William Behan (8 August 1911 – 12 November 1991) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

for Shelbourne,

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

during the 1930s. He made his Rovers debut on 8 February 1931 in a 5–1 win over Bray Unknowns at Milltown. In his first season, he won the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

. Behan signed for Manchester United in September 1933, along with fellow Irishman

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

- they were the first players from the south of Ireland to play for the club in over a decade. He made his United debut in an English Second Division home game against Bury on 3 March 1934. The following July, he briefly returned to Shelbourne before again returning to Rovers. Over the next two seasons, he won another FAI Cup and a League of Ireland Shield. His last game for the Hoops was on 23 August 1936 in a Shield win over Drumcondra. After his retirement as a player he became a respected referee and was in charge of the 1943 FAI Cup Final. He then managed Drumcondra in the 1950s where he won the

again. Behan subsequently became United's chief scout in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

and is credited with discovering, among others,

Johnny Carey John Joseph Carey (23 February 1919 – 22 August 1995) was an Irish professional footballer and manager. As a player, Carey spent most of his career at Manchester United, where he was team captain from 1946 until he retired as a player in 1953 ...

Liam Whelan William Augustine Whelan (1 April 1935 – 6 February 1958), also known as Billy Whelan or Liam Whelan, was an Irish footballer and one of the eight Manchester United players who were killed in the Munich air disaster. He was 22 years old when ...

Tony Dunne Anthony Peter Dunne (24 July 19418 June 2020) was an Irish footballer who played as a left-back. Born in Dublin, he began his career with youth side Stella Maris before signing for Drumcondra-based Shelbourne, with whom he won the FAI Cup in h ...

Don Givens Daniel Joseph "Don" Givens (born 9 August 1949) is an Irish former footballer and coach. A forward, Givens played club football for Manchester United, Luton Town, Queens Park Rangers, Birmingham City, AFC Bournemouth, Sheffield United and Ne ...

, Kevin Moran and Paul McGrath. He also served as vice chairman of the

Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is an affluent suburb of Dublin, and a seaside resort southeast of the city, and the town of Dún Laoghaire, in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in the historic County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement ...

-based Leinster Senior League team, Dalkey United and it was through this association that he discovered McGrath. Behan's father, William Sr., was one of the founder members of Shamrock Rovers. His brothers John and Paddy also played for Rovers. His son William junior kept goal for Rovers side also for a spell. His second cousin was

Bob Fullam Robert "Bob" Fullam (1895–1971) was an Irish Association football, footballer and one of the best-known players in the League of Ireland in the 1920 A versatile attacking player, he was skilful but also had a tough-man image. Born in Ringsend, ...

. Billy's grandson Philip Behan is the former Head of International Football at the Football Association of Ireland and is now a UEFA and FIFA Agent organising friendly international matches and tournaments around the world. Billy died in November 1991 at the age of 80.

Honours

As a player

;Shamrock Rovers *

(2): 1931, 1936 *

League of Ireland Shield The League of Ireland Shield ( ga, Sciath Sraithe na hÉireann) is a defunct Irish football tournament which was introduced when the League of Ireland started in 1921 and ran uninterrupted until 1972. It was played before the league season bega ...

(1): 1934–35

As a manager

;Drumcondra *

(1): 1954

Sources

* *''The Boys In Green – The FAI International Story'' (1997): Sean Ryan *''The Hoops'' by Paul Doolan and Robert Goggins ()

References

External links

Profile
at MUFCInfo.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Behan, Billy 1911 births 1991 deaths People from Dalkey Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland association footballers Association football goalkeepers League of Ireland players Shelbourne F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff Republic of Ireland football managers League of Ireland managers English Football League players Republic of Ireland football referees Drumcondra F.C. managers