Sammy Curran was an Irish international footballer who played as a centre-forward. It was said of Curran that

''"Another record which Belfast Celtic can honestly claim is that Sammy Curran (centre forward) has the greatest number of goals to his credit during his first four years of Senior football than any other player in the,game, and will still bang them in."''Belfast Celtic F.C.
belfastceltic.org; accessed 23 August 2017.

Curran made headlines as goal-getter with Carrick-based intermediate club, Woodburn, and brought the attentions of the Irish League's top clubs. Belfast Celtic won the race for his signature, usurping Linfield at the last minute. He made his

Belfast Celtic Belfast Celtic Football Club was a football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 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 polit ...

debut in a 1–0 defeat at the hands of

Glenavon Glenavon Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club that competes in the NIFL Premiership. Founded in 1889, the club hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Gar ...

on 22 August 1925. He found the back of the net on 51 occasions as the Gibson Cup (Irish League), Irish Cup, Gold Cup, City Cup and Belfast Charities Cup (shared with Glentoran) all returned to Paradise. Individual highlights included a hat-trick in the 3-2 Irish Cup final victory over Linfield and a brace in a 4-2 friendly win against Glasgow Celtic on Easter Monday 1926. Impressive club form also brought Curran representative honours. He scored on his Inter-League debut in a 5–1 defeat by the Football League in October 1925, and scored two on his first outing for Ireland in a 3–0 win over Wales.Profile
nifootball.blogspot.com, September 2006; accessed 23 August 2017. Over the next few seasons Curran couldn't stop scoring, as Belfast Celtic went on to claim four consecutive League titles, plus further successes in the City Cup and the County Antrim Shield. In 1928 he was chosen to lead the line as Ireland faced France in Paris. Four days later he scored the only goal in a famously hard-fought win over Scotland in Glasgow. Having scored over 170 goals for Celtic, Curran moved on to

Derry City Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

playing in their first match as a senior side on 22 August 1929. Two days later he had the honour of scoring the club's first senior hat-trick, as Derry came back from 5-1 down against Portadown, only to lose 6–5 to a late goal. Curran finished his first season at the Brandywell Stadium with 35 goals in 39 appearances. In 1931 Curran moved closer to home, signing for Bangor. The club struggled during Curran's first season, finishing bottom of the Irish League, five points behind Glenavon. A personal highlight for Curran was his hat-trick back at the Brandywell, although the final score of Derry City 7, Bangor 4 no doubt took some of the gloss of the achievement. Ironically, Bangor had been the main rivals of Woodburn during their Intermediate League days. He scored for Woodburn in the 1923 Steel & Sons Cup Final against the Seasiders; Bangor won 2–0.

Retirement

Curran settled in Bangor, where he bought a sweet shop.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curran, Sammy Bangor F.C. players Belfast Celtic F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Men's association football forwards Irish association footballers (before 1923) NIFL Premiership players Association footballers from County Antrim Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Sportspeople from Bangor, County Down Sportspeople from Carrickfergus Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Ulster Scots people Year of birth missing Year of death missing