William Morrow (15 November 1851 – 22 January 1922) was an Irish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played in the 1880s, most notably for

Moyola Park Moyola Park is a country estate near Castledawson, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It was formerly the home of Lady Moyola and Lord Moyola, former Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. The estate is and is home to Moyola Park Golf ...

. He was a winner of the inaugural

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

and earned three caps for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. After initially playing rugby and later

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

in Mountpottinger, Morrow took up

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 ...

late, and was about thirty years old when he signed for Ulster F.C., his first club. After a year at Ballynafeigh Park he signed for

in 1881. With the Castledawson side he would win the inaugural

in 1881. Morrow was team captain and the only goalscorer in the final, a 1-0 win against

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

side

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

, netting the 75th minute winner at the Cliftonville Cricket Ground,

in front of 1,500 spectators. Morrow played three times for

making his debut February 1883 in a 7-0 loss away to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at the Aigburth Cricket Ground. He would make history a month later when he scored the equalising goal that secured Ireland’s first ever draw, 1-1 against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

at Ballynafeigh Park. A year later, he earned the last of his three caps, playing in a 5-0 loss to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Morrow later became a referee, and officiated an international between England and Scotland in 1891.

Honours

;Moyola Park *

(1): 1880-81

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrow, William 1851 births 1922 deaths Irish association footballers (before 1923) Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Moyola Park F.C. players Ulster F.C. players