117 Mike Gilhooley

Biography

Scottish centre half was born in Edinburgh and played for Fife junior side Glencraig Thistle, Celtic and Vale of Leven prior to World War One. In the later stages of that conflict Gilhooley played wartime matches for Clydebank and remained with the Clydeholm side when the Scottish Football League resumed in 1919/20. In July 1920 Hull City paid a steepling £2,500 to sign Gilhooley and manager David Menzies immediately put Mike in the first team. He missed only four of 47 fixtures in his first season and was regarded as one of the finest players in the English Second Division. Percy Lewis took over the reins at Anlaby Road in the 1921 close season and held Gilhooley in similar regard to his predecessor, making him club captain. He scored his only goal for the Tigers in a October 1921 1-0 win over Bristol City and by the early weeks of 1922 he was attracting the interest of the Scottish international selectors. He made his international debut at the start of February against Wales and within three weeks he was agitating for a move to Middlesbrough, citing an imperative to play First Division football. Manager Lewis duly took this as a sign of Gilhooley’s reduced commitment to the Tigers’ cause and dropped him for the rest of the season as the Middlesbrough transfer fell through.

In May 1922 Gilhooley finally got his move when he joined Sunderland – the £5,000 fee paid was Sunderland’s highest ever at the time. However within months an accident left Gilhooley with a broken leg and knee injury that took over a year to recover from, such that in three years Mike had played only 20 times for the Wearside club. In May 1925 he joined Bradford City, rediscovering his fitness in a two year stay at Valley Parade. He moved to Queens Park Rangers in 1927 and spent a further two seasons competing in Division Three South, but made only nine league starts. He returned to Scotland in 1929 and ended his playing days at junior side Troon Athletic – he was an accomplished golfer as well as footballer. After football he worked in insurance in Fife before dying of a heart attack in May 1969.

Gilhooley won his only Scotland international in a February 1922 Home International match against Wales at Wrexham, which ended 2-1 to Wales.

Details

Nationality: Scotland
Date/Place of Birth: 26 November 1894, Edinburgh
Hull City First Game: 28 August 1920, West Ham United A (Division Two), 25 years, 276 days old
Hull City Final Game: 18 February 1922, Bury H (Division Two), 27 years, 84 days old

Clubs

Glencraig Thistle, Celtic (1913-1914), Vale of Leven (1914-1918), Clydebank (1918-1920), Hull City (1920-1922), Sunderland (1922-1925), Bradford City (1925-1927), Queens Park Rangers (1927-1929), Troon Athletic

Hull City Record

Career: 72 apps, 1 goals

Mike Gilhooley
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1920/2138050------
1921/2227120------

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