Donald Shearer

Shearer was born in England in 1909, but spent most of his life in Ireland.[2] After being an excellent sportsperson in his youth, he left school to work in a textile factory.[2] He initially played rugby for the City of Derry Rugby Football Club before he took up football, after her was noticed for his kicking ability.[2]

In 1929, Shearer joined Casuals before joining Corinthian a year later.[2][4] In the early 1930s, he also played for Derry City.[2] He played in the 1935–36 final of the FA Amateur Cup for Casuals, scoring one goal in the replay of the final, with Casuals winning their one and only cup.[2] During his playing career for Corinthians and Casuals, he played in 50 matches, scoring 38 goals.[2] In the 1936–37 season for Derry, Shearer scored 78 goals including three hat-tricks.[2]

Shearer earned seven amateur international caps for England,[5] and represented Great Britain at the 1936 Summer Olympics.[6][7] He played in Great Britain's match against Poland, scoring a goal.[8]

He was made several offers to turn professional, including from Arsenal, but he declined,[3] before he retired from football in 1939.[2]

In the 1929 cricket season in Ireland, Shearer scored 2,000 runs.[2] Shearer played 13 first-class matches for Ireland between 1933 and 1952.[9] In 1932, he became the first cricketer to score a century in the final of the North West Senior Cup, when he made 110 runs.[3] A year later, he made his highest score in the competition, with 233 runs in a semi-final match.[3]

During Australia's tour of England and Ireland in 1938,[10] Shearer played in Ireland's match at College Park, Dublin in September of that year.[3] In the second innings of the match, he scored 56 runs, with no other member of the Ireland team reaching double figures.[11]

In 1948, Shearer founded the Leprechauns Cricket Club, and is the only cricketer to be an Honorary Life Member of the club.[5] In 1951, he played for the Gentlemen of Ireland in a non first-class match were he became the first Irish batter to score a century at Lord's.[12]

During World War II, Shearer he served in North Africa and was the commander of the garrison in Tobruk, Libya.[2] In the 1946 New Year Honours, he was awarded with an OBE.[13] He later became the managing director of a textile company in Belfast, before becoming a director of Sir Alfred McAlpine & Son.[2] He was also the chair of the Northern Ireland Sports Council and the president of the Irish and Northern Cricket Unions.[2] In 1974, he was appointed CBE.[14]

He died in July 1999,[15] at the age of 90, and his obituary was published in Wisden.[16]

• Donald Shearer at ESPNcricinfo
• Donald Shearer at FIFA (archived)
• Donald Shearer at Olympedia