Patrick Ambrose (17 October 1928 – 22 February 2002) was an Irish professional football player and coach. Ambrose was 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 ...

, Ireland. Signed by Jimmy Dunne from junior side Clontarf, he was associated with

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 ...

from 1948 to 1973, firstly as a player and then as a coach. He made his debut against Transport in Bray on 28 August 1949 in a

Dublin City Cup The Dublin City Cup is a defunct Irish football tournament which was played for by all League of Ireland sides (and not just those from Dublin city as the name suggests). It ran from 1933 and ran uninterrupted until 1973. In the 1975–76 se ...

game. He was one of the club's best ever strikers. During his career at Rovers he scored 109 League goals which is a club record. He was the leading scorer at the club in 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56 (20 goals) and 1960–61. When Rovers won the title in 1953–54, their first title for fifteen years, Ambrose scored 13 goals. He won a League medal with Shamrock Rovers four times, in 1953–54, 1956–57, 1958–59 and 1963–64. He played in six

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 ...

finals plus one replay and won four winner's medals in the following years, 1955, 1956, 1962 and 1964. He made six appearances in European competition for Rovers. The man who became famous for wearing the green and white hooped number nine shirt was capped by Ireland five times, scoring once, also earning two B caps and one amateur international 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 ...

. Ambrose shared a testimonial with Gerry Mackey in May 1959. The great service of Ambrose to Rovers was marked by the presentation of a gold medal by the directors. This was a medal which was presented to any Rovers player who had 15 consecutive years service to the club. At the end of the

2012 League of Ireland The 2012 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 28th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division featured 12 teams. Sligo Rovers were champions, winning their first top league title since 1976–77. Drogheda United finish ...

season Ambrose is joint thirty third in the all-time League of Ireland goalscoring list with 109 league goals

References

External links

Paddy Ambrose and Tommy Eglington
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambrose, Paddy Association footballers from County Dublin Men's association football forwards 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 Shamrock Rovers F.C. managers League of Ireland managers League of Ireland players 1928 births 2002 deaths League of Ireland XI players Republic of Ireland association football managers 20th-century Irish sportsmen