James "Maxie" McCann (born 4 March 1934) is a former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland. McCann joined

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

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

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known as D ...

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 () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in a 1957

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

preliminary round tie at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. 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 Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

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 developers ...

. 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 the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

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

Republic of Ireland national football team , FIFA Trigramme = IRL , Name = Republic of Ireland , Association = Football Association of Ireland (FAI) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , website fai.ie, Coach = Stephen Kenny (foot ...

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 Tommy Hamilton (born 1935 in Bray) is a former Irish footballer who played as a forward. He was educated at Synge Street CBS in Dublin. His first club was Manchester United whom he joined in 1953 where he began playing as an inside forward f ...

against Sunderland at

on 30 April 1962. His son Ray played for

Bohemian F.C. Bohemian Football Club ( ga, an Cumann Peile Bóihéamach), more commonly referred to as Bohemians or Bohs, is a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. Bohemians compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland, and are the ...

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 Irish association football club based in Sheriff Street, Dublin. Their senior team plays in the Athletic Union League. They have also competed in the FAI Cup, the FAI Junior Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup. History In ...

His grandson Alan McCann played for

St Patrick's Athletic F.C. St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

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 Don Thomas Stadium on the campus ...

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

Sources

* ''The Hoops'' by Paul Doolan and Robert Goggins () * Shamrock Rovers programme 29 August 2008

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCann, Maxie Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers Republic of Ireland B international footballers Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players League of Ireland players Living people 1934 births League of Ireland XI players Drumcondra F.C. players Transport F.C. players Association football wingers