Benny Rooney

Benny Rooney
Personal information
Date of birth (1943-05-03) 3 May 1943
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Playing position Defender
Youth career
Cambuslang Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1959-1963 Celtic
1961-1962Dumbarton (loan)[1] 6
1963-1966 Dundee United 22 (4)
1966-1973 St Johnstone 222 (12)
1973-1976 Partick Thistle 62 (3)
Teams managed
1976-1983 Greenock Morton
1983-1986 Partick Thistle
1986 Albion Rovers

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Benny Rooney (born 3 May 1943) is a Scottish former association football player and manager.

Playing career

Rooney played for Celtic as a youth, but was allowed to sign for Dundee United on a free transfer in 1963.[2] He was frequently relegated to United's reserve team, however, and he was eventually sold to St Johnstone in 1966 for £3,500.[2] Rooney served the Perth club for nearly a decade during a very successful period for the club under the management of Willie Ormond. Rooney was the club's captain during their UEFA Cup run of 1971, when they defeated Hamburg and Vasas Budapest.[3]

Managerial career

Rooney was appointed manager of Morton in 1976. Morton were part-time and competing in the First Division at the time. In his second season in charge he led the club to promotion to the Premier Division. In the 1979-80 season Morton famously topped the Premier Division in the middle of the season, and ultimately finished in 6th place, quite an achievement for a part-time club.[4]

Rooney is also revered by Morton fans for assembling a memorable squad, including fan favourite Andy Ritchie, who was brought to Cappielow from Celtic in 1976.[5]

Rooney left Morton in 1983, and went on to manage Partick Thistle and Albion Rovers, before returning to his first club Celtic briefly as a coach.[6]

Personal life

Benny has two children, Deborah and Kevin, with wife Marion and three grandchildren, Joshua, Olivia and Aaron.

References

  1. McAllister, Jim (2002). The Sons of the Rock - The Official History of Dumbarton Football Club. Dumbarton: J&J Robertson Printers.
  2. 1 2 Extract from Section 2 of The Rise of the Terrors, Arabest Publishing.
  3. History - The European campaigns, St Johnstone official website
  4. "Chick Young's view". BBC Sport (BBC). 2009-11-10. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
  5. "Andy Ritchie". MortonOnline.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
  6. "Season 93-94 Part 1". The View. Retrieved 22 July 2014.

External links

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