During the 1937-1938 season, Carey helped Manchester United gain promotion to the old 1st Division in England. During the second world war (1939 to 1945) Carey volunteered for the British Army and was posted to Italy. While he was there, he played part-time for several different clubs with the nickname Cario.
Jackie Carey can be seen on the extreme left before the 1938 match at home to Poland which Ireland won 3-2.
When the war ended in 1945, Carey returned to England was given the captaincy of Manchester United by Matt Busby. In 1948, United won the FA Cup, beating Blackpool 4-2 in the Final. Carey became the first Irishman to be the captain of an FA Cup-winning side in the process! Between 1947 and 1951, Manchester United finished second in the League four times. In 1952, they finally won it! Carey and Busby together were an irresistable combination. Busby later said that he was one of United's greatest all-time players - on a par with the likes of George Best and Bobby Charlton. Indeed, in 1949 Carey won the prestigious Footballer of the year award. He was nominated for Britain's Sportsman of the year in 1950. However, what made Carey the incredible player that he undoubtedly was is the number of different positions he played in. He played in nine different positions for Manchester United (he played in different positions in defence, different postions in midfield, as an attacker and even as a goalkeeper!!) and seven different positions for Ireland. Judging from contemporary accounts, Carey was highly skilled and adept in each one!
The Irish line up to face Portgal in 1946. Jackie Carey is fifth from the left.
At international level, Carey enjoyed the highly unique honour of captaining both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Quite a few players played for both the North and the Republic during their playing careers but none of them actually captained both! In 1947, Carey was selected to captain the Rest of Europe team which played Great Britain at Hampden Park in what was billed as 'The Match of the Century'. Jackie Carey hung up his boots at the end of the 1952-1953 season and retired as a player.
Ireland's Team Before the Famous 2-0 win over England at Goodison Park in 1949. Carey is seated on the front row, third from the left.
In 1953 Carey became the manager of Blackburn Rovers. In 1958, Rovers gained promotion to the 1st Division in England; Carey became the manager of Everton soon afterwards before being sacked three years later following an argument with one of the club's directors. In 1955, the Football Association of Ireland offered Carey the position of team manager of the Irish team - Carey accepted it 'with pleasure' and went on to manage the team for over 10 years. However, whilst Carey was the team manager, he was not responsible for the actual selection of the team! In 1967 Carey announced his resignation as manager of the Irish football team. One of the biggest criticisms former players had of Carey was his easy-going style of management which meant that players were often left to determine tactics themselves; he made no real attempt to change things within the Football Association of Ireland - many of the top teams had one manager who selected as well as coached the players. However, in fairness to him it does need to be pointed out that Jackie Carey was fiercely proud of his Irishness - he lived and worked for many years in Britain but never lost his Dublin accent!
Jackie Carey won twenty-nine caps for the Republic of Ireland and seven for Northern Ireland. He captained the Republic of Ireland for nineteen matches. He died in August 1995.
