Edward Alphonsus Brooks (14 August 1891 – 8 March 1958) 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 centre-forward or inside-left for, among others, Shelbourne,

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

and

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they play t ...

. Brookes was a dual internationalist and played for both Ireland teams – the IFA XI and the FAI XI.

Club career

Shelbourne

Brooks played at Shelbourne during the 1919–20 season alongside

Val Harris Valentine Harris (Irish: ''Vailintín Ó hEarchaí''; 23 June 1884 in Ringsend, Dublin, Ireland – 9 November 1963), commonly referred to as Val Harris, was an Irish footballer who played Gaelic football for the Dublin county team and soccer ...

and

Bob Fullam Robert Fullam (1895–1971) was an Irish 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, the son of John and Mary F ...

and finished as the club's top goalscorer. He also helped Shelbourne win the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

. Shelbourne were awarded the cup after both

Belfast Celtic Belfast Celtic Football Club was an Irish football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for political reaso ...

and

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

were expelled from the competition. While playing for Shelbourne, Brooks also represented the

Irish League XI The Irish League representative team was the representative side of the Irish Football League, the national league for football in Northern Ireland from 1922 and, prior to that the league for Ireland. The Irish League was suspended from 1941–42 ...

against a

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

in a 2–0 defeat at

Windsor Park The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...

in 1919.

Irish international

When Brooks began his international career in 1920, Ireland was represented by a single team, selected by the

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

-based

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became t ...

. However, during the 1920s, Ireland was partitioned into Northern Ireland and the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

. Amid these political upheavals, a rival association, the

Football Association of Ireland The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland. Organisation The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...

, emerged in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and from 1924 organised their own national team. As a result, several notable Irish players from this era, including Brookes played for both teams – the IFA XI and the FAI XI.

IFA XI

Brooks made his one and only appearance for the IFA XI while playing for Shelbourne. On 3 March 1920, in a team that also included

Elisha Scott Elisha Scott (24 August 1893 – 16 May 1959) was a Northern Irish football goalkeeper who played for Liverpool from 1912 to 1915 and from 1919 to 1934, and still holds the record as their longest-serving player. Life and playing career Elisha ...

, Bert Manderson, Bill Lacey and

Billy Gillespie William Ballintrae Gillespie (6 August 1891 – 2 July 1981) was an Irish football player who played as a striker for Sheffield United over a twenty-year period from 1913 to 1932, scoring over 137 League and Cup goals in 492 games for the Yo ...

, he played for the IFA XI against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in a 3–0 defeat at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

FAI XI

On 14 June 1924, while playing for

, Brooks also played for the FAI XI, scoring 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 Wick ...

against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 3–1 win at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

. His teammates that day included, among others, Frank Collins,

Paddy Duncan Paddy Duncan (1894 – 9 April 1949) was an Irish footballer. At the 1924 Olympic Games he scored the Ireland (FAI)'s first ever goal in a senior international. Club career Duncan began his schoolboy career with Belview Boys before joining S ...

, Tommy Muldoon,

Charlie Dowdall Charles Dowdall (7 April 1898 – 7 November 1987) was an Irish footballer. He played for several clubs in both the League of Ireland and the English League and was also capped at international level by Ireland. He was born in Dublin. Club car ...

and Johnny Murray. In March 1926 while playing for

, Brooks was also called up for the FAI XI to play in an away game against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. However a personal tragedy meant he was unable to travel and win another cap. A week before the team was due to leave for Italy, his seven-year-old son, Harold, was knocked down by a car and died in hospital. ''The Boys In Green – The FAI International Story'' (1997): Sean Ryan
/ref>

Family

He was married to Elizabeth Brooks (née Smyth) and had another child named Pauline who died during infancy. He also had two sons named Cecil and Stanley (stan) and a daughter Phyllis. Brooks died on 8 March 1958 and was buried in

Deansgrange Cemetery Dean's Grange Cemetery (; also spelled ''Deansgrange'') is situated in the suburban area of Deansgrange in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland. Since it first opened in 1865, over 150,000 people have been buried there. It is, toge ...

with his wife Elizabeth and son Stan.

Honours

Shelbourne *

**''Winners'' 1920: 1

References

External links

Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brookes, Ed Association footballers from County Dublin Irish association footballers (before 1923) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Irish Free State men's association footballers Dual Irish men's international footballers Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Bohemian F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Athlone Town A.F.C. players League of Ireland players 1958 deaths 1881 births Burials at Deans Grange Cemetery League of Ireland XI players Irish League representative players Men's association football forwards