BERTIE PEACOCK

This regular series looking at some of the greatest players to wear the Blue and White stripes begins with Bertie Peacock a man who as player and manager was responsible for some of the Bannsiders’ greatest achievements…

On 16th May 1947, an 18 year old Bertie Peacock made his debut for Coleraine in a 4-1 victory against local rivals Ballymena United in the second leg of the Connor Cup Final, which saw the Bannsiders win 4-1 to lift the trophy. After a handful of appearances the next season he moved to Glentoran and then in 1949, he signed for Scottish giants Glasgow Celtic, for whom he would go on to make over 450 appearances. He was part of the youngest Celtic side to win the Scottish Cup in 1951 and three years later he won the league and cup double. Perhaps his finest moment however came in 1957, when he captained Celtic to a famous 7-1 victory over arch rivals Rangers in the League Cup final.

He also became an integral part of the international set-up and became a key player in the Northern Ireland side which defied all expectations to reach the Quarter Final of the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, where Peacock was dubbed “The Little Ant” for his industrious displays in midfield. He would eventually appear 31 times for his country, scoring two goals. After leaving Celtic in 1961, he rejected offers to manage Morton and Blackpool to return home and take up the post of Player/Manager at The Showgrounds where he would inspire a period of unparalleled success. Between 1962 and 1967, he was also manager of Northern Ireland, where he famously gave debuts to George Best and Pat Jennings against Wales in 1964.

Coleraine were narrowly pipped to the league title by Glentoran in 1964, and although they also finished runners-up in the league the next year, the club finally won the Irish Cup for the first time defeating Glenavon in the final. Although the Gibson Cup would still elude the Bannsiders in the 1960’s, Peacock’s side won all the other domestic trophies and won two consecutive Blaxnit All-Ireland Cups in 1969 and 1970. The second leg of the 1969 final against Shamrock Rovers was also Peacock’s last full appearance for Coleraine (although he did come out of retirement in 1971 to make one last substitute appearance against the same opponents at The Showgrounds)

Coleraine’s success in this period led to their first forays into European Competition and Peacock presided over one of the greatest nights in the club’s history when they eliminated Kilmarnock from the Fairs Cup in 1970 after a 3-2 win in Scotland with Des Dickson scoring a hat-trick. Another Irish Cup victory came in 1972 after his team defeated Portadown in the final and in 1974, Bertie finally secured the elusive league championship as despite a slow start Coleraine recovered to build up a healthy lead and eventually clinched the title with three games to spare.

To the surprise and disappointment of many, Bertie stepped down as manager, but remained part of life at The Showgrounds as a supporter and through offering advice to his successors in the manager’s hot seat. He also served as a vice-President of the club for many years. In 1982, Billy Bingham invited him to be part of his backroom staff for Northern Ireland’s World Cup campaign, where he held the role of Chief Assessor, with responsibility for watching and analysing the team’s opponents. In the same year, he was one of the founding fathers of the world famous Milk Cup and he remained a pivotal figure in this right up until his untimely death in July 2004.

He was awarded the MBE in 1986 for his services to Football.

Coleraine Record – 359 (+1 sub) appearances and 31 goals