World Cup Winners Who Were At (Northern) Irish League Clubs

World Cup Winners Who Were At (Northern) Irish League Clubs

World Cup Winners Who Were At Irish League Clubs

George Eastham (Ards and England 1966)

Believe it or not, I could only find ONE World Cup winner who has played for a club team from Northern Ireland and therefore The Irish League!! While the likes of Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst and Gordon Banks all played in Ireland too – they did it for Republic of Ireland clubs. As did World Cup runner up Uwe Seeler. This means George Eastham is the ONLY (Northern) Irish League player to have won the World Cup.

World Cup Winners Who Were At (Northern) Irish League Clubs

George was at Ards FC from 1953 – 1956. 10 years later he won the World Cup with England in 1966, despite the fact he didn’t play in the tournament – he was a squad member. Weirdly George didn’t get his World Cup winner’s medal until 2007, as in the old days, the non playing squad members of the final were not given medals. You can read more about the legendary George Eastham (and his father) on the Ards FC website.

By Jonny Blair

Jonny Blair is a Northern Irish travel writer, football geek, perpetual tourist and long term blogger. Jonny grew up in Northern Ireland but his global adventures have seen him live in Australia, Uruguay, England, Kyrgyzstan, Poland and Hong Kong. With 30 years writing experience, Jonny is a veteran writer with a taste for the unusual and quirky. Jonny's 150 country journey around the world saw him feed hyenas in Ethiopia, play football in Afghanistan, hitch-hike in Iraq and visit disputed regions unrecognised by the UN. Jonny is usually based in Poland but is never far away from another adventure and runs travel blogs in several niches.