John Gough was an Irish football goalkeeper who played in the Irish League for Queen's Island and Ballymena during the 1920s and also won a solitary international cap for Ireland.
 John Gough pictured in May 1929[1] | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Gough | ||
| Place of birth | Belfast, Ireland | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| ?–1928 | Queen's Island | ||
| 1928—1930 | Ballymena | 48 | (0) |
| Total | 48 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1923–1924 | Irish League XI | 2 | (0) |
| 1924 | Ireland | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Career edit
Gough was a well decorated member of the Queen's Island team that experienced great success in the Irish League during the 1920s. The club and John's defining season came during the 1923-24 campaign when they won four domestic trophies (Irish League championship, Irish Cup, City Cup and County Antrim Shield).
During his impressive season, Gough was selected to represent Ireland against South Africa in a friendly game at Solitude in September 1924. This was the South African's first ever official international game. The full cap added to the two caps he had won between 1923 and 1924 for the Irish League representative team[2]
Queen's Island's success quickly deteriorated and in September 1928, John left the club to join the newly elected Ballymena team.[3] It proved a shrewd decision as Gough won another Irish Cup winners' medal in 1929, as the Braidmen defeated Belfast Celtic in final in their first ever season. He was also part of the team for a return to the Irish Cup final a year later, as Ballymena were defeated by Linfield.
John Gough was not retained by the Ballymena selection committee during the summer of 1930. It is unclear if he continued to play competitive football after his release. He returned to Ballymena in an off-field role 1934 as he formed part of the Management Committee of the new Ballymena United club which had been formed following the sudden demise of the old club.
Club honours edit
Queen's Island
- Irish League winner (1): 1923-24
- Irish Cup winner (1): 1923-24
- City Cup winner (3): 1922-23, 1923–24, 1924-1925
- County Antrim Shield winner (1): 1923-24
- Irish League runner-up (3): 1922-23, 1924–25, 1926–27
Ballymena
International caps edit
| Cap | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 September 1924 | Solitude, Belfast |  South Africa |
Lost 1-2 [4] | Friendly |
Statistics edit
| Club | Season | League | Irish Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ballymena | 1928–29 | Irish League | 24 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 44 | 0 |
| 1929–30 | 24 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 39 | 0 | ||
| Career Total | 48 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 83 | 0 | ||
References edit
- ^ Picture courtesy of Ballymena United Football Club
- ^ Irish League Greats - Irish League Representatives 1893-2007
- ^ Coleman, N. (2015). The Official History of Ballymena United FC. Ballyhay Books.
- ^ Northern Ireland Football Greats - Disputed Internationals