Frederick William McKee (born 31 August 1883) was an Irish

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

who played for, among others,

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 clubs

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

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 Linfield, and the national team of

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 ...

. At club level, McKee celebrated five Irish League titles and five

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 ...

s. In 1914, he was a member of the Ireland team that won the

British Home Championship The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...

- the only edition at which (united) Ireland became the unshared winners of the Championship.

Irish International

Fred McKee made his debut for Ireland at the 1906 British Home Championship on 17 March, in a 0–1 defeat to

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 ...

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 Robert Milne and

Jack Kirwan John Henry Kirwan (December 2 1872 – 7 January 1959) was an Irish football player and coach. As a player, he was described as an out and out winger with good pace and skills, playing as an outside-left for, among others, Everton, Tottenham ...

. In spite of holding

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

at a 4–4 draw in his second international (the last tournament match), Ireland ended last. Much more memorable was his participation at the 1914 British Home Championship. He played all three matches, and with a clean sheet against

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 ...

and only two goals conceded in his other appearances, McKee contributed to the unique victory at the British Home Championship. While the Irish team in 1903 still shared their victory with England and Scotland, this was the only occasion at which the team of (united) Ireland became sole winners.

Honours

Club

;Cliftonville * Irish League: 1905–06 (shared), 1909–10 *

: 1906–07, 1908–09 *

Belfast Charity Cup The Belfast Charity Cup was a football competition which ran from 1883 to 1941, and was based on a similar tournament in Scotland, the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup. The competition was open to senior sides from Belfast and invited intermediate te ...

: 1905–06, 1907–08, 1908–09 ;Belfast Celtic * Irish League: 1914–15 *

: 1917–18 ;Linfield * Irish League: 1921–22, 1922–23 *

: 1921–22, 1922–23 *

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster F ...

: 1921–22, 1922–23

International

;Ireland *

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKee, Fred 1883 births 1956 deaths Irish association footballers (before 1923) Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers NIFL Premiership players Cliftonville F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Ulster F.C. players Belfast Celtic F.C. players Linfield F.C. players Men's association football goalkeepers English Football League players