By CHRIS WRIGHT
Your name is Sammy McIlroy, you’re 17-years old and an unknown from East Belfast. It is 10am on Saturday morning November 6 1971 prior to the big ‘derby’ match between Manchester City and Manchester United and you’ve just been told that you will be making your debut. You’d be forgiven for letting a few nerves in.
But there were no jitters, butterflies or cold sweats stopping Sammy Mcllroy. Instead, he scored one and set two up in a 3-3 thriller at Maine Road, which instantly endeared Sammy to United fans.
Some of those fans were in the audience at the Porta Nova Hotel in Tavira last Monday to hear Sammy talk about his life and career.
Sammy McIlroy MBE, he was honoured by the Queen in 1986 for his services to football, gave a highly entertaining and informative talk followed by a question and answer session. A raffle raised 100 euros for the junior section of Sporting Clube de Olhanense.
