TONY CURLEY

Our regular series continues with a look at the career of one of the Bannsiders’ greatest servants… Tony Curley

Tony Curley joined Coleraine from Glentoran in 1964, making his debut away to Derry City. He quickly established himself as a key member of the Coleraine side which finished the season in second place in the League and also picked up the first major trophy in the club’s history – the Irish Cup, after a victory over Glenavon in the final (who ironically were the club Tony had supported as a boy.)

These medals completed an interesting sequence for Curley, who in the previous two seasons had won league title medals and cup runners-up medal with Distillery (1963) and Glentoran (1964).

He also holds the distinction of being the first Coleraine player to score a goal in European competition, scoring against Dynamo Kiev in the Cup Winners Cup and then he later scored the club’s first away goal (against Jeunesse Esch in the Fairs Cup in 1969.) In ten years with the club, he played in a variety of positions and even appeared as a goalkeeper for the Reserve team. He was a part of the famous 1969 Five Trophy team, the side which won back-to-back Blaxnit All-Ireland cups in 1969 and 1970, the second Irish Cup winning side in 1972 and of course the team which brought the Gibson Cup back to The Showgrounds in 1974.

After he retired from playing, Tony stayed with Coleraine and continued to serve in various positions on the coaching staff including reserve team manager, assistant manager, caretaker manager and scout (a position which he still holds in the present set-up.) In the 1982/3 season, he replaced Des Dickson as manager and managed to lead the club into Europe during his tenure in the hot-seat.

Coleraine Record – 394 appearances (plus 15 as a substitute) – 131 goals