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This section of the website looks back at some of the great players to wear the bit o' red. If you would like to suggest a player we have missed send your suggestion to Sligo Town Supporters Club
Harry Mc Loughlin Gerry Mc Daid Paddy Sheridan Alan Paterson Tony Fagen Pat Mc Cluskey Johnny Armstrong Graham Fox Willie Bradley
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A local who grew up in the area of Sligo Town which gave Rovers its heart in the early years, Forthill. Harry played his early football with the now defunct Boys Club, which was based behind the old Cavendish's shop on O'Connell Street. He was an old fashioned winger who loved nothing better than to get on the ball, take on the defence and get his crosses in. He also had a good eye for a goalscoring chance. Harry joined Rovers in the 1977/78 season as a replacement for another local hero, Paul Mc Gee. |
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He made his debut for the club away to Shamrock Rovers and on his home debut he made an instant impact tormenting the Galway Rovers defence at the Showground. He went on to make 315 appearances for Rovers and scored just short of fifty goals for the club, not bad for a winger. He tormented many more defences after this. Harry Mc Loughlin would have made the top 100 easily but the little winger had to do it in style. Harry produced what is arguably the greatest single moment in the history of the club.
H efinished off his career with brief spells with Finn Harps and Longford Town. When Rovers fans sit down to pick their greatest team of all time the name of Harry Mc Loughlin always fills the right wing position. His goalscoring record for the club is:
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Rovers first win in senior football was against Cork at the Showgrounds on September 23rd 1934. Making his debut in this game and scoring two of the goals which gave Rovers a 3-2 win was a striker from Derry. His name was Gerry Mc Daid. In his first season with the club he scored an incredible total of 35 goals which has never been equalled. He followed this up in his second season with a total of 29. Even though he only played two seasons with the club only two players have a better goalscoring record the man from Foyleside. |
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| Gerry Mc Daid | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gerry
Mc Daid's goalscoring record for Rovers:
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Donegal born centre half and a brother of Finn Harps legend Jim Sheridan (who in turn was the father of Rovers current centre half of the same name). Paddy was one of the most gifted centre half's the club has had. His distribution of the ball was first class and he was also good in the air. He also had a good eye for goal and was very dangerous at set pieces. He spent four seasons at the club chalking up 82 appearances in the bit o' red before he returned to Donegal to play for Finn Harps. His record for Rovers was: |
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| Paddy Sheridan | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Tony Fagen -Rovers longest serving player joined the club in 1967. Records for this period are not accurate enough to give us an exact number but we know he played well over 500 times for the club. Born within a stones throw of the Showgrounds if ever there was a player who had the club etched on his heart it was Fagen. He is remembered by many as a hard tackling midfielder but this doesn't really do justice to him at all. Yes aggresion was an important part of his game but the man known to the fans simply as "Fago" could pass the ball as well as anyone of that era. He was also good for a few goals and usually picked his moments to make sure they were important goals. One of the most memorable was his free kick which knocked Shamrock Rovers out of the cup and set up the historic match against |  |
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| Tony Fagen (right with Andy Elliott) - the first Rovers player to lift the FAI in victory | |||||||||||||||
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Cobh Ramblers dealt with elsewhere on the site. In fact Fago played in many epic Rovers games from the 1970 FAI Cup marathon, the Blaxnit Cup. He was a member of the team which won the league in 1976/77 and played in two other Cup final defeats, not to mention the historic European Cup game in the Red Star stadium in Belgrade. If Tony epitomised the spirit of Sligo Rovers then history had a date with destiny set aside for him. When Rovers finally won the FAI cup in 1983 it was Fagen who had the honour of being captain and lifting the coveted silverware for the first time. He joined the coaching staff at the club after he retired and was a coach when Rovers lifted the cup for the second time in 1994. Fagen's goal record for Rovers is:
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Pat Mc Cluskey - Scottish defender / midfielder joined Rovers on loan for the 1969/70 season from Celtic. Almost six foot tall he was a hard tackling player who was also capable of spraying the ball about. He played in both the FAI cup final of 1970 and the Blaxnit Cup final of the same year. He returned to Celtic at the end of the season where he went on to pick up 2 league championship medals and 2 Sctottish cup medals. He later went on to become a Scottish international but his career was cut short after a night club incident in Copenhagen also involving Billy Bremner. Both players were permanently "suspended" from the Scotland squad as a result of a breach od discipline.. |
| Pat Mc Cluskey |
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Top 100
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Simply the Best. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A Rovers legend |
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Over the twelve years that followed Johnny Armstrong
wrote himself into the history books and set goalscoring records which
remain unchallenged today. Indeed no one has even come close to challenging
his records. Johnny Armstrong's goalscoring
record.
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Graham Fox - Joined Rovers at the start of the 1976/77 season from Cardiff City as a 21 year old. He was one of the best left backs ever to play in the league of Ireland. Comfortable on the ball an a good solid defender but Graham's main asset was his ability to spray passes all over the pitch and cause problems for the opposition in their own half. Always available and always the start of Rovers attacks with pinpoint accuracy from his cultured left foot and his accuracy from set pieces often hurt the opposion. |
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Graham had the honour of captaining the team that won the championship in the 1976/77 season and was so consistent that he won the player of the year award. He had a total of four seasons at the club and chipped in with a few goals for good measure. His goalscoring record for the club is:
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Willie Bradley - A local inside left joined Rovers at the start of the 1953/54 season. He had three seasons at the club at a time when the club were anchored in mid-table. He later went on to be a referee and is currently working as the referee's inspector for the FAI. Willie played alongside Johnny Armstrong at a time when the winger was at his best. His goalscoring record for the club is:
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It
was Easter Sunday at a rain drenched Dalymount Park. Against all odds
Rovers had hauled themselves back into the Cup Final with a goal from
Tony Stenson. With barely fifteen minutes to go Graham Fox broke up a
Bohs attack and his sliding tackle saw the ball fall to Tony Stenson.
He moved the ball along the front of Rovers penalty area to Martin Mc
Donnell who sent a brilliant pass down the left wing to Mc Loughlin. He
raced onto the ball and took on the Bohs full back Dave Connell. He jinked
inside and sent a beautifully judged chip over the head of Dermot O'Neill
and into the far corner. As the RTE commentator of the time said - "It
was a goal worthy of winning any Cup final". It was the goal
that would bring the Cup to Sligo for the first time after five Cup final
defeats.
When
Sligo Rovers fans debate the topic of who was the greatest Rovers player
ever a number of names will pop up depending on the age of the supporters.
Everyone has their favourites and it is likely that cases could be made
for the likes of David Pugh, Gerry Mitchell, Johnny Brooks, Paul Mc Gee,
Alan Paterson and Harry Mc Loughlin. Some of the younger supporters might
make a case for Eddie Annand or Padraig Moran. Among the older supporters
one name is sure to be top of the list and that is Johnny Armstrong. For
those of us who never had the privilege of seeing Johnny Armstrong play
his record speaks for itself.
His
most prolific period started with the 1954/55 season when he reached a
season total of 19 goals again, which included a season best of 14 league
goals. He followed this up with his best season for the club in 1955/56
when he notched up another 14 league goals and finished with a total of
22 goals in all competitions. In his career at the Showgrounds Johnny
Armstrong scored a total of 83 league goals. This remains a record with
his closest challenger, Padraig Moran, twenty goals short when he left
the club last season. This is only part of the story though, and when
you total Johnny Armstrong career goals total for Rovers in all competitions
the final figure is a staggering 138 goals. Needless to say nobody is
within touching distance of that record and once again Padraig Morans
total of 83 goals in all competitions gives some indication of the achievements
of Johnny Armstrong. And all this from a player who was essentially a
winger and whose primary function was to make goals for others in the
team. 