Eamonn "Chick" Deacy (1 October 1958 – 13 February 2012) was a professional footballer from

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

, Ireland.

Career

Sligo Rovers

After a trial at Clyde Deacy made an impressive

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

debut for

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

away to Shelbourne at

Harold's Cross Stadium Harold's Cross Stadium was a Greyhound racing in Ireland, greyhound racing stadium in Harold's Cross, Dublin, owned and operated by the Bord na gCon, Irish Greyhound Board. Facilities included a grandstand restaurant, carvery, a number of bars ...

on 14 December 1975. His only win in Sligo's colours came at

Glenmalure Park Glenmalure Park, often simply known as Milltown, was a football stadium on the Southside of Dublin city in Ireland. Located in the suburb of Milltown, it was home to Shamrock Rovers from 1926 to 1987, when it was sold to property developer ...

on 4 January 1976. The next month he faced

Geoff Hurst Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst (born 8 December 1941) is an English former professional Association football, footballer. A Striker (association football), striker, he became the first player to score a Hat-trick#Association football, hat-trick in a ...

at Turners Cross.

Galway Rovers F.C.

His debut game for his home town club, then Galway Rovers F.C., was in the FAI League Cup on 5 September 1976. Deacy made his debut for

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

on 28 November 1976 at Flower Lodge. At the end of the season, he was on the losing side in the

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

final. However, in his last game for the Shannonsiders he won the Munster Senior Cup. Returning to his home club, Deacy scored Galway Rovers first goal in the

on 2 October 1977.

Aston Villa

The 21-year-old full back left Galway for

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 ...

in February 1979, after writing 12 letters to the club requesting a trial. He went on to have an unforgettable five years at the club, during which time they won the League Championship, European Cup and European Super Cup. He was one of only 14 players used by Ron Saunders in the 1980–81 league-winning season, making enough appearances (11 in all, including six starts) to win a medal (he was Villa's number 12 on 19 occasions that season). He made one appearance for Villa in European competition when the defending European champions played against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in the 1982–83 European Cup. He had a brief loan spell at Derby, where he played five games, before rejecting an offer of a new two-year deal from Villa to return home to Galway.

Return to Galway

Deacy's first game back in the Maroon was in a

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup, also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', was an annual knockout competition in men's football in Ireland. It was contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited clubs from the lower levels of the Irish footb ...

tie against Finn Harps on 2 September 1984. His last League of Ireland game was also in Harold's Cross on St Patrick's Day 1991 away to St Patrick's Athletic.

International career

He won 4 caps for the

Republic of Ireland national football team The Republic of Ireland Men's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international Association football, football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The team made their debut at the Ir ...

. He also played for the

amateur team that qualified for the 1978 UEFA Amateur Cup.

Death and legacy

He died following a heart attack on 13 February 2012. Terryland Park was renamed

Eamonn Deacy Park Eamonn Deacy Park, formerly known as Terryland Park, is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in the Terryland district of Galway. It is owned by the Galway Football Association and is the home ground of both Galwa ...

in honour of Chick A testimonial was held on 18 August at Eamonn Deacy Park.

Honours

;Galway United *

(1): 1991 * FAI League Cup (1): 1985–86 ;Limerick * Munster Senior Cup (1): 1977 ;Aston Villa *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

(1): 1980–81 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

(1):

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

(shared) *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

(1):

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

(1):

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deacy, Eamon Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Association footballers from Galway (city) Association footballers from County Galway players Sportspeople from Galway (city) Men's association football fullbacks League of Ireland players English Football League players Limerick F.C. players Galway United F.C. (1937–2011) players Sligo Rovers F.C. players League of Ireland XI players Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Aston Villa F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Galway United F.C. managers 1958 births 2012 deaths Republic of Ireland association football managers 20th-century Irish sportsmen