Bobby Gilbert is an Irish former

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 for, among others, Derry City and

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 ...

. Gilbert scored in European competitions for both City and Rovers. As an international he also played for 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 ...

Derry City

Together with

Jimmy McGeough Jimmy McGeough (born 13 August 1944) is a Northern Irish former football player and manager. Playing and coaching career His clubs included Derry City, Lincoln and Waterford United. Joining Derry in July 1963 he was part of the only Derry Cit ...

, Jim Crossan and Matt Doherty, Gilbert was a member of the Derry City team that overcame F.C. Lyn Oslo in a

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

tie in 1965. As a result, City became the first Irish League team to win a European Cup tie over two legs. In the first leg, played away on 31 August, Gilbert headed in two goals in a 5–3 defeat. However, he missed the return leg on 9 September because of injury, but Gilbert's two goals helped City to an 8–6 aggregate win. Legend has that Gilbert's injury resulted from a punch in the head he received in a nightclub the night before the game.

Shamrock Rovers

Having already played for Rovers minors in 1958 Gilbert made his senior debut for Shamrock Rovers on 24 October 1965 in a

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 ...

game against

St. Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

and scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

as Rovers won 9–1. He went on to finish the 1965–66 season as Rovers' top goalscorer. Together with Liam Tuohy, Johnny Fullam,

Pat Dunne Patrick "Pat" Dunne (9 February 1943 – 25 September 2015) was an Irish professional football goalkeeper. He played internationally for the Republic of Ireland and professionally in both Republic of Ireland and England. Dunne played in Dubl ...

, Frank O'Neill,

Mick Leech Mick Leech (born 6 August 1948 in Dublin) was an Irish professional football player who made his name with Shamrock Rovers in the 1960s. He was signed by Paddy Ambrose and Liam Tuohy for Rovers in September 1966 from junior side Ormeau. He sp ...

and

Paddy Mulligan Patrick Martin "Paddy" Mulligan (born 17 March 1945 in Dublin) is an Irish retired footballer who played mainly as a right-back. Mulligan started his senior career playing for Bohemians in 1963. However, after only two games he signed for Shamr ...

, Gilbert was a prominent member of the Rovers team that dominated 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 ...

during the 1960s. He played in three successive finals, finishing on winning side each time. In 1966 they beat Limerick United, in 1967 they

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origina ...

and in 1968 they beat

Waterford United Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland First Division. The club was founded and elected to the ...

. In April 1966 Gilbert scored three goals in the semi-final of the FAI Cup against Waterford United. He scored once in the original 2–2 draw and then twice in a 4–2 replay. During the summer of 1967, Gilbert also played for Rovers when they went to the United States and competed as

Boston Rovers Boston Shamrock Rovers (also known as Boston Rovers) were an American soccer team that competed in the United Soccer Association (USA) league in 1967. The team was based in Lynn, Massachusetts and played their home games at the Manning Bowl. ...

in the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American ...

league. One of the highlights of his time with Rovers came in November 1966 when Rovers came close to knocking, Bayern Munich, the eventual winners, out of the

European Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourna ...

. After holding Bayern to a 1–1 draw at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park ( Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known ...

, goals from Gilbert and Liam Tuohy saw Rovers came back from 2–0 down during the away game. Rovers were winning the tie on away goals when a late goal from

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional footballer. A striker renowned for his clinical finishing, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalscor ...

saw Bayern win 3–2 on the night and progress to the next round. Gilbert scored his fourth goal in European competition the following season in a

game against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

. Gilbert's goal earned Rovers a 1–1 draw in the home leg. However Rovers subsequently lost the tie 3–1 on aggregate.

Republic of Ireland

On 4 May 1966, while playing for Shamrock Rovers, Gilbert made his one and only appearance the Republic of Ireland in friendly against

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

at Dalymount Park. The Republic lost 4–0 and Gilbert never won another cap.

Honours

Shamrock Rovers *

**''Winners'' 1966, 1967, 1968: 3 *

**''Winners'' 1965–66, 1967–68: 2 *

Dublin City Cup The Dublin City Cup is a defunct Irish football tournament which was played for by all League of Ireland sides (and not just those from Dublin city as the name suggests). It ran from 1933 and ran uninterrupted until 1973. In the 1975–76 ...

**''Winners'' 1966–67: 1 *

Blaxnit Cup The Blaxnit Cup, is a defunct club football competition which featured teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland, in a similar format to the later Setanta Cup. It was inaugurated in 1967 as a cross-border competition between ...

**''Winners'' 1967–68: 1 *

Top Four Cup The Top Four Cup was an association football super cup featuring the top four clubs in the League of Ireland. It was first held in 1955–56 and last played for in 1973–74. It was played at the end of the season. Shamrock Rovers were the in ...

**''Winners'' 1965–66: 1 Dundalk * Leinster Senior Cup **''Winners'' 1970–71: 1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Bobby Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Shelbourne F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players League of Ireland players Portadown F.C. players NIFL Premiership players United Soccer Association players Boston Shamrock Rovers players Association footballers from County Dublin Drumcondra F.C. players Living people League of Ireland XI players Men's association football forwards Year of birth missing (living people)