Francis Coyle (1 April 1933 – 30 March 2007) was a

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 ...

international

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 ...

from

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

, Northern Ireland.

Club career

A centre-forward, Fay Coyle began his career at Derry City in the Irish League before starring with

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

for a number of years. At the age of 18, he joined Derry City Reserves, and after some excellent displays, he made his senior debut in the 1952–53 season against Ards. On 25 November 1953 Coyle transferred to Coleraine F.C. His best was perhaps the 1954–55 season when he top-scored in the Irish League with 20 goals and won a City Cup winner's medal. In Matt Doherty Sr.'s benefit game on 4 May 1955 against

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

he scored all 6 goals in a 6–1 win. After the game, Rovers' legend

Paddy Coad Paddy Coad (14 April 1920 – 8 March 1992) was an Irish football player and manager. He played as a forward for Waterford, Glenavon, Shamrock Rovers and Ireland. Although known, primarily, as a maker of goals, Coad scored 126 goals in the Le ...

described Fay as the 'greatest prospect in Irish football'. Finally, after years of trying,

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

prised Coyle away from Coleraine in March 1958. He played just three times for Forest, but never at the

City Ground The City Ground is a association football, football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest F.C., Nottingham Forest since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,455. ...

, before returning homesick to Coleraine in the summer of 1958. Back in the Irish League, Coyle added to his collection of North-West Senior Cup medals as Coleraine defeated his old and first club, Derry City, in the 1959 and 1960 finals. On 26 September 1963 he returned to his hometown club in Derry and captained them to the most successful period in their Irish League history. In 1964 he led them to an

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 ...

final victory over

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 ...

, and consequently into Europe for the first time in their history. The next season Derry claimed their only Irish League title, adding the Gold Cup for good measure.

International career

On 12 September 1953 Coyle won his first amateur international against England in Coleraine. Fittingly he scored the winning goal as the home side won 2–1. Coyle's performances in the Irish League during the 1954–55 season brought him to the attentions of Peter Doherty and the

Northern Ireland national football team The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in men's international association football. From 1882 to 1950, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland ...

international selectors seeking a solution to their perennial search for a reliable goalscorer. He made his debut in a 2–1 home nations victory over

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 ...

, and retained his place for the following month's defeat by

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Doherty awarded Coyle a place in the squad for the 1958

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

in Sweden. Northern Ireland's on-going centre-forward problem continued due to an injury to Billy Simpson in the run-up to tournament, and Coyle was given a chance against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. The game ended in a 3–1 defeat, in what turned out to be Coyle's last cap.

Retirement

Coyle also had the honour of seeing his son,

Liam Liam is a short form of the Germanic name William, or its Irish variant Uilliam. Etymology The original name was a merging of two Old German elements: ''willa'' ("will" or "resolution"); and ''helma'' ("helmet"). The juxtaposition of these ...

, emerge as a leading light in the club's resurgence in the

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 ...

. Coyle was given a Hall of Fame award at the 1997

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 alongside

Peter Keely Peter Keely (1922 – 15 October 2004) was an Irish footballer who played with Shelbourne and represented the league internationally. Keely won two league titles, in 1947 and 1953, two Shields and two inter-league caps during his eleven seaso ...

. Fay Coyle died two days before his 74th birthday in 2007.Candystripes favourite Coyle dies
, ''BBC Sport Online'', 30 March 2007.

Honours

Derry City * Irish League: 1964–65 *

: 1963–64 * Gold Cup: 1963–64 *

Top Four Cup The Top Four Cup was an association football super cup featuring the top four clubs in the League of Ireland. It was first held in 1955–56 and last played for in 1973–74. It was played at the end of the season. Shamrock Rovers were the in ...

: 1965–66 *

North West Senior Cup The North West Senior Cup or North West Cup is a senior football competition in Northern Ireland run by the North West of Ireland Football Association. Senior and intermediate teams from the North West FA's jurisdiction (which covers County Londo ...

: 1963–64, 1965–66 Coleraine * Gold Cup: 1957–58 *

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was conteste ...

: 1953–54 *

: 1954–55, 1955–56, 1957–58, 1960–61

References

External links

Fay Coyle – Derry City Legends
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coyle, Fay 1933 births 2007 deaths 1958 FIFA World Cup players Northern Ireland men's international footballers Derry City F.C. players Coleraine F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players NIFL Premiership players English Football League players Association footballers from Derry (city) Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's amateur international footballers Men's association football forwards