William Kennedy Gibson

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Willie Gibson
Personal information
Full name William Kennedy Gibson
Date of birth 1 October 1876
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death 9 December 1949(1949-12-09) (aged 73)
Place of death Belfast, Northern Ireland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1892–1903 Cliftonville
1902 → Sunderland (loan) 1 (0)
1902 → Bishop Auckland (loan)
1903 → (loan)
National team
1894–1902 Irish League XI 5 (0)
1894–1902 Ireland 13 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

William Kennedy Gibson (1 October 1876 – 9 December 1949) was an Irish footballer and political activist.

Football career[]

Although born in Glasgow, Gibson's family were from Belfast, and Gibson moved there at a young age.[1][2] He was noted as a talented footballer who played for Cliftonville F.C. while still at school.[3] He also spent time in the north-east of England and played with local teams on an amateur basis, including Sunderland, for whom he made one appearance in the Football League in the 1901–02 season[4] when the club finished as English champions.[2]

He played thirteen matches for the Ireland national team from 1894 to 1902, making his debut aged 17, scoring once (against England) and captaining the side on four occasions.[5] He won numerous honours with Cliftonville, including the Irish Cup in 1897 and 1901, before becoming President of the club, then becoming active in its management.[3][2]

Political career[]

Outside football, Gibson worked as a solicitor, and he provided legal advice to the Irish Football Association,[2] becoming its vice-chairman in 1907. In 1909, he was elected to the Belfast Corporation as an independent Unionist, with the support of the . He defeated future Lord Mayor of Belfast William George Turner, who had the unofficial backing of the Conservative Party.[3]

Gibson stood again as an independent Unionist in Belfast Ballynafeigh at the 1929 Northern Ireland general election, but he was narrowly defeated by Thomas Moles, the official Unionist candidate.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ Shamrock on Blue, Scots Football Worldwide
  2. ^ a b c d W.K. Gibson, Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats, 10 December 2006
  3. ^ a b c Neal Garnham, Association football and society in pre-partition Ireland, pp.153-158
  4. ^ William K. Gibson, The StatCat
  5. ^ Player: William Gibson, European Football
  6. ^ Neil Garnham, "Association football and politics in Belfast: the careers of William Kennedy Gibson", International Journal of the History of Sport, Vol.16, No.1, March 1999, pp.128–136
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