Gary Blackledge was a Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 player who scored 159 goals in just over 200 games for Glentoran FC.

He was Ronnie McFall

Ronnie McFall

Ronald Joseph "Ronnie" McFall MBE is a former football player and current manager of Portadown. He is currently the longest serving manager in Irish football and amongst the most successful managers in the history of the Irish League having claimed five titles, four Irish Cups and 20 other trophies...

's first signing in 1979 when he was transferred to Glentoran from Portadown F.C.

Portadown F.C.

Portadown F.C. is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club which plays in the IFA Premiership.The club was founded in the late 1880s and joined the Irish League in 1924. It is based in Portadown in County Armagh and plays its home games at Shamrock Park...

 for £9,000. During his career Blackledge was named by the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association as Player of the Month 5 times, which was the joint record until 2006. He finished his career at Crusaders

Crusaders F.C.

Crusaders Football Club is a semi-professional, Northern Irish association football club, playing in the IFA Premiership. The club, founded in 1898, hails from Belfast and plays its home matches at Seaview. Club colours are red and black. The current manager is Stephen Baxter, appointed in 2005...

, winning the County Antrim Shield

County Antrim Shield

The County Antrim Shield is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Football Association , often plus intermediate teams who...

.