Edward James Magill (known as Eddie or Ted as well as Jimmy) (born 7 May 1939 in

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and roughly southwest of Belfast. The town is linked to Belfast by both the M1 motorway (Northern Ireland), M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin rail ...

) is a Northern Irish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er. Magill began his career with

Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...

but moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

club

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in May 1959. He made his debut for the side against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

on 19 December 1959. A

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, he was seen as a potential replacement for the injured Dennis Evans and played for most of the rest of that season, but lost his place in 1960–61 to Len Wills and

Dave Bacuzzi David Reno Bacuzzi (12 October 1940 – 21 April 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played for Arsenal, Manchester City and Reading. He also represented England as a youth international. After a moderately successful career in the ...

. He regained the right-back spot the following season, 1961–62, sharing it with Bacuzzi, before securing the place for good in 1962–63. In the meantime, he made his debut for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, and won 26 caps for his country in total. Known for his passing and ball control, he kept his place in the Arsenal side until the signing of

Don Howe Donald Howe (12 October 1935 – 23 December 2015) was an English football player, coach, manager and pundit. As a right back Howe featured for clubs West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal together with the England national football team in his pla ...

at the end of 1963–64. Relegated to the reserves, Magill only made one more first-team appearance for Arsenal over the next fifteen months, mainly playing for the reserve team instead. He eventually joined

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

in October 1965. In total he played 131 matches for Arsenal, never scoring a goal. At Brighton, he spent three seasons before returning to Northern Ireland in 1968. After retiring from playing Magill coached in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, first as coach at

Viborg FF Viborg Fodsports Forening (), also known as Viborg FF or VFF for short, is a Danish professional association football, football club based in the Central Denmark Region, Central Jutland city of Viborg, Denmark, Viborg. They compete in the Danish ...

and B1909 and then as manager of Næstved BK and

Frederikshavn Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast on the North Jutlandic Island in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbor". It was originally named Fladstrand. The ...

Footnotes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Magill, Eddie 1939 births Living people Association footballers from Lurgan Northern Ireland men's international footballers Arsenal F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Association football managers from Northern Ireland Expatriate association football managers from Northern Ireland Viborg FF managers Næstved Boldklub managers Expatriate football managers in Denmark Boldklubben 1909 managers Men's association football defenders English Football League players