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Ron Manley

Thu, 21/06/2018 - 23:30

Everyone at Glentoran Football Club deeply mourns the sudden death of our playing legend and 250 Club member, Ron “Yorkie” Manley.

Yorkie – a centre forward - made his first team debut as a seventeen year old substitute in a 2-1 Ulster Cup victory over Portadown at Shamrock Park on 28th August 1979, scoring his first two goals that November in a 4-1 home win over Larne. Ron  finished his Glentoran career 13 years, 376 appearances and 138 goals later on 8th February 1992 in a 5-1 home win over Glenavon. His medals as a Glens player included two league championships and four Irish Cups. He finished his playing career at Cliftonville where he unsurprisingly became a very popular figure.

Ron rarely missed a Glentoran match as a supporter and held office in a number of Glentoran Supporters Clubs including the Supporters Committee (1923) and Ballymacarrett GSC. In fact he was at the Ballymac summer event last Saturday night.

Ron was given his first team debut by Ronnie McFall. Ronnie said tonight: “I’m completely devastated by this news and first and foremost I offer my deepest condolences to the family circle.

As well as being a great footballer Ron was a lovely guy and a guy you could depend on week in week out to give absolutely everything no matter how the team was playing. He hardly missed a match in the 1981 season when we won the league despite the fact he was only 19. He and Gary Blackledge were outstanding all that season. Ron was a very honest, hard working player who often didn’t get the credit he deserved. He made great players like Blackledge and Gerry Mullan even better than they already were.

Ron was a Glenman through to his bones and he’ll be very sadly missed by everyone at the club who knew him.”

On behalf of everyone involved with Glentoran, the Board of Directors offer deepest and most sincere condolences to Ron’s family and friends for their tragic loss.

A full tribute to Ron will be published on www.glentoran.com in the next few days. Funeral details will also appear here as soon as we have them.

Photographs courtesy of Thomas Sewell and John Moore