"Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play…it is war minus the shooting."
Right inside soccer
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Jimmy McIlroy, Nicholas Kaye, 1960
The most interesting part of the book are the author's account of Northern Ireland's. qualification for and excellent performance at the 1958 World Cup plus Burnley winning the Football League Division One title for the first time in 1960.
Northern Ireland nearly did not go to the 1958 World Cup as IFA rules banned participation in Sunday football. McIlroy totally disagreed with that view but then added: “I trust these views do not give the impression of any atheistic tendencies on my part, because I am a churchgoing man. If an individual player decides Sunday football is incompatible with his religious beliefs, I respect him for that opinion”. Having reaching the World Cup quarter-final Northern Ireland met France in their third game in five days, leaving them exhausted and without 11 fit players. McIlroy also comments on poor travel arrangements. He adds that he believes that France who beat them 4-0 in the last 8, were no better than any of the other teams they had played. It was just the circumstances.
An indication of how things have changed since 1958 is that in that era, the team was selected by a committee with the manager not even having a vote. Another dated but interesting comment is on the state of the pitches, where it is suggested that for 2/3 of the season league club grounds make it impossible for players to play good football. McIlroy expresses the view that England tend to pick the hard running workhouse player rather than the flair player. People might say the same in 2023! Similarly his comment that referees are too severe over petty, unimportant infringements but not severe enough in dealing with the really vicious type of foul play, would resonate with many in the modern era.
His account of Burnley winning the league championship is in a chapter headed, limping to the league championship, referring both to McIlroy’s struggles with injuries during the season and also that incredibly Burnley were top of the table only after the last game was played. In fact for most of the season, McIlroy said that their priority was winning the FA Cup, making the extraordinary comment in a league championship season that once the team was eliminated from the FA Cup “league matches were as important as cup ties".
An interesting insight into football in the 1950s and 1960s.