Gordon McDiarmid Player Profile

Biography

An Irish Cup winner in the original Ballymena team of 1929, McDiarmid was a talented but feared full-back who had two spells at the Showgrounds.

Gordon came from prime footballing stock, as the son of Fred McDiarmid a popular Scottish footballer who played for Tottenham Hotspur when his son was born in 1906, but eventually moved to Distillery in 1912 and settled in Ulster thereafter.

A tough-tackling defender, McDiarmid Junior cut his teeth in the junior ranks firstly with Belfast based clubs Lexonians and Sandown Park in the mid-1920’s before earning a move to Bangor in the summer of 1925, then of the Intermediate League.

His performances quickly caught the eye of some of the top Irish League clubs, but in the Autumn of 1925, he bizarrely found himself in a dispute between Linfield and Belfast Celtic who both laid claim to his registration in a case that quickly made the youngster infamous in local football circles. Celtic won the right to his signature, but after all the controversy – he wouldn’t kick a ball in anger for Celtic – remaining with Bangor for the duration of the season.

In the 1926/1927 campaign, a time of far stricter registration rules, Gordon played the first half of the season with Bangor before regularly appearing simultaneously for both Belfast Celtic in the Irish League and Dundalk in the Free State League. He enjoyed success in the North as the Hoops won the Irish League title and also a County Antrim Shield final with McDiarmid a capable replacement for the regular full backs.

The full back left the Irish League and threw his lot in with Dundalk for the 1927/1928 season, but he only managed 20 appearances as injury disrupted his season before it was curtailed due to a lengthy suspension picked up in February 1928 as the Lilywhites finished in mid-table.

As part of the team-building of a new Ballymena club which had been elected to the Irish League, he became one of the first signings of the Braid club in June 1928 and was a virtual ever present during the memorable campaign, making 45 appearances as the club impressed many onlookers by finishing in the top half of the Irish League and causing one of the biggest shocks in Irish football history, when they won the 1929 Irish Cup Final against his former club, Belfast Celtic.

McDiarmid had formed a formidable partnership with Jock McNinch at full-back and the Light Blues returned to the Irish Cup final again in his second season at the Showgrounds in 1930 but lost 4-3 to Linfield in the decider.

In October 1930 a return to Dundalk was a huge blow to the Ballymena supporters, as he became an integral part of the club’s most successful period since joining the League of Ireland. Gordon was an automatic selection partnering Johnny McKeown, the club secured League and FAI Cup runner up spots in the 1930/1931 campaign.

The following season he assisted the Louth club to its first trophy, the President’s Cup. The subsequently he went on to win the Free State Championship the following year in 1932/1933 playing full-back alongside former Ballymena team-mate Davy Nelson.

Soon after the league triumph at Dundalk, Gordon was coaxed back to Ballymena as part of an ambitious rebuilding job in July 1933. As expected he would prove dependable throughout his return season, but disaster struck towards the end of the 1933/1934 campaign, as the club were suspended by the Irish FA in April 1934 after allegations regarding payments amateur players. A dramatic summer ensued at the Braid club, which eventually ended with the liquidation of the club and the formation of a reincarnated Ballymena United FC to take its place in the league.

With the situation at the Showgrounds uncertain, McDairmid made the move to Glentoran in July 1934, now under the stewardship of former Ballymena team-mate and captain David Reid in his first job as a manager since his retirement. The move to East Belfast earned Gordon a second Irish Cup winners’ medal after a marathon three game slog against Larne.

Always known as a player that gave his all on the pitch , his career prematurely began to wind down just after his 30th birthday, He was on the move again in the summer of 1935, moving across Belfast to Distillery – the club in which his father had finished his career, he missed out on a Gold Cup medal, losing in the final to Linfield.

His final season in Irish League football was a return to Bangor for a second spell, before unceremoniously hanging up the boots at the end of the 1936/1937 campaign. In ironic fashion, he was sent off in his final game against Belfast Celtic in April 1937 for rough play, as subsequently suspended for the remainder of the season.

Gordon McDiarmid passed away after a long illness in October 1965 in Armagh, aged 49.

Career
(1923) Lexonians; (1924) Sandown Park; (Aug 1925) Bangor; (Jan 1927) Dundalk; (Apr 1927) Glentoran; (Jun 1927) Dundalk; (Jun 1928) Ballymena; (Oct 1930) Dundalk; (Jul 1933) Ballymena; (Jul 1934) Glentoran; (Jul 1935) Distillery; (Sep 1936) Bangor

Honours
(with Ballymena)
Irish Cup: (winner) 1928/1929; (finalist) 1929/1930
City Cup: (runner-up) 1928/1929
(with Dundalk)
League of Ireland: (winner) 1932/1933; (runner-up) 1930/1931
President’s Cup: (winner) 1931/1932
FAI Cup: (finalist) 1930/1931
(with Glentoran)
Irish Cup: (winner) 1934/1935
(with Distillery)
Gold Cup: (finalist) 1935/1936

Last updated: 13 November 2022