Paddy McIlvenny (footballer, born 1924)
Patrick Dennis McIlvenny was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played in the Football League as a wing half for Brighton & Hove Albion and Aldershot in the 1950s.Life and career
McIlvenny was born in Belfast in 1924, the son of Ireland international footballer Paddy McIlvenny. His younger brother Bobby also played in the Football League.
McIlvenny was on the books of Distillery as an amateur before signing for Merthyr Tydfil of the Southern League, with whom he won the 1948–49 Welsh Cup. He signed for Cardiff City in 1950, but never made the breakthrough to their first team, and moved on to Brighton & Hove Albion a year later. Kept out of the team by Jess Willard in his first season, he was a regular thereafter until, in March 1954, torn knee cartilage effectively ended his Albion career. Although the club offered him a new contract, he was unable to agree terms, and joined another Third Division South club, Aldershot, in December 1955. After 16 league appearances, McIlvenny returned to the Southern League with Hastings United and Dover, and then managed Sussex County League side Southwick.
After leaving professional football, McIlvenny set up and ran a building firm in the Brighton area. He was an active golfer, captained the Sussex county team in the 1970s, and was a vice-president of the Sussex Golf Union. He died in a Burgess Hill care home in 2013 at the age of 88.
