Joseph Martin (30 May 1931 – 17 January 2023) was an Irish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who played for

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

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 ...

Career

Martin was a noted goal-scorer from his days in the local Minor and Junior Leagues, once scoring a nine goals in one game. A planned two-month trial with

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

in 1949 was cut short when

claimed he was registered with the club. Martin was a member of the 'C' team that was successful in the Leinster Junior Shield in the 1949–50 season. His senior debut came in a 3–2 City Cup victory over

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

on 11 September 1949. Martin's performances earned his selection for 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 ...

that played the West German League in 1951. An injury restricted his early appearances in the 1951–52 season, however, he ended the season with an

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 ...

winners' medal after a win over

Cork Athletic Cork Athletic Football Club was an Irish football club based in Cork. History The club played in the League of Ireland between 1948 and 1957. It were the successor club of Cork United; when United quit the league in October 1948, Cork Athle ...

in a replay. The next four seasons brought no more club success. At the end of the 1955–56 season, he became only the third Dundalk player to score 100 goals. After being released by Dundalk at the end of the 1955–56 season, he joined

Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...

. An unsuccessful two months with Bangor was followed by a spell with Tandragee Rovers before returning to Dundalk for two more years after which he retired at the age of 29.

Post-playing career

After retiring from football, Martin worked at Halliday's shoe factory in Dundalk. He was also a well-known figure on the local entertainment scene as a singer, storyteller and raconteur. His accolades in this field include numerous talent show victories , People of the Year awards and several Hall of Fame awards. Martin also appeared on

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

's ''

Live at 3 ''Live at 3'' is a popular Republic of Ireland, Irish afternoon chat show broadcast live on RTÉ 1. Presented by Thelma Mansfield and Derek Davis, it was RTÉ's flagship daytime show from 1986 until 1997. Ireland's most successful Daytime TV pro ...

'' and hosted his own radio show on Dundalk FM.

Death

Martin died on 17 January 2023, at the age of 91.

Honours

Dundalk *

: 1951–52

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Joe 1931 births 2023 deaths Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football forwards League of Ireland players Dundalk F.C. players League of Ireland XI players Sportspeople from Dundalk Association footballers from County Louth 20th-century Irish sportsmen