Benny Gaughran

Bernard Michael "Benny" Gaughran (29 September 1915 – 20 September 1977) was an Irish soccer player during the 1930s. Gaughran won the League of Ireland title with Bohemians in 1935–36.

Gaughran later went on to play professionally for Celtic, Southampton, Sunderland, Rochdale and Dundalk.

Playing career

Early career

When Gaughran was young, he played Gaelic football for St. Laurence O'Tooles and subsequently took up rugby with O'Connell Schools, where he had great possibilities as a full back. Gaughran's main sport was rugby until he was 18, when he played his first game of Association Football. In his 39 appearances that season in all competitions, he netted 32 times. In 1936, Gaughran was part of the team who broke a record by winning the fifth league title of the free State League Championship by defeating Cork 4–1. Gaughran scored the third and fourth goals of the game.

Arsenal were very keen to sign him towards the close of the 1935–36 season, and sent their chief scout to sign him, but were unsuccessful. Blackburn Rovers In fact, Celtic were watching Gaughran's progress for 13 months and when news began to filter through of other clubs' interest, Celtic acted promptly.

Career after Bohemians

Gaughran joined Celtic in November 1936 as a centre-forward at 20 years of age. In June 1937, he moved to England to join Southampton, where he stayed for five months before joining Sunderland in November. After six months with Sunderland, he moved on to join Rochdale and then returned to Ireland in 1939 to join Dundalk. At Southampton, Gaughran had seven league appearances and four goals, giving him an average strike rate of one goal every 1.75 games

Personal life

Education and work outside of sports When he started his football career, he was a salesman.

Family Bernard Gaughran was married with three children, two boys and a girl—Benny, Ken, and Laraine. His father, Bernard Gaughran, was a well known hurler for Meath. His brother Charlie played Gaelic football for Dublin and his brother John had a career in Gaelic football, rugby and soccer. His son, Benny Gaughran, was a Gaelic footballer and won an All-Ireland Club medal with UCD (Dublin), three Dublin Championship club medals (one with UCD and two with Civil Service), an inter-county National League medal (with Louth), an inter-Provincial Railway Cup medal (Leinster) and a Sigerson's medal (as captain).

Honours Bohemians League of Ireland champions: 1935–36