Edward James "Eddie" McMorran (2 September 1923 – 27 January 1984) was a

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

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

and

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

, for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

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 ...

. McMorran was born in

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

and attended Larne School during which time he won Irish School Honours. He later played for Ballyclare Comrades, Linfield Swifts and Larne Olympic. He meanwhile began his working life as a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

Senior club career

Belfast Celtic

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 ...

was his first senior club. In the 1946–47 season they won the League title, Irish Cup and Gold Cup. In only 24 league games he netted 30 times.

Manchester City

City signed him for £7,000 in July 1947. His debut was in a 4–3 victory against

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

on 23 August when he scored the 3rd goal in front of a crowd of 65809. His time at Manchester wasn't as successful as had been expected with 12 goals in 36 games.

Leeds United

In January 1949 he moved to Leeds, who had just been relegated to Division 2, for £10,000. His debut was 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 22 January, and his first goal a week later in a victory against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. He scored 6 times in 40 games for Leeds.

Barnsley

McMorran was sold to Barnsley for £10,000 in July 1950.

Doncaster Rovers

In February 1953, McMorran was brought to Doncaster for then club record of £8,000 by fellow Irishman, player manager Peter Doherty, who also was manager of Northern Ireland at the time. This was a time when they were enjoying a successful period in League Division 2. In 1954 they made it to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup for the first time, knocking out big-spending Sunderland where McMorran scored twice in the 2–0 win. In total he scored 38 times in 139 games for Doncaster.

Crewe Alexandra

He finished his professional career by moving to Crewe for the season in November 1957. Crewe had finished the previous season bottom of Division 3 North and ended up in the same position this season. After Crewe, he played for Frickley Colliery in the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

till the end of the 1959–60 season, still playing as centre forward. The following season, he became manager of Dodworth Miners Welfare in Yorkshire League Division Two.

International career

He scored twice in two appearances for the Ireland Youth team in 1937. His first Ireland cap came against England in 1946, followed by Inter-League caps against the Football League and League of Ireland. His only international win was in his last game in a World Cup Qualifier in 1957 against Portugal where he scored in the 3–0 win.

Honours

1946/47 with Belfast Celtic *Regional League winners *Irish Cup winners *Gold Cup winners

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMorran, Eddie 1923 births 1984 deaths Association footballers from Larne Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Men's association football forwards Northern Ireland men's international footballers Belfast Celtic F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Frickley Athletic F.C. players English Football League players Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Ballyclare Comrades F.C. players Larne F.C. players NIFL Premiership players