Cliftonville vs Linfield 04/05/24

CAN I CHEER ON BOTH TEAMS PLEASE?

Words Conrad Kirkwood

The magic of an Irish Cup Final is indisputable whether you are a die-hard fan or whether you are a neutral.

Linfield 1906-1907 – Hugh Kirkwood is in second row, second from the right.

If you don’t have a team in the final, you will often find a reason to favour one team over another. As President of the Irish FA, it is important to be neutral, however I was amazed to discover that I have a reason to cheer on both of this year’s finalists. It turns out that my great grandfather - Hugh Kirkwood - was an accomplished Irish League player who starred for Distillery, Belfast Celtic, Ulster, Glentoran, Linfield and Cliftonville. He also played for Irish League Select sides against both Scotland and England. Looking at today’s teams, Hugh earned silverware for both.

It could be argued that he was enjoying cross community football across Belfast even before such a term had been coined. From 1899 to1900 he played for Cliftonville II. In 1900-1901 he was an Irish Cup winner with Cliftonville’s first team. And in the 1903-1904 season he made 25 starts for the Reds, scoring 18 goals. His Linfield pedigree was just as impressive. In the 1906-1907 season Kirkwood was an Irish League winner and a County Antrim Shield winner with Linfield. He scored 12 goals in 29 games.

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