The presentation of the award will take place at the scheduled awards evening at Shorts recreation complex in Belfast on Saturday evening.
The award is the equivalent of a player being inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame as one of the All Time Greats in the entire history of the club. A few years ago a wonderful octogenarian and a grandson of one of the founder members of our club way back in 1886 presented a special trophy to the management committee with the expressed wish that annually they should present it to a player, past or present.
Given that the donor was John Torrans, a name that became iconic over the first thirty five years of our club’s history, the committee decided that the trophy should be awarded to a player who had also become an icon or a legend in the proud and illustrious history of Linfield Football Club.
Noel Bailie became the first holder of the Torrans Trophy and in many ways mirrored John’s great grand-uncle Sam who had captained Linfield for 17 years and had won many honours in the game. Having played 1013 games for his one and only club, Noel is a true Linfield all-time great and richly deserved the MBE award.
Another Linfield great was the second recipient of the Torrans Award. With a tally of 57 goals scored in the 1984/85 season, Martin McGaughey earned the coveted European Silver Boot award which he later donated to the club for display in the trophy cabinet.
The management committee then decided to bestow this honour upon another star striker in Glenn Ferguson. Glenn won countless medals in his time at Windsor Park and “Spike”, the current Head of Youth is a legendary player at this club, having scored over 250 goals for Linfield.
This prestigious honour was next presented in memory of the late, great Tommy Dickson. “The Duke of Windsor” was the captain of the legendary 1961-62 Seven Trophy Winning team and he ranks in the opinion of many privileged to have seen him in action, as the greatest player ever to wear the famous royal blue jersey.
The Torrans Trophy was then presented to Peter Rafferty, a great centre-half and captain from the hugely successful Roy Coyle era of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The “Raff” or “Bald Eagle”, as he was affectionately known, was one of the great characters of the local game. He was an instantly recognisable figure and a fearless and inspirational leader on the pitch.
Eleven years ago Alex Russell became the first goalkeeper to win this award. He served Linfield with distinction between 1946 and 1960. A few years ago the Kop stand was re-named the Alex Russell stand in honour of the modest ‘Sandy’ who died in 2014.
Ten years ago the Board of Directors decided that the Torrans Trophy should be awarded to Isaac Andrews, the Shankill Road right-half who achieved legendary status through his exploits in the Seven Trophy Season of 1961-62 and Linfield’s epic European Cup Winners’ Cup battles against Manchester City in 1970.
Nine years ago the Board of Directors decided that the eighth recipient of the Torrans Trophy should be George Dunlop, the colourful and stalwart goalkeeper who achieved legendary status through his achievements in 570 games in the Linfield jersey through the glory years under manager Roy Coyle during the late 1970s and early 1980s during which he picked up nine Irish League winners and two Irish Cup winners medals.
Eight years ago the Board of Directors decided that the Torrans Trophy should be awarded in memory of the late Bobby Braithwaite who achieved legendary status as a star member of the 1961/62 Seven Trophy Winning Team and who sadly passed away the previous October. Bobby was one of a select few to have won all seven medals in that never to be forgotten and glorious 1961/62 season.
Seven years ago the award was presented to Billy Murray who signed for Linfield in November 1977 and made 390 appearances (65 as sub) scoring 131 goals. Before leaving in August 1988, Billy won 7 Irish League Winners medals and Irish Cup winners medals.
Billy was one of the most gifted players to have graced the Irish League scene. A wing wizard on the pitch and a real extrovert star player who could turn a game and who will rank among the greatest ever to wear the royal blue jersey.
Six years ago the honour was bestowed on Sammy ‘Save us’ Pavis the legendary centre forward from the 1965-70 era who scored 225 goals in 260 Linfield games.
East Belfast man Sammy went on to enjoy success on the snooker scene and when he received the Torrans trophy, he was also presented with his Life membership ticket – the highest honour this club can bestow on one of its loyal servants. Since then Sammy has sadly passed away.
Five years ago the honour was awarded in honour of the one and only Joe Bambrick, the legendary Linfield and Ireland centre forward from the 1920s and 1930s.
Head, heel or toe, slip it to Joe, from Roden Street remains an immortal in the history books of this club through his goalscoring exploits in royal blue. To this day his 6 goals for Ireland against Wales at Celtic Park on February 1, 1930 remains a record for a British Isles player in international football.
Four years ago the award was bestowed on one of the Seven Trophy winning legends, Ken Gilliland.
Humble full back Ken had passed away months earlier and in his will, he left all seven of his 1961-62 Seven Trophy winning medals to be displayed proudly by the club he served with great distinction, as one of the immortals who brought glory to the club.
The award presentation from 3 years ago was delayed almost a year due to the pandemic and the 14th recipient of this prestigious award was Dessie Gorman.
Dessie ‘the Dundalk Hawk’ enjoyed a successful spell at Linfield between 1992 and 1997, winning two League titles and two Irish Cups (against Bangor and Carrick) and he will always be associated with the huge European games against Copenhagen.Dessie played in a flamboyant style that endeared him to the Linfield support and team mates from that successful period and in April 1994 he scored one of the goals in the 2-0 win against Glentoran which, when combined with the dramatic 2-2 draw between Portadown and Glenavon, secured a famous League title for Linfield.
Two years ago the Torrans Trophy was presented to Jamie Mulgrew – the first time the award had been made to a current player.
It was a record breaking season for the inspirational club captain and leading appearance maker for the club in European competition. He moved ahead of William Murphy and Tommy Dickson into second place in the club’s all time list of appearance makers. At the end of the current season Jamie has made 768 appearances for Linfield and only Noel Bailie MBE with his uncatchable 1013 appearances stands ahead of Jamie in the club’s record books.
As club captain Jamie has won numerous league and cup winners medals as well as countless individual awards and he is a proud holder of 2 senior international caps. He has now begun his coaching career as coach of the under 18s Linfield Rangers squad.
Last year the award was presented to Pat Fenlon who signed for Linfield as a stylish midfielder in January 1994 and went on to win an Irish League winners’ medal at the end of that most dramatic of seasons, scoring the first of Linfield’s two goals on the final day victory against Glentoran at Windsor Park. A week later, Pat was on the scoresheet again, as Linfield secured victory over Bangor in the Irish Cup Final and he earned another Irish cup winners’ medal a year later, as Linfield defeated Carrick Rangers, again at the Oval.
In 2018 Pat returned to Windsor Park for a second spell – this time as the club’s first general manager. He was a popular and effective behind the scenes appointment, overseeing the club’s progress in the domestic and European arena during this period and introducing greater professionalism across the club, as well as managing the club through the enormous challenges of the Covid pandemic.
Pat Fenlon undertook tremendous work for the club over his four years in the post, leading from the front on our transition to a full-time model and playing a key role in our success during his time in the role.
There are so many great names in the proud and illustrious history of this great club and all of them would be worthy winners of this prestigious award. There is no doubt that the 17th name to be unveiled on the prestigious Torrans Trophy soon will be revered by generations of Bluemen and women for his terrific achievements in Linfield’s cause.
The presenter of the trophy, John Torrans ’junior’, followed the Blues from a distance. He spent a match day at Windsor Park in May seventeen years ago and returned with the new trophy a few months later. Sadly, he passed away on February 5 sixteen years ago, after a brief illness. He was a man of great courage and charisma and he impressed all who met him with his quiet modesty. He served with distinction in the RAF during the second World war and was shot down over France in 1943 to be rescued by the French resistance and hidden for some six months, before finally ending up as a prisoner of war.
