James "Maxie" McCann (4 March 1934 – 16 November 2017) was an Irish

soccer 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 ...

player from

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. McCann joined

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 ...

in 1954 and made his debut on 10 April in a 2–0 win against Bohemians at

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., ...

having signed the previous week. He scored a hat-trick in his second senior game. He played for Shamrock Rovers as a winger. He played in European competition for the Milltown club, scoring in a 3–2 defeat for Rovers against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in a 1957

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

preliminary round tie at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. This goal was the first ever scored in European competition by a player representing an Irish club. In total he made two appearances for Rovers in Europe and scored 46 League and 7

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 ...

goals during his time at

Glenmalure Park Glenmalure Park, often simply known as Milltown, was a football stadium on the Southside of Dublin city in Ireland. Located in the suburb of Milltown, it was home to Shamrock Rovers from 1926 to 1987, when it was sold to property developer ...

. He also represented the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the Airtricity League XI for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of Ireland. For much of its history, the League ...

four times scoring three goals. He won his one and only senior cap for the

Republic of Ireland national football team The Republic of Ireland Men's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international Association football, football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The team made their debut at the Ir ...

on 25 November 1956, scoring the third goal in a 3–0 win over world champions Germany at

. He won two

Republic of Ireland B national football team Republic of Ireland B is the reserve team of the Republic of Ireland national football team. There are no competitions for B teams. However, since 1957 the Football Association of Ireland has arranged occasional friendlies. History Early B inte ...

caps in 1958 scoring the winner in Iceland on his debut. He shared his benefit with Tommy Hamilton against Sunderland at

on 30 April 1962. His son Ray played for Bohemians in the 1980s. Of his other sons, Shay had a long career playing in the Athletic Union League, David (Maxie) played his schoolboy football at Belvo, part of the first Belvo team to win an A league in the D.D.S.L, then went on to Leinster Senior and League of Ireland and youngest son Paul played for

Sheriff Y.C. Sheriff Youth Club is an List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Sheriff Street, Dublin. Their senior team plays in the Athletic Union League (Dublin), Athletic Union League. They ha ...

His grandson Alan McCann played for St Patrick's Athletic before moving into coaching where he is now at

Reading United AC Reading United AC is an American soccer team based in Reading, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1995, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The club plays its home games at Alvernia University. The club's col ...

in the US. In February 2008, McCann, and Liam Hennessy were invited to the Munich commemoration at

. McCann died in Dublin on 16 November 2017, at the age of 83.

Sources

* * Shamrock Rovers programme 29 August 2008

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCann, Maxie 1934 births 2017 deaths Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players League of Ireland players League of Ireland XI players Drumcondra F.C. players Transport F.C. players Men's association football wingers 20th-century Irish sportsmen