Dermot Curtis

Dermot Curtis
Personal information
Full name Dermot Patrick Curtis
Date of birth 26 August 1932(1932-08-26)
Place of birth Dublin, Ireland
Date of death 1 November 2008(2008-11-01) (aged 76)
Place of death Exeter, England
Playing position Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1952-1956 Shelbourne ? (26)
1956-1958 Bristol City 26 (16)
1958-1963 Ipswich Town 41 (17)
1963-1966 Exeter City 91 (23)
1966-1967 Torquay United 12 (1)
1967-1969 Exeter City 66 (10)
National team
1956-1963 Republic of Ireland 17 (8)
1956-1957 League of Ireland XI 2 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Dermot Curtis (26 August 1932 – 1 November 2008) was a former Irish international footballer. He represented his country 17 times, playing at centre-forward.

Curtis was playing in the League of Ireland for Shelbourne when he first hit the headlines. On September 19, at Dalymount Park the League of Ireland held a star studded English League XI to a 3-3 draw with Curtis notching the vital third goal [1].

He made his full international debut for Republic of Ireland at home to Denmark on 3 October 1956 in which he scored. In December that year he joined Bristol City for £8,000 where he was to score 16 league goals in only 26 games. In September 1958 he joined Ipswich Town, playing in the side that won promtion to Division One in 1961, and the league championship the following season. However, the form of Ray Crawford and Ted Phillips limited his chances at Portman Road, and in August 1963 he moved to Exeter City after only 41 league games (in which he scored 17 times).

On 23 September 1963 he became the first Exeter player to be capped for his country as he earned his 17th and final international cap in a 0-0 draw with Austria in Vienna. After 91 league appearances (in which he scored 23 goals), Curtis moved to Torquay United, signing in August 1966. However, his move to Plainmoor was not a great success as in his only season he made just 12 league appearances, scoring just a single goal. In June 1967 he returned to Exeter City, where his league career was to end after a further 66 league appearances in which he scored 10 goals. He later played non-league football for Bideford.

Curtis died in Exeter on 1 November 2008, after a long illness.

Honours