Born
Belfast
James McKean
Biography
Goalkeeper James McKean was plucked from obscurity to eventually would feature in an Irish Cup during his short stint at the Showgrounds in the 1930’s. Born and raised in the Shankill Road area of Belfast, James rose to prominence in football late, as his first noted club was Dundela in the 1929/1930 season. After biding his time for much of the season he was jettisoned into the starting eleven for the Intermediate League side after the turn of the year and never looked back. The 23-year-old’s performances at Wilgar Park caught the attention of Ballymena selectors, who drafted McKeen in…Read moreRead less
Goalkeeper James McKean was plucked from obscurity to eventually would feature in an Irish Cup during his short stint at the Showgrounds in the 1930’s.
Born and raised in the Shankill Road area of Belfast, James rose to prominence in football late, as his first noted club was Dundela in the 1929/1930 season. After biding his time for much of the season he was jettisoned into the starting eleven for the Intermediate League side after the turn of the year and never looked back.
The 23-year-old’s performances at Wilgar Park caught the attention of Ballymena selectors, who drafted McKeen in for the final two games of the season in May 1930, following the beginning of a contractual dispute with regular custodian John Gough. Despite City Cup defeats to Larne and Bangor, James particularly impressed in a post-season friendly victory over Bohemians in Dublin.
This merited a permanent move to the Showgrounds ahead of the 1930/1931 campaign, but he would have to fight it out with recruit William Black who also signed from Linfield. In a season in which Ballymena tried five different goalkeepers, Black was favoured for much of the first half of the season, but from January 1931 onwards, McKeen cemented his place between the sticks as Ballymena made it all the way to the final of the Irish Cup for the third consecutive time in their three year history.
McKean’s final was an anti-climax, as Ballymena lost 3-0 to Linfield at the Oval in front of over 20,000 fans. It would be the goalkeeper’s penultimate appearance for the club, as he would be released come the summer of 1931, with Scottish stopper James King earmarked as the club’s preferred goalkeeper for the coming season. James made a total of 21 appearances, keeping two clean sheets for Ballymena.
In July 1931, he joined Larne and played out what would be his final senior season with the Invermen as they finished eleventh in the Irish League. His younger brother would eventually follow in James’ footsteps a few years later playing in goal for Distillery in the Irish League, but James’ career was quickly over before it ever got going in his mid-twenties.
James McKeen passed away in May 1975 in Belfast, aged 68.
Career
Dundela; (May 1930) Ballymena; (Jul 1931) Larne
Honours
(with Ballymena)
Irish Cup: (finalist) 1930/1931
Born and raised in the Shankill Road area of Belfast, James rose to prominence in football late, as his first noted club was Dundela in the 1929/1930 season. After biding his time for much of the season he was jettisoned into the starting eleven for the Intermediate League side after the turn of the year and never looked back.
The 23-year-old’s performances at Wilgar Park caught the attention of Ballymena selectors, who drafted McKeen in for the final two games of the season in May 1930, following the beginning of a contractual dispute with regular custodian John Gough. Despite City Cup defeats to Larne and Bangor, James particularly impressed in a post-season friendly victory over Bohemians in Dublin.
This merited a permanent move to the Showgrounds ahead of the 1930/1931 campaign, but he would have to fight it out with recruit William Black who also signed from Linfield. In a season in which Ballymena tried five different goalkeepers, Black was favoured for much of the first half of the season, but from January 1931 onwards, McKeen cemented his place between the sticks as Ballymena made it all the way to the final of the Irish Cup for the third consecutive time in their three year history.
McKean’s final was an anti-climax, as Ballymena lost 3-0 to Linfield at the Oval in front of over 20,000 fans. It would be the goalkeeper’s penultimate appearance for the club, as he would be released come the summer of 1931, with Scottish stopper James King earmarked as the club’s preferred goalkeeper for the coming season. James made a total of 21 appearances, keeping two clean sheets for Ballymena.
In July 1931, he joined Larne and played out what would be his final senior season with the Invermen as they finished eleventh in the Irish League. His younger brother would eventually follow in James’ footsteps a few years later playing in goal for Distillery in the Irish League, but James’ career was quickly over before it ever got going in his mid-twenties.
James McKeen passed away in May 1975 in Belfast, aged 68.
Career
Dundela; (May 1930) Ballymena; (Jul 1931) Larne
Honours
(with Ballymena)
Irish Cup: (finalist) 1930/1931
Obituary
ObituariesJames McKeen passed away in May 1975 in Belfast, aged 68.
Statistics
- Apps
- 21
- Goals
- -
- -
- -
- Goals/game
- -
- Minutes
- 1890
- Seasons
- 2
- Clean sheets
- 2
Club spells
First Spell
Joined: 1 May 1930 · Left: 4 Jul 1931
Other clubs played for
Managers played under
| Manager | First appearance | Most recent appearance | Apps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selection Committee | 3 May 1930 | 4 Apr 1931 | 21 |
Timeline
Signed
First competitive appearance
Larne 2–1 Ballymena United· City Cup · Legion Grounds at Inver Park
Ballymena and their supporters received an unpleasant shock on Saturday when Larne, who tie with Cliftonville and Newry Town for bottom place in the City Cup table, defeated the Light Blues by the odd goal in three. The match was played at Larne before a…
First competitive clean sheet
Ballymena United 7–0 Newry Town (City)· Gold Cup · Ballymena Showgrounds
Latest recorded clean sheet
Ballymena United 2–0 Bangor· Irish Cup · Ballymena Showgrounds
Last appearance
Ballymena United 2–4 Linfield· City Cup · Ballymena Showgrounds
Recorded contract end
Died
Belfast
Appearances (21)
| Date | Home | Score | Away | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Apr 1931 | Ballymena United | 2–4 | Linfield | City Cup1930-1931 | L |
| 28 Mar 1931Neutral venue | Ballymena United | 0–3 | Linfield | Irish Cup1930-1931 | L |
| 21 Mar 1931 | Ards | 3–3 | Ballymena United | City Cup1930-1931 | D |
| 14 Feb 1931 | Derry City | 5–1 | Ballymena United | City Cup1930-1931 | L |
| 11 Feb 1931 | Ballymena United | 4–2 | Cliftonville | City Cup1930-1931 | W |
| 7 Feb 1931Neutral venue | Ballymena United | 2–1 | Derry City | Irish Cup1930-1931 | W |
| 2 Feb 1931 | Ards | 4–1 | Ballymena United | County Antrim Shield1930-1931 | L |
| 31 Jan 1931 | Belfast Celtic | 4–1 | Ballymena United | Irish League1930-1931 | L |
| 28 Jan 1931 | Ballymena United | 1–1 | Ards | County Antrim Shield1930-1931 | D |
| 17 Jan 1931 | Larne | 4–0 | Ballymena United | Irish League1930-1931 | L |
| 14 Jan 1931 | Ballymena United | 2–0 | Bangor | Irish Cup1930-1931 | W |
| 10 Jan 1931 | Bangor | 2–2 | Ballymena United | Irish Cup1930-1931 | D |
| 20 Dec 1930 | Glentoran | 2–2 | Ballymena United | Irish League1930-1931 | D |
| 17 Sep 1930 | Linfield | 5–0 | Ballymena United | Gold Cup1930-1931 | L |
| 13 Sep 1930 | Ballymena United | 2–4 | Glentoran | Irish League1930-1931 | L |
| 6 Sep 1930 | Ballymena United | 7–1 | Portadown | Irish League1930-1931 | W |
| 3 Sep 1930 | Ballymena United | 7–0 | Newry | Gold Cup1930-1931 | W |
| 30 Aug 1930 | Coleraine | 1–1 | Ballymena United | Irish League1930-1931 | D |
| 14 May 1930 | Distillery | 2–3 | Ballymena United | City Cup1929-1930 | W |
| 10 May 1930 | Ballymena United | 0–2 | Bangor | City Cup1929-1930 | L |
| 3 May 1930 | Larne | 2–1 | Ballymena United | City Cup1929-1930 | L |
Goals scored (0)
No goals recorded for these filters.