McParland obituary
The footballer Peter McParland, who has died aged 91, will best be remembered for the five goals he scored in the 1958 World Cup finals for Northern Ireland as they made progress to the quarter-finals. He averaged a goal a game during the tournament in Sweden, including two against West Germany in a 2-2 group stage draw and another brace in a 2-1 play-off victory against Czechoslovakia that put Northern Ireland into a quarter-final against France, which they lost 4-0 as they succumbed to exhaustion and injuries. Only Pelé, West Germany's Helmut Rahn and France's Just Fontaine scored more goals than McParland at those finals, and each of their teams went further than the last eight. McParland had also scored two goals in Northern Ireland's qualification campaign for the 1958 World Cup. He was a typically energetic force in the 2-1 win over Italy in Belfast that knocked Italy out of the qualifying competition and put Northern Ireland through to the finals for the first time. Jimmy Greaves rated McParland as 'one of the most dangerous wingers I have ever seen, cutting through defences at tremendous speed and finishing with cannonball shots'. In a career that saw him win 34 Northern Ireland caps and appear in almost 300 league games for Aston Villa, McParland's other great source of renown was the game-changing contribution he made to the 1957 FA Cup final, in which he scored twice for Villa as they beat Manchester United 2-1. Aside from the goals, his most telling intervention was a foul on Ray Wood, United's goalkeeper, just six minutes into the match. The rugged challenge left Wood with a fractured cheekbone, and, in the days before substitutes, forced him ultimately to become a passenger on United's left wing while Jackie Blanchflower took over in goal. On 67 minutes, when Johnny Dixon crossed a low ball, McParland hurled himself to head past Blanchflower. Five minutes later, after Dixon hit the United bar, McParland drove in the rebound. Tommy Taylor headed a goal for United, but the Cup was Villa's – the first trophy they had won since 1920. The foul on Wood hardly endeared McParland to United's supporters, and for many years afterwards he was vilified in anonymous letters. However, he always maintained that there had been no ill intent, and that the clash with Wood was merely the result of a mistimed header. 'Ray turned into me,' he said, 'our heads clashed. It was a complete accident. Ray and I have often talked about it since, and we both agree that it was just one of those things.' Shortly after that cup final, six of the United players who had featured in the match died in the Munich air disaster of February 1958. They included Duncan Edwards, whose coffin McParland helped to carry at his funeral. Born in Newry, County Down, on leaving school McParland became an apprentice in the rail works at Dundalk, just across the border in the Republic of Ireland. He first made his way into football at 15 with Dundalk FC, as a prolific outside-left. Fast and incisive, with an excellent left foot and ability in the air, he was still only 18 when Aston Villa bought him for £3,400. Altogether, from his first season in 1952-53, he would play 293 times in league football for Villa. After the 1957 FA Cup win, Villa dropped down into the Second Division, but McParland's 22 goals in the 1959-60 season helped them come straight back up as Second Division champions, and in 1961 they won the first ever League Cup. McParland was on the scoresheet in the second part of the two-legged final, when Villa overturned a 2–0 deficit against Rotherham United, winning 3–0 at Villa Park and clinching the trophy. However, midway through the next season, 1961-62, Villa sold him to the Division One side Wolverhampton Wanderers, where things went awry. He lost his place to the younger Alan Hinton, and in the 1963-64 season, after 21 league games in which he had scored 10 goals, he was transferred to Plymouth Argyle in Division Two. Leaving them in 1964 after 38 appearances, he then had two separate spells with the non-league Worcester City. He eventually left on a free transfer to play for two years in the US, for Atlanta, then returned to Northern Ireland in 1968 as player-manager of the Belfast side Glentoran, taking them to the Irish League title in 1970. But he left Glentoran the following year, and apart from some subsequent coaching in Libya and Hong Kong, gradually drifted out of the game. Retiring from football to live in Bournemouth, he later helped his son Paul to run a property business, but he retained his connections with Villa, and regularly attended games. With his wife, Carol, McParland had two sons, Paul and Nicholas. Peter James McParland, footballer, born 25 April 1934; died 4 May 2025
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How 25,000 paid tribute to Peter McParland after Aston Villa legend's death
Aston Villa paid tribute to the late Peter McParland and Jake Findlay at Villa Park this afternoon. Around 25,000 fans were in attendance for the FA Youth Cup final between Villa's Under-18s and Manchester City Under-18s. Before kick-off, a minute's silence was observed for both McParland and Findlay, who passed away last week. READ MORE: Inside a proper Birmingham City party: Tom Wagner's Villa jibe and 'hands off' Chris Davies READ MORE: Birmingham City should listen to Knighthead's mantra, not Championship naysayers Some members of the crowd applauded the duo, before 'Holte Enders in the Sky' echoed from the Holte End and Trinity Road stands. McParland, the last surviving member of the club's 1957 FA Cup-winning team, had recently celebrated his 91st birthday. He will always be remembered as the player who scored both goals in Villa's 2–1 victory over Manchester United in the 1957 FA Cup final. Findlay, a Scottish-born goalkeeper, joined Villa's youth ranks in 1968 and passed away at the age of 70. He was part of the team that won the FA Youth Cup for the first time, four years after he joined the club. Findlay also featured in Villa Park's first European match—the second leg of a UEFA Cup tie against Royal Antwerp in 1975. Every day, the BirminghamLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Aston Villa content. Our dedicated reporter John Townley - who you can follow on X by clicking here - follows Villa home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between. So much happens day to day and sometimes you can struggle to keep on top of the very latest updates as and when they occur - that's why we have produced a daily newsletter which you can sign up to, for free, and which means you'll have a round-up of the key stories land in your email inbox. Sign up to the Villa newsletter here. You can also get all your favourite content from BirminghamLive's Villa team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club. If you prefer reading our Villa stories on your phone, consider downloading the BirminghamLive app, in which you can personalise the content you see by selecting Villa as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here. Our weekly Aston Villa podcast, Claret And Blue, is also available to watch and listen on all major streaming services. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel here, while you can access the podcast on Spotify here and via Apple here.
