The 1935 Irish Cup final between Larne and Glentoran took almost a month to complete! The Glens had reached the decider having seen off Ards (3-1), Linfield (4-2) and then Ballymena United in the semi-final (3-0). A scoreless draw in the first game on 6th April was followed by another four days later. The third and decisive game, played at Windsor Park on 30th April ended in a 1-nil victory for Glentoran and was the 6th of our 22 wins in the competition.
Jimmy Duncan is 3rd from left in front row
Jimmy Duncan had joined Glentoran during the summer of 1933; a centre forward with the unenviable task of replacing the legendary Fred Roberts. The former Kilmarnock player got off to the perfect start though with a hattrick in his first game as Glentoran defeated Bangor 5-2 at the Oval. Another hattrick came in a 4-0 win over Larne and the following week Jimmy Duncan scored the only goal of the game as Glentoran defeated Linfield 1-0 at Windsor Park.
Duncan score 31 goals in that first season in 43 appearances and he netted another 11 from 36 appearances the following season, 1934-35. The highlight of that second term was obviously the Irish Cup victory and although Duncan was not in the team for the first game, he did play in the other two. Jimmy played just one game for Glentoran at the start of the 1935-36 season before joining Sligo Rovers where he was a member of the first Rovers team to win the League Championship in 1937.
Stuart Cree, who is the grandson of Jimmy Duncan, had his medals at home in Scotland. As a boy he and the other kids used to play matches in the street for them! Latterly Stuart decided to present his grandfather’s medals to Sligo Rovers in recognition of the success he had achieved with them. Glentoran vice-president, Nigel McCarley has colleagues involved with Rovers who knew of his involvement with the Glens offered the Cup medal to us. And prior to a Sligo Rovers home fixture last season, Nigel was presented with the 1935 Irish Cup winner’s medal on the pitch.
Nigel has subsequently presented the medal to Glentoran Chairman, Stephen Henderson and it is now on permanent display in the trophy cabinet in the Oval boardroom. Glentoran FC would like to thank both Sligo Rovers and the Duncan family for this magnificent gesture and also Nigel McCarley for making it all possible.
Stephen Henderson receives the medal from Nigel McCarley