Charlie Currie

Charles Currie (17 April 1920 – April 1978) was an Irish professional footballer who made 118 appearances in the English Football League for Bradford Park Avenue. He also played Irish League football for Cliftonville, Belfast Celtic, Derry City and Crusaders. While a Belfast Celtic player, Currie played six times for the Irish League representative team between 1947 and 1949. He began his career playing at centre half, but went on to play at right half, right back and occasional centre forward.

Charlie Currie
Personal information
Full name Charles Currie[1]
Date of birth (1920-04-17)17 April 1920[1]
Place of birth Belfast, Ireland
Date of death April 1978(1978-04-00) (aged 57–58)[2]
Place of death Belfast, Northern Ireland
Position(s) Half back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
19??–1944 Cliftonville
1944–1949 Belfast Celtic
1949–1954 Bradford Park Avenue 118 (2)
1954 Derry City
1954–1955 Crusaders
National team
1947–1949 Irish League XI 6
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Life and career

Currie was born in Belfast in 1920.[1] He played football for amateur club Cliftonville before joining Belfast Celtic in 1944. He acted as backup to Jack Vernon before taking over as first-team centre half in 1947 when Vernon left the club.[3] Currie played in the 1947 Irish Cup Final, in which Belfast Celtic beat Glentoran 1–0,[4] and went on to play six times for the Irish League representative team between 1947 and 1949.[5] He was a member of the Belfast Celtic tour party that visited the United States and Canada in 1949. Among their results was a 2–0 win against the Scotland team that had just won the 1948–49 British Home Championship.[6][7][2] A tour brochure described him as "a powerful defensive pivot with a high sense of keeping his position and of quick clearance".[3]

On their return, Currie signed for English Second Division club Bradford Park Avenue for a fee reported as anything between £6,000 and £10,000.[8] In November, he missed out on selection for the Ireland team to face England because of injury.[9] He was under consideration over the next year or so but never selected.[10]

Playing more at right half than in the centre, and sometimes leading the attack,[11] Currie was appointed captain of the Bradford team and took his appearance total up past the 100 mark. At the beginning of the 1953–54 season, the club suspended him for a month for going absent without leave from pre-season training.[12] At the end of that season, he was transfer listed, and returned to Irish League football with Derry City for a "moderate" fee.[13] He made a positive start,[14] but his form dipped, and in November he was allowed to leave for Crusaders for an undisclosed fee.[13] During his time with Crusaders he scored a hat-trick playing as a makeshift centre forward against East Belfast in a County Antrim Shield tie.[11]

In later life Currie and his wife lived in Owenvarragh Park in the Andersonstown district. He died in Belfast in April 1978 after a long illness.[2]

References
  1. "Charlie Currie". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  2. "Death of Charlie Currie". Belfast Telegraph. 17 April 1978. p. 18. Charlie, who played at centre-half, was a member of the famous Belfast Celtic team which defeated Scotland 2–0 at the Triborough Stadium, New York, in 1949.
  3. "Belfast Celtic Football and Athletic Company Ltd". 1949. Retrieved 23 June 2019 – via belfastceltic.org.
  4. "Celtic win the Irish Cup". Belfast News-Letter. 28 April 1947. p. 6.
  5. "Irish League Representative Match Line-Ups". NIFG. 5 November 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  6. Holroyd, Steve; Litterer, David (3 December 2017). "The Year in American Soccer – 1949". The American Soccer History Archives. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  7. "Celtic 2 Scotland 0". belfastceltic.org. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  8. "Belfast Celtic hold bargain sale". Manchester Evening News. 15 July 1949. p. 10. Bradford have claimed Charlie Currie, the centre-half, for £6,000
    "Celtic player for Bradford". Belfast Telegraph. 27 June 1949. p. 3. No official fee has been quoted, but it is generally believed to be around £6,000–£7,000.
    "Charlie Currie goes to Bradford". Northern Whig. Belfast. 27 June 1949. p. 2. A five-figure fee is to be paid.
  9. "Charlie Currie injured". Belfast Telegraph. 31 October 1949. p. 10. It had been the intention for a couple [of selectors] to cross and watch Charlie Currie at right back for Bradford. but owing to his injury this trip was postponed.
    'Ralph the Rover' (7 November 1949). "Likely side to play England". Belfast Telegraph. p. 8. The report on Charlie Currie over the week-end will decide if he gets his first cap
  10. "Team against Wales". Belfast Telegraph. 13 February 1950. p. 8. Some of the Irish selectors will be in England this week-end and one player likely to be watched is Charlie Currie, Bradford.
    'Ralph the Rover' (30 October 1950). "Irish team change for Wednesday – McKnight cries off". Belfast Telegraph. p. 8. Blanchflower (Barnsley), who was a reserve, will probably fill the vacancy. Gerry Bowler (Millwall) is on the London team against Belgium while Charlie Currie (Bradford) is injured.
  11. "Sea View side in Shield semi-final". Northern Whig. Belfast. 5 April 1955. p. 6. It was a grand night for Charlie Currie, who scored three goals as leader of the attack, but he is not strange to the position as he led the Bradford attack many a time when in English football.
  12. "Bradford captain suspended by club for a month". Birmingham Daily Gazette. 14 August 1953. p. 7.
  13. 'Ralph the Rover' (17 November 1954). "Currie moves from Derry". Belfast Telegraph. p. 10.
  14. "Derry's dismal start to the new season". Derry Journal. 23 August 1954. p. 10. The sole bright spot from the Derry viewpoint was Charlie Currie. In the second half, especially, he practically played the Coleraine attack singlehanded.
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