Ireland Sid Image 1 Southampton 1913

Description

Coventry, Warwickshire born left back Sid Ireland was spotted playing colliery football for Kingsbury Colliery by scouts from Southern League club Southampton, joining The Saints in the summer of 1911.He made his debut, taking the place of John Robertson, in a 2-1 victory over Northampton Town on 30th September 1911. Although he also played in the following match, a 5-0 defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion, Ireland spent the rest of the season in the reserves until returning to the first team on 23rd March 1912 in place of Robertson (who had been sold to Rangers), with manager George Swift attempting to improve the performances of a side which had won only once in the previous ten matches. Southampton defeated Luton Town and followed this with a victory over Plymouth Argyle and Ireland retained his place for the rest of the season which ended with The Saints three points above the relegation zone.

Ireland now made the left back position his own and was ever-present in the 1912-13 season under new coach Jimmy McIntyre. Although The Saints continued to struggle on the pitch, again finishing the season just above the relegation places, Ireland began to establish a reputation as “the best left-back in the Southern League”. Missing only two matches in the following season, Ireland was rewarded by representing The Southern League in matches against the Scottish and Irish Leagues.

In the 1914-15 season, when Ireland missed only three matches, Southampton began to show signs of improvement, finishing sixth in the table, before the onset of the First World War caused the suspension of normal football in May 1915, by when Ireland had played 120 matches for Southampton. During the war, Ireland guested for Manchester United as well as turning out occasionally for The Saints. He also played several representative matches for the Midlands against the Rest of England in 1916 and for an England XI later that same year. His military duties took him to the Western Front, where he was captured by the Germans in 1918, spending the remainder of the War in a prisoner-of-war camp.

Although he played for Southampton in a Victory Cup match against Boscombe in February 1919 after the conflict’s resolution, Ireland moved on to join Merthyr Town in the summer of 1919 for their final season in the Southern League, in what The Athletic News described as “an outstanding capture”, spending a single season in South Wales. In 1920 he signed for Birmingham Combination side Rugby Town where he stayed for eight seasons making a total of 170 league appearances before his eventual retirement.