Albert McInroy

Albert McInroy
Personal information
Date of birth	23 April 1901
Place of birth	Walton-le-Dale, England
Date of death	7 January 1985 (aged 83)
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
	Upper Walton
	Cuppull Central
1921	Preston North End
	High Walton United
	Great Harwood
	Leyland
Senior career*
Years	Team
1923–1929	Sunderland
1929–1934	Newcastle United
1934–1935	Sunderland
1935–1937	Leeds United
1937–1940	Gateshead
International career
1926	England
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Albert McInroy (23 April 1901 – 7 January 1985) was an English professional football goalkeeper who played his club football for Sunderland, Newcastle United and Leeds United. He helped Newcastle win the FA Cup in 1932 and made one appearance for England in 1926.

Playing career

Early career

McInroy was born in

left-winger as a youth for various teams in Lancashire, including a spell with Preston North End as an amateur.^[1]

Sunderland

He began his professional career, by now playing as a goalkeeper, with Sunderland in May 1923. His debut came on 29 September 1923 in a 5–2 victory over Manchester City.^[2] Sunderland finished the season in third place in the First Division table. In the following season, McInroy missed only one game and his agility and intelligent football mind made him a first team regular, as he went on to make over 200 appearances for Sunderland over six years.

He made his solitary England appearance at Anfield on 20 October 1926 in a 3–3 draw with Northern Ireland.^[3] His Sunderland teammate Warney Cresswell played in front of him at right back.

In October 1929 he was surprisingly sold for £2,750^[1] to arch-rivals Newcastle United.

Newcastle United

At Newcastle, he quickly established himself as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the country. McInroy was United's first choice 'keeper between 1929 and 1934 making 160 appearances.

In 1932, Newcastle reached the

Jack Allen

levelled the match for the Magpies. The referee ruled that the ball had not gone out of play, even though photographic evidence later showed that the ball had actually crossed the line, and the goal stood. Allen scored again in the second half to win the match 2–1.

As McInroy was at the other end of the pitch, he didn't see the incident clearly but related in an interview with Paul Jannou (Newcastle United's official club historian) that sitting afterwards in an after-game dinner at the

Frank Moss, two of the Arsenal stars "had no complaints about the goal". He went on to state that all the hullabaloo was created by the media, that the fans and players didn't see it as a controversial incident.^[5]

He sustained an injury in a 2–0 defeat at Portsmouth on 30 December 1933,^[6] which put him out for the rest of the season. His place was taken by Bill McPhillips, but Newcastle's form then declined and they ended the 1933–34 season being relegated to the Second Division. At the end of the season he left the club after getting involved in a dispute with the directors over benefit payments and returned to Sunderland.

Return to Sunderland

He returned to Roker Park in June 1934, as third choice 'keeper behind Jimmy Thorpe and Matt Middleton, but after eleven months without making a first team appearance, he moved on to Leeds United in June 1935.

Leeds United

At Leeds, newly appointed manager Billy Hampson immediately opted for experience with former England internationals like 34-year-old McInroy in goal and 32-year-old George Brown from Burnley in attack.

After two seasons at

Second World War

.

He subsequently became a publican in the North East, including running "The Crown" in Gateshead, which at the time was the largest pub in Gateshead. He also had the "Havelock" in Houghton-le-Spring and the "Baccus" in Newcastle.