Andrew Gara (born 15 August 1878; date of death unknown) was an Irish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

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Club career

Gara joined Wigan County on the foundation of the club in 1897,Wigan Examiner: February 22, 1899: Page 4, column 2 scoring against

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in October of the same year. After impressing in a friendly match against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

Gara joined Preston for a reported fee of £100, where he averaged close to a goal every other game, top scoring in the 1900–01 season with 11 goals, despite Preston's relegation that season. Gara would then have a short spell with

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, making 6 appearances and scoring once on his home debut against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. He would then join

Second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

, where he scored 6 goals in 18 games, before returning to the

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 i ...

league with Earlestown, who would be promoted at the end of his season with the club. He would remain in the Lancashire Combination for the remainder of his playing career, with three spells at Ashton Town as well as time with Southport Central and Eccles Borough, before retiring in 1908.

International career

Gara was selected for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

during the 1901-02 British Home Championship, scoring three goals on his debut against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. One of Gara's international shirts is in the collection of the

National Football Museum The National Football Museum is England's national museum of Football in England, football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of association football, football ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gara, Andrew Irish association footballers (before 1923) NIFL Premiership players Men's association football forwards Northern Ireland men's amateur international footballers Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Preston North End F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Ashton Town F.C. players Year of death missing 1878 births Eccles United F.C. players Earlestown F.C. players