It is perhaps impossible to compare players of the 'modern' era to those who appeared in days gone by, but most Turf Moor devotees would present an overwhelming case that 'Mac' was the finest Burnley player of all time.

Even in the outstanding Burnley side that was forged in the late 1950's and peaked in the early 1960's, First Division Champions, FA Cup Finalists, European Cup ambassadors, McIlroy was undoubtedly the most skilful individual talent in a team of all the talents.

Following the departure of the great man in 1963, not only was the team never the same again, somehow the Club was never quite the same either.

Nearly four decades later, memories still linger and there are those who have kept to their vows never to set foot inside Turf Moor from that day on.

In his formative years, in a village on the outskirts of Belfast, the young McIlroy never had any doubts that he wanted to be a footballer when he grew up. He was influenced and encouraged by his father Harry, a part-time player with Distillery and his uncle, Willie McIlroy, who was a professional with Portadown.

He practised constantly with a tennis ball and, when he had become a star of international renown, attributed his success to an early concentration on ball skills. He was a slightly built youngster but, even at the age of 10, his huge talent was apparent and he represented his school team, playing with and against 14 -year-olds who were of course much bigger than himself.

He was amply fed to build up his physique and strength and left school at 15 to do manual work to build himself up even more and to earn some money to pay back his parents for their earlier sacrifices.

He began playing for the Craigavad Club, near Bangor and his performances were soon being monitored by the scouts from Glentoran. After signing for that Club, he made his debut for the senior team in the last match of the 1948/49 season, becoming a regular during the following campaign.

One of his team mates was Billy Bingham, an international of the future and then, like McIlroy, under constant scrutiny from the English scouts.

In March 1950, Burnley Manager Frank Hill became the latest in a long line of admirers to cross the water to assess McIlroy's ability. He was treated to a particularly inspiring performance for Glentoran against Distillery and Hill was convinced, contracts were exchanged, Glentoran's bank account was boosted by £8000 and Jimmy McIlroy was on his way to Turf Moor.

On October 21 1950, McIlroy made his Burnley debut against Sunderland in the First Division.

Within a year, and still a teenager, he won his first international cap against Scotland in Belfast. Although the Irish were beaten 3-0, McIlroy's performance ensured he would be a permanent member of his country's line up well into the next decade.

Back at Burnley, the partnership between McIlroy and Jimmy Adamson was knitting the team together and around those two, a Championship team was being fashioned.

In August 1955, McIlroy represented Great Britain against the rest of Europe in an exhibition match at Windsor Park in Belfast, to commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the Irish FA.

After coming second to Adamson in the 'Football Of The Year' award in 1962, shock hit Burnley in 1963, when McIlroy was placed on the transfer list following an FA Cup defeat at the hands of Liverpool with rumours rife as to the reason for his possible departure.

A week later and he was sold to Stoke City for £25,000. He helped the Potters to the Second Division Championship and played in a League Cup Final for the club.

He later went on to Oldham Athletic as their manager and then back to Stoke as 'Chief Coach'.

He also had a spell as a coach and assistant manager to Nat Lofthouse at Bolton Wanderers in 1970.