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JIM FOLEY
Full Name: John James Foley
Born: 19 March 1914
Came from: Glasgow Celtic Went to: Cork United
First game: 09 January 1937 Last game: 05 February 1938
Appearances: 41 (41/0) Goals: 0
The Cork-born goalkeeper had seven Republic of Ireland caps to his name when he arrived in Plymouth in 1936. Having started out with Belfast Celtic and then Cork FC, with whom he won the FAI Cup, he moved on to Glasgow Celtic in May 1934 at the age of 20. He had to wait until October 1935 to make his debut and spent most of his time in Glasgow as a reserve keeper to back up Joe Kennaway. Whilst with Celtic he was capped five times by the Irish Free State, as the Republic was then known, having already won two caps whilst with Cork. He left Parkhead in December 1936 after just six appearances for the club.
Known for his big kick, Foley joined Argyle in the 1936-37 season and tussled with Harry Cann – and for a while Arthur Davies – for the regular keeper's shirt, with the battle eventually won by Cann. Whilst at Home Park, red-headed Foley had to return to Scotland to attend court in Edinburgh, to face charges of assault for deliberately kicking a ball at a spectator. This occurred in a Scottish Alliance match between Celtic 'A' and Heart of Midlothian 'A', effectively a reserves' league, in November 1936. In this instance his fiery hair did perhaps match his fiery temperature as he was found guilty by Bailie Taylor, who, whilst sympathising, ordered a fine of £2 or 20 days' imprisonment. Foley paid the fine and escaped without an assault conviction.
Leaving his troubles in Scotland behind him, when he left Home Park in February 1938 he returned to his homeland, with his former club who by then were known as Cork United, and with whom he enjoyed further success.
YOUR CONTRIBUTION
If you can add to this profile, perhaps with special memories, a favourite story or the results of your original research, please contribute here.
From Pat O'Connell in Laois, Ireland on 11/11/2015 ...
This player's full name was John James Foley. It's not uncommon in Ireland for people to be known by their second given name, hence he was known as Jim.
From Diarmuid Gannon in Dublin, Ireland on 05/07/2022 ...
Jim Foley played in goal for the Irish Free State. It was not a republic till 1949. Jim was capped 7 times 1936/38.
APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]
The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.
I'm very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree, the PAFC Media Team and Colin Parsons for their help with photos. Thanks also to staff at the National Football Museum, the Scottish Football Museum and ScotlandsPeople for their valuable assistance.
The following publications have been particularly valuable in the research of pen-pictures: Plymouth Argyle, A Complete Record 1903-1989 (Brian Knight, ISBN 0-907969-40-2); Plymouth Argyle, 101 Golden Greats (Andy Riddle, ISBN 1-874287-47-3); Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (Michael Joyce, ISBN 1-899468-67-6); Football League Players' Records 1946-1988 (Barry Hugman, ISBN 1-85443-020-3) and Plymouth Argyle Football Club Handbooks.
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