{"id":309249,"date":"2026-02-21T05:10:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T05:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/309249\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T05:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T05:10:12","slug":"leeside-loses-another-soccer-legend-as-barry-notley-passes-away-unexpectedly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/309249\/","title":{"rendered":"Leeside loses another soccer legend as Barry Notley passes away unexpectedly"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was widespread sadness in Cork football circles following the passing of former Cork Celtic player Barry Notley, who died suddenly at his home in Blackrock on Friday morning at the age of 75.<\/p>\n

Barry belonged to a special generation of cross-channel footballers who came to Leeside during the game\u2019s golden era and left a lasting imprint on the local sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Arriving from England\u2019s East Midlands at a time when Cork clubs were rebuilding and reimagining themselves, he became one of a talented group of players whose skill and commitment helped restore excitement to the terraces and brought supporters flocking once more to Turner\u2019s Cross and Flower Lodge.<\/p>\n

\"AnneAnne Ludzik, Ann and Barry Notley at the Jerry Harris testimonial match at Turner’s Cross Picture; Eddie O’Hare<\/p>\n

Alongside team mates such as Alex Ludzic, Richard Brooks, Dave Wigginton, Carl Davenport, Tony Marsden, Keith Edwards, Jerry Coyne, Sonny Sweeney and John Lawson, he played a central role in an exciting period for the sport, complementing experienced professionals such as Dave Bacuzzi and Bobby Tambling.<\/p>\n

Before coming to Ireland, Barry had earned a reputation as a prolific scorer with Burton Albion, performances that secured him a move to Derby County.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cork Celtic manager Amby Fogarty, renowned for spotting value signings around Derby and Nottingham, brought him to Leeside in 1969.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Notley quickly made his mark, finishing as the club\u2019s leading scorer in the 1970\u201371 season with ten goals.<\/p>\n

A return to England followed, where he became the first signing of Nuneaton Borough\u2019s new player-manager David Pleat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Barry immediately endeared himself to supporters by scoring on his debut against former club Derby County and finished the 1971\u201372 season as Nuneaton\u2019s top scorer with 22 goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His unexpected return to Cork shortly afterwards triggered a complicated transfer dispute involving Nuneaton, Cork Celtic and Limerick, then managed by Fogarty, before the League ultimately ruled in Celtic\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n

The years that followed would produce the defining chapter of Barry\u2019s career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a difficult start to the 1973\u201374 campaign, including a heavy defeat away to Bohemians, Cork Celtic staged a remarkable revival to capture the League of Ireland championship \u2014 the only league title in the club\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

On 7 April 1974, emotional scenes unfolded at Turner\u2019s Cross as Celtic defeated St Patrick\u2019s Athletic 3\u20130 to secure the title.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer Cork Celtic player Barry Notley paying his respects for former Cork Hibernians player Miah Dennehy at Keohane’s funeral home on Old Youghal road, Cork. Picture; Eddie O’Hare<\/p>\n

Supporters crowded the touchline long before the final whistle, eager to celebrate with a team that had finally delivered long-awaited success. Equally at home in defence or attack, Barry proved an invaluable member of that side, making 20 appearances and contributing nine goals during the historic campaign.<\/p>\n

In 1975, he joined Albert Rovers in the Munster Senior League and later returned to League of Ireland football with the club when they replaced the financially troubled Cork Hibernians.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He etched his name into their history by scoring Albert Rovers\u2019 first League goal in a 2\u20131 defeat to Shamrock Rovers at Flower Lodge.<\/p>\n

The latter stages of his playing career saw him move between League and non-League football as Albert Rovers evolved into Cork United.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He finished his League of Ireland days with United before the club\u2019s expulsion in 1982 brought senior League football in Cork to a temporary halt.<\/p>\n

Barry\u2019s love of the game never faded. He joined Douglas Hall, captaining them to a Premier League and AOH Cup double in the 1983\u201384 season, and later represented the AUL Oscar Traynor side.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Turning to refereeing, he rose quickly through the ranks and officiated at many prestigious finals, earning widespread respect for his fairness and knowledge of the game.<\/p>\n

Across decades as player, captain and referee, Barry Notley gave outstanding service to Cork football and remained a familiar and respected figure within the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His contribution was fittingly recognised when he was inducted into the Cork Soccer Hall of Fame in 2022.<\/p>\n

\"AlbertAlbert Rovers 1976\/77 (first match v Shamrock Rovers, Flower Lodge, October 3rd ’76) : L to R (Back): Alec Ludzik, John Brohan, Barry Notley, Noel O’Mahony (player-manager), Billy Field, Ken McGrath. L to R (Front): Pat Horgan, Pat Morley, Paddy Daly, Pat Kirby, James Quinn (capt.), Brendan Draper, Dom Kenny. (pic: Courtesy Plunkett Carter)<\/p>\n

He will be fondly remembered by teammates, opponents and supporters alike, and by all who shared in a remarkable era of Cork football history<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was widespread sadness in Cork football circles following the passing of former Cork Celtic player Barry Notley,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[16250,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-309249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-cork-soccer","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}