Matier Gerry Image 1 Arsenal 1936

Description

Lisburn, County Antrim born goalkeeper Gerry Matier began his career with Dunmurry and played 5 times for Glentoran in 1932-33 before joining Coleraine and had a spell on the books at Arsenal in March 1936 without making a first team appearance, before joining Second Division Blackburn Rovers in July 1937. He made his Football League debut against Swansea Town in January 1938 and played 20 matches over the second half of the 1937-38 season, however he played only once more for Rovers the following season before signing for Bradford City in August 1939.

He hadn’t played for Bradford before the intervention of the Second World War and during the War he played in Ireland for Larne and Coleraine before moving to Dundalk in 1940 and his brilliant goalkeeping, behind Billy O’Neill and Tom Crawley, provided the foundation for the 1941-42 Cup Double of FAI Cup and Inter City Cup. In this period he was capped on five occasions for the League of Ireland and later, while with Brideville, he won another two caps. He joined Brideville in 1944 and Glentoran in 1945, before returning to Bradford City, making his only senior appearance for The Bantams in the 1945-46 FA Cup in a first round tie against Notts County, six years after having signed for them. He joined Plymouth Argyle in September 1946 but soon moved on to Torquay United two months later, playing 18 times during 1946-47 before retiring from the professional game.