Dundalk F.C.

Total Appearances:	51
Total Goals:	4
Position:	IF
Nationality:	IRE
Debut:	11-Aug-68, Presidents Cup, (n) Shamrock Rovers, 2-3

Bio:

For ten seasons from 1958-59 , ex-St Brendans inside left Jimmy Morrissey was one of the playmakers of the all-powerful Drumcondra team. Making his League debut on Nov 8th 1958 against Bohemians, two League Pennants (60-61 and 64-65) were Jimmy’s major rewards during a 10-season period when he scored 43 League goals from 144 League appearances.

He was also the recipient of an FAI Cup runner up medal in 1961 when hot favourites Drums failed to land the League-Cup Double, losing 2-1 to St Patricks Athletic in the final.

During his tenure every League of Ireland trophy, bar the FAI Cup, ended up at Tolka Park—Shield (1961-62), City Cup (1960-61), Top Four Cup (1960-61, 1962-63 and 1964-65), Presidents Cup (1961-62 and 1966-67) and the Casey Cup (1962-63).

A Tolka Park clear out in the summer of 1968 saw Jimmy join his old Drumcondra comrade-in-arms Tommy Rowe, now in charge at Dundalk, in a player-exchange deal with Gerry Flynn.

With Drums he had considerable experience in European competitions, scoring 3 times in 9 appearances, which included scoring in both legs of the 1962 Fairs Cup victory over Odense, the first time an Irish club had advanced in European competition. This experience proved invaluable at Dundalk.

After four minutes of the first round Fairs Cup tie against Utrecht, Jimmy was taken back to fill the gap left by the departure of Patsy McKeown, on his way to a local hospital with his leg broken in two places. When the other full-back, Des O’Reilly, was injured and ended up limping on the wing, Jimmy was joined in the full-back line by Larry Gilmore.

Talk about make-shift!! Nonetheless Dundalk held out for a very creditable away draw and the bonus of a precious away goal.

In the second leg a couple of weeks later Jimmy provided the extra time winner in a jam-packed and delirious Oriel Park—for which he was the recipient of the Irish Independent’s Sport Star of the Week Award. He was an automatic choice for the year, missing just five games in his first season.

His second term at Oriel Park, under Liam Tuohy, was disrupted by injury.

After playing in the opening half dozen games a knee injury knocked him out and he did not return until the abandoned February FAI Cup tie against Finn Harps, where he was employed as a sweeper. After his comeback he played just five games until the end of the season and he was then released.

He spent 1970-71 back with Drumcondra before finishing his career in the Leinster League with Longford Town in 1971-72 (meeting Dundalk in the FAI Cup) and a year later with the Tony O’Connell player-managed Parkvilla from Navan.

In 1961-62 he had been capped with the League of Ireland in Inter-League games against the Football League and the Italian League.

What They Said About Him

Irish Independent’s Sport Star of the Week Oct 4th 1968

Jimmy Morrissey, whose superb headed goal against D.O.S. Utrecht, enabled Dundalk to qualify for the second round of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup competition. The vital score left Dundalk as Ireland's sole remaining representative in Europe this season.

Honours:

1 Win: City Cup 1968-69

2 Runners Up: Shield 1968-69; Presidents Cup 1968-69

Career Stats

League, Cup and Europe
		Apps	Gls
Drumcondra	1958-68
	League	144	43
	FAI Cup	18	3
	Europe	9	3
Dundalk	1968-70
	League	20(1)	1
	FAI Cup	3
	Europe	4	1
Drumcondra	1970-71
	League	21(1)
	FAI Cup	1
13 Seasons	1958-71
	League	185(2)	44
	FAI Cup	22	3
	Europe	13	4
All		220(2)	51

European Competition Player Stats
			Ap(Sb)Gl
Drumcondra	1961-62	EUC	2 (0) 0
Drumcondra	1962-63	FRC	3 (0) 2
Drumcondra	1965-66	EUC	2 (0) 1
Drumcondra	1966-67	FRC	2 (0) 0
Dundalk	1968-69	FRC	4 (0) 1
Total			13 (0) 4
EUC=European Cup; FRC=Fairs Cup