Peter Boyle

Peter Boyle (26 April 1876 – 24 June 1939) was an Irish footballer and manager. Born in Carlingford in Ireland, Boyle was a left back whose most successful playing spell was with Sheffield United with whom he reached the FA Cup Final on three occasions, playing on the winning side on two of them. He also played for Sunderland and Motherwell as well as representing Ireland on five occasions. He later had a brief spell as player-manager with York City in 1912.

Career

Club career Boyle moved from his home in Scotland to join Sunderland in 1896, making his Football League debut against Blackburn Rovers in December of that year.

International career Boyle was capped five times for Ireland during his time with Sheffield United. He would have won several more had he not rejected the call-up on a number of occasions to play for the Blades instead. Following the end of his playing career he worked as a miner at Brodsworth Colliery where he also coached the colliery football team, Brodsworth Main, now Brodsworth Welfare A.F.C. His son Tommy Boyle would also go on to play for Sheffield United with whom he also won an FA Cup winners medal in 1925. During the First World War he enlisted in the York and Lancaster Regiment and was assigned to D Company of the 9th Battalion. In 1915 he was transferred to the Army Service Corps and served first in Gallipoli, probably in the 13th (Western) Division and subsequently in Mesopotamia. His family remember him telling them how he arranged for prisoners of war there to play football. In August 1917 he was serving in France and was transferred into the newly formed Labour Corps, 716 Company.

Honours Sheffield United Football League First Division Runner-up: 1899–1900 FA Cup Winner: 1899, 1902 Finalist: 1901