'We all looked up to Peter McParland' - Pat Jennings on watching 1957 FA Cup final and how late Northern Ireland legend was 'our local hero'
Pat Jennings and Peter McParland – two legends who helped to promote the Northern Ireland name on a global scale, with both having grown up yards apart in Newry.
Jennings’ exploits with over a century of international caps, World Cup appearances and a glittering club career have forever secured his status in our sporting history.
But the celebrated goalkeeper was happy to highlight on multiple occasions McParland as his sporting hero – with both men from the Chapel Street area of Newry.
McParland’s death on Sunday at the age of 91 led to special praise from across the football world.
In interviews with the official Tottenham Hotspur club website – in 2005 to mark his 60th birthday then again in 2020 – Jennings offered a warm tribute to McParland and his influence on the young boy growing up in Newry.
“There was a famous player called Peter McParland who lived literally 200 yards from me and he won an FA Cup winners medal with Aston Villa in 1957, scoring both goals in the final against Manchester United,” said Jennings in one interview. “He was our local hero and everyone was soccer mad.”
In another piece, Jennings recalled how the FA Cup final and McParland’s appearance in the 1957 showpiece occasion in particular, left a lasting impression.
“My dad took me to all the sporting events - gaelic football, boxing, internationals - that’s what we all looked forward to,” Jennings told the Spurs website. "We all looked up to Peter McParland, who lived on the same street as us in Newry.
"We followed his career at Aston Villa, he scored two goals in the 1957 FA Cup Final against Manchester United and made it into the 1958 World Cup squad.
"Back then, we went to a house that had a television to watch the FA Cup Final and all crowded around."
Jennings also mentioned McParland in his autobiography: “I idealised Peter, just as much as the rest of the kids, especially as he lived close to me at Upper Chapel Street, and we had played on the same street side.
“There was terrific excitement in our hometown, when Peter played in the Cup Final...I watched the match on my aunt’s TV set - she could have sold tickets, so great was the interest.”