Robert "Roy" Rea (28 November 1934 – 5 April 2005) was a Northern Ireland international footballer who played in the Irish League as a goalkeeper with Glenavon and Glentoran. He won one 'B' cap, and four amateur caps for Northern Ireland and thirteen inter-league caps for the Irish League in the 1950s.

Roy Rea
Personal information
Full name Robert Rea
Date of birth 28 November 1934
Place of birth Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date of death 5 April 2005(2005-04-05) (aged 70)
Place of death Toronto, Canada
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1951–1953 Banbridge Town
1953–1962 Glenavon 219 (0)
1961Toronto Italia (loan)
1962–1963 Glentoran 21 (0)
1963–1966 Toronto Italia
1967–1970 Burnaby Villa
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

With Glenavon, he won the Irish League championship in 1956/57, two Irish Cups (1956/57 and 1958/59), one Gold Cup and one Ulster Cup. With Glentoran he won the Gold Cup in 1962/63; the same year in which he was named Ulster Footballer of the Year.[1] In 1963, he played in the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League with Toronto Italia.[2]

Although he never won a full international cap, Rea was a member of the Northern Ireland squad at the 1958 World Cup, as the second reserve goalkeeper, but did not travel to Sweden.

References

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  1. ^ M. Brodie (ed.), Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 2009–2010, p. 102. Belfast:Ulster Tatler Publications
  2. ^ Jose, Colin (2001). On-Side - 125 Years of Soccer in Ontario. Vaughan, Ontario: Ontario Soccer Association and Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum. p. 229.
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