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This
period saw a sharp decline in Distillery's fortunes. It was a decade
that saw only two minor trophy wins :--- the City Cup 1933/34 and
the Belfast Charities Cup 1930/31. In the League they started of
as a ' top-half ' team, being runners-up in 1932/33, but by 1936/37
they sunk to 13th and remained a ' bottom-half ' team for the rest
of the decade. However, those first five years did give rise to
several noteable players who are well-represented in my selection.
1
CHARLES PALMER was
an Englishman who jioned the club after his discharge from the Sherwood
Foresters. He made his debut on 20-8-28 against Cliftonville and
kept a clean sheet. He helped to win two trophies, the Gold Cup
1929/30 and the BCC 1930/31. He was at the club for 7 seasons, but
the last three were as reserve to George Newlands. He made 171 appearances.
2
TOMMY J. ADAMS
from Dunmurry made his debut on 12-10-35 and remained a stalwart
for 10 seasons. In this era he made 206 appearances and scored 9
goals as well as gaining an Irish League cap.
3
WILLIAM ' JOCK ' GILLESPIE
was a Scot who had played for East Fife and Newcastle United. He
made his debut on 20-8-32 and in his three seasons helped to win
the City Cup 1933/34. He made 140 appearances and scored one goal
( v Cliftonville on 16-12-33 ) before joining Bangor in August 1935.
4
BILLY MITCHELL was
an ex-Cliftonville and Linfield Rangers forward who made his debut
on 9-5-29 at inside-right. By 8-2-30 he had started to play at right-half
and helped to win the Gold Cup in 1929/30 and BCCin 1930/31. He
had a firey temperament and served a couple of lengthy suspensions.
He made 159 appearances and scored 14 goals before being signed
by Chelsea for £200 on 3-6-33. He had a lengthy Chelsea career and
gained 15 Ireland caps. He also played 4 times for the Irish League.
5
SAM PATTON had
already established himself as a half-back at Distillery in the
previous decade but moved on to play for Dundalk in August 1931
for three seasons. He returned to the Whites for his thrid spell
in May 1934 as a centre-half and continued to serve the club well.
He made 210 appearances and scored 26 goals in this era. He finished
his Distillery career with a grand total of 349 appearances and
40 goals and joined Ards as manager in August 1942.
6
JACK GRAY
was a tremendous servant to the club over a phenomenal 14 seasons.
He had prevoiusly played for Ballymacarrett before making his debut
on 8-9-28 and he played throughout the entire decade. He helped
to win four trophies in a career of 430 appearances and 8 goals.
His last game was on 6-4-42.
7
JACKIE A. STORER
had made his name at Mansfield and Barnsley before making his Distillery
debut on 20-8-32. He helped to win the City Cup in 1933/34 during
his 119 appearances and 43 goals.
8
HARRY SINNAMOND
was another stallwart from the previous decade who made 107 appearances
in this era and scored 25 goals. He helped to win the BCC in 1930/31
before continuing his career at Portadown.
9
SAM ' BULL ' McADAM
--- the club's all-time top scorer continued his record-breaking
career into the early part of this decade. In 100 appearances in
this era he scored 108 goals including 13 hat-tricks as well as
7 goals in a game against Newry on 13-9-31. He set a season's record
of scoring 55 goals in 1930/31. He played his last game on 29-4-33
and typically scored before joining Newry. Sadly he played at a
time when strikers were plentiful and thus he never got a chance
at representative honours. In his Distillery career he made 204
appearances and scored 226 goals.
10
JAMIE WALLACE
was an ex-Antrim Unites and Brantwood forward who made his debut
on 23-3-29. In 6 seasons he helped to win four trophies and occassionally
played at centre-half or left-half. He made 163 appearances and
scored 46 goals before joining Coleraine in August 1934.
11
NORBERT ' BERT ' KIRBY
came to the club from Swindon Town with a tremendous reputation
and made his debut on 27-8-32. He was only at the club for just
over a season, but in his 61 appearances he scored 29 goals. He
played his last game on 1-11-33 before being signed by Dundee where
he had a lengthy career. He played twice for the Irish League.
Reserves:---
Bob
Thompson
scored two gpals in the BCC Final 1930/31 and equally at home at
centre-half or centre-forward.
Sam
Jones was centre-half for 3 seasons, was capped by Ireland and
then signed by Blackpool.
Billy
Bradford was a robust centre-forward who scored 45 goals and
moved on to set records at Bangor.
Billy
McLarnon was a versatile forward and a regular for 5 seasons.
Fred Roberts who was the Irish League's record holder of most goals
in a season when at Glentoran, joined the Whites for one season,
1933/34, and scored 32 goals.
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