Burnley FC legend Jimmy McIlroy awarded an MBE

BURNLEY Football Club’s greatest ever player and the town’s best loved adopted son Jimmy McIlroy (79) has been made an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honour’s list.

A true vintage Claret, Jimmy Mac, as he was affectionately known on the terraces at Turf Moor, played an integral role in making Burnley champions of England in 1959-60.

His skills on the ball and a loyalty for the town he has called home since arriving from Northern Ireland as an 18-year-old cemented his place in the hearts of Clarets fans.

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Signed from Glentoran in 1950, Jimmy went on to score 116 goals in 439 appearances for the Clarets before he was controversially sold to Stoke City in 1962.

Jimmy is also the club’s most capped international, representing Northern Ireland 55 times, scoring 10 goals and helping his nation reach the qaurter finals of the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.

The MBE is the latest in a number of honours for Jimmy, who received the Freedom of the borough of Burnley in December 2008. Turf Moor’s former “Beehole” stand was also re-named in his honour when it was redeveloped in the 1990s.

Don’t miss Tuesday’s Express for more on this story.