Edward Spence (9 August 1925 – 31 January 2023) was a Northern Irish

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er. At club level he played with Belfast O'Connell's and at inter-county level with the

Antrim senior football team The Antrim county football team represents Antrim GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the Gaelic sport of football. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football ...

. Spence usually lined out as a forward.

Career

Spence first played Gaelic football as a schoolboy at

St Malachy's College St Malachy's College, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the oldest Catholic diocesan college in Ulster. The college's alumni and students are known as Malachians. History The college, founded by William Crolly, Bishop William Crolly, opened on th ...

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 ...

. His performances saw him join the Belfast O'Connell's junior team while still underage, before making his first senior appearance as an 18-year-old. After being overlooked for the Antrim minor football team, Spence first appeared on the inter-county scene as a member of the junior team. He soon progressed to the senior team. Spence was a member of the Antrim team that won the Ulster SFC title in 1946.

Death

Spence died on 31 January 2023, at the age of 97.

Honours

;Antrim *

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the Irish province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in April. The final is ...

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, Eddie 1925 births 2023 deaths Antrim inter-county Gaelic footballers