Eamonn John Bannon (born 18 April 1958 in Edinburgh) is a former Scottish football player, who played in midfield for Hearts, Chelsea, Dundee United and Scotland.

[edit] Career

Bannon began his career with Hearts before moving to Chelsea in 1979. He was bought to replace the departing Ray Wilkins and soon found himself a first team regular. He was seen as Chelsea's playmaker by manager Danny Blanchflower. Blanchflower, however, was sacked after a poor run for the club and he was replaced by Geoff Hurst. Although initially selected by Hurst, Bannon gradually slipped down the order at Chelsea and was sold in October 1979 to Dundee United for £165,000, a then Scottish transfer record. He made his début for United against Raith Rovers in the League Cup in a 0-0 draw but scored in only his second game for the club and helped United win the Scottish League Cup, their first national trophy, in season 1979-80, repeating the feat the following season.

Bannon was again present as United narrowly lost their third consecutive Scottish League Cup final to Rangers and also lost the Scottish Cup final in the same season. The following year United won the Scottish League title for the first time, with Bannon, now the regular penalty taker, the midfield talisman. They maintained a regular top five placing in succeeding seasons. Bannon remained a key figure in a United side that went on to reach a European Cup semi-final, (narrowly losing to A.S. Roma of Italy); a UEFA Cup final, (losing 2-1 on aggregate to IFK Göteborg of Sweden); and the Scottish Cup finals of 1985, 1987 and 1988. They lost in all of these finals, and the Scottish Cup was the only domestic trophy Bannon failed to win in his career. The 1988 Scottish Cup final defeat to Celtic was Bannon's last match for Dundee United, returning to first club Hearts and then moving to city rivals Hibs, where his solitary match came, ironically, against Hearts. Bannon returned to Tynecastle for a spell as coach before a final playing spell with Stenhousemuir, where – now playing as a defender – he helped them win the Scottish Challenge Cup final at McDiarmid Park in 1995, defeating his old club Dundee United on penalties.

Bannon went on to manage Falkirk for a few months before buying a guest house in Edinburgh, which he has run since 1997.^[1] Bannon played with Junior club Spartans for a couple of years before retiring at the age of 40, although he continued to coach the side.^[2] Bannon also does matchday work for the Press Association.

[edit] International

Bannon was also a Scotland international, making his international debut in 1979 and winning 11 caps for his country. His final two games for Scotland came at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico where he was a substitute in the defeat to Denmark and played a large part of their next match against West Germany. It was in this game he had an outstanding shot from the edge of the box spectacularly saved by German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher. Scotland went on to lose the match 2-1, and Bannon was not included in the squad for the final group match against Uruguay. His only international goal came in 1983 against East Germany.

His nephew, Paul Telfer, has also played for Scotland.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Independent profile
• Eamonn Bannon management career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e Scotland squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup 1 Leighton • 2 Gough • 3 Malpas • 4 Souness • 5 McLeish • 6 Miller • 7 Strachan • 8 Aitken • 9 Bannon • 10 Bett • 11 McStay • 12 Goram • 13 Nicol • 14 Narey • 15 Albiston • 16 McAvennie • 17 Archibald • 18 Sharp • 19 Nicholas • 20 Sturrock • 21 Cooper • 22 Rough • Coach: Ferguson