Cecil Irwin (8 April 1942 – 21 April 2025) was an English

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

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Playing career

Irwin made his debut for Sunderland on 20 September 1958 against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

in a 2–0 defeat at

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; it h ...

. He went on to make 313 league appearances, scoring just a single goal during his time with the club.

Player-manager career

After finishing his stint with Sunderland, he moved on to Yeovil Town as a player-manager, staying with them from 1972 to 1975, when his contract was not renewed. He moved on to play for

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

, also managing the Colliers for a year.

Managerial career

Cecil continued to manage after his playing days were done, managing Ashington, just outside his hometown of Ellington twice more, first in 1996–98, and again in 2000–02, the latter time managing his squad to promotion, but unable to stick in the new league and being let go after relegation the next year.

Death

Irwin died on 21 April 2025, at the age of 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Cecil 1942 births 2025 deaths Footballers from Ashington English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Ashington A.F.C. players Ashington A.F.C. managers Sunderland A.F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. managers Vancouver Royals players United Soccer Association players English football managers English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada English Football League players