Charlie Currie Explained

Charlie Currie
Fullname:Charles Currie
Birth Date:17 April 1920
Birth Place:Belfast, Ireland
Death Place:Belfast, Northern Ireland
Position:Half back
Years1:19??–1944
Years2:1944–1949
Years3:1949–1954
Caps3:118
Goals3:2
Years4:1954
Clubs4:Derry City
Years5:1954–1955
Clubs5:Crusaders
Nationalyears1:1947–1949
Nationalcaps1:6

Charles Currie (17 April 1920 – April 1978) was an Irish professional footballer who made 118 appearances in the English Football League for Bradford Park Avenue. He also played Irish League football for Cliftonville, Belfast Celtic, Derry City and Crusaders. While a Belfast Celtic player, Currie played six times for the Irish League representative team between 1947 and 1949. He began his career playing at centre half, but went on to play at right half, right back and occasional centre forward.

Life and career

Currie was born in Belfast in 1920. He played football for amateur club Cliftonville before joining Belfast Celtic in 1944. He acted as backup to Jack Vernon before taking over as first-team centre half in 1947 when Vernon left the club. Currie played in the 1947 Irish Cup Final, in which Belfast Celtic beat Glentoran 1–0,[1] and went on to play six times for the Irish League representative team between 1947 and 1949.[2] He was a member of the Belfast Celtic tour party that visited the United States and Canada in 1949. Among their results was a 2–0 win against the Scotland team that had just won the 1948–49 British Home Championship.[3] [4] A tour brochure described him as "a powerful defensive pivot with a high sense of keeping his position and of quick clearance".[5]

On their return, Currie signed for English Second Division club Bradford Park Avenue for a fee reported as anything between £6,000 and £10,000.[6] In November, he missed out on selection for the Ireland team to face England because of injury.[7] He was under consideration over the next year or so but never selected.[8]

Playing more at right half than in the centre, and sometimes leading the attack, Currie was appointed captain of the Bradford team and took his appearance total up past the 100 mark. At the beginning of the 1953–54 season, the club suspended him for a month for going absent without leave from pre-season training.[9] At the end of that season, he was transfer listed, and returned to Irish League football with Derry City for a "moderate" fee. He made a positive start,[10] but his form dipped, and in November he was allowed to leave for Crusaders for an undisclosed fee.[11] During his time with Crusaders he scored a hat-trick playing as a makeshift centre forward against East Belfast in a County Antrim Shield tie.[12]

In later life Currie and his wife lived in Owenvarragh Park in the Andersonstown district. He died in Belfast in April 1978 after a long illness.[13]

Notes and References

  1. News: Celtic win the Irish Cup . Belfast News-Letter . 28 April 1947 . 6.
  2. Web site: Irish League Representative Match Line-Ups . NIFG . 5 November 2014 . 23 June 2019.
  3. Web site: The Year in American Soccer – 1949 . Steve . Holroyd . David . Litterer . The American Soccer History Archives . 3 December 2017 . 23 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160315152247/http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1949.html . 15 March 2016 . dead .
  4. Web site: Celtic 2 Scotland 0 . belfastceltic.org . 23 June 2019.
  5. Web site: Belfast Celtic Football and Athletic Company Ltd . belfastceltic.org . 1949 . 23 June 2019.
  6. News: Belfast Celtic hold bargain sale . Manchester Evening News . 15 July 1949 . 10 . Bradford have claimed Charlie Currie, the centre-half, for £6,000.
    News: Celtic player for Bradford . Belfast Telegraph . 27 June 1949 . 3 . No official fee has been quoted, but it is generally believed to be around £6,000–£7,000..
    News: Charlie Currie goes to Bradford . Northern Whig . Belfast . 27 June 1949 . 2 . A five-figure fee is to be paid..
  7. News: Charlie Currie injured . Belfast Telegraph . 31 October 1949 . 10 . It had been the intention for a couple [of selectors] to cross and watch Charlie Currie at right back for Bradford. but owing to his injury this trip was postponed..
    News: Likely side to play England . 'Ralph the Rover' . Belfast Telegraph . 7 November 1949 . 8 . The report on Charlie Currie over the week-end will decide if he gets his first cap.
  8. News: Team against Wales . Belfast Telegraph . 13 February 1950 . 8 . Some of the Irish selectors will be in England this week-end and one player likely to be watched is Charlie Currie, Bradford..
    News: Irish team change for Wednesday – McKnight cries off . 'Ralph the Rover' . Belfast Telegraph . 30 October 1950 . 8 . Blanchflower (Barnsley), who was a reserve, will probably fill the vacancy. Gerry Bowler (Millwall) is on the London team against Belgium while Charlie Currie (Bradford) is injured..
  9. News: Bradford captain suspended by club for a month . Birmingham Daily Gazette . 14 August 1953 . 7.
  10. News: Derry's dismal start to the new season . Derry Journal . 23 August 1954 . 10 . The sole bright spot from the Derry viewpoint was Charlie Currie. In the second half, especially, he practically played the Coleraine attack singlehanded..
  11. News: Currie moves from Derry . 'Ralph the Rover' . Belfast Telegraph . 17 November 1954 . 10.
  12. News: Sea View side in Shield semi-final . Northern Whig . Belfast . 5 April 1955 . 6 . It was a grand night for Charlie Currie, who scored three goals as leader of the attack, but he is not strange to the position as he led the Bradford attack many a time when in English football..
  13. News: Death of Charlie Currie . Belfast Telegraph . 17 April 1978 . 18 . Charlie, who played at centre-half, was a member of the famous Belfast Celtic team which defeated Scotland 2–0 at the Triborough Stadium, New York, in 1949..

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