IAN MUIR
Born: 5 May 1963 Place: Coventry, England Position: Striker
Years: 1985-1995 Appearances: 314 Goals: 142
International Caps: 0 International Goals: 0
Muir’s playing style could be likened to that of Kenny Dalglish, albeit operating at the lower tier. He had fine ball control with his relatively low center of gravity and demonstrated excellent awareness of his team-mates’ positioning. He was also a ruthless finisher. Muir was signed to Tranmere Rovers by player-manager, Frank Worthington, who was his striking partner in his first season at the club. Despite his evident promise, he spent his early career at Rovers immersed in struggle, as the club languished in the basement of the league and Muir was part of the side that beat Exeter City 1-0 to save Rovers from automatic relegation from Division Four in 1987. He set up the crucial goal, headed in by Gary Williams in the 77th minute of the last game of that season. Muir prospered when new manager, John King, signed a big target-man, Jim Steel, as his strike partner in late 1987. Within four years, Rovers had been promoted twice and appeared at Wembley five times, with Muir scoring in the FA’s centenary celebrations in 1988 and in Tranmere’s Leyland DAF Trophy victory over Bristol Rovers in 1990. Injury prevented Muir partaking in the final strait of Rovers’ promotion run in 1991 when they reached the second tier of English football for only the second time in their history. That summer, the signing of John Aldridge at Tranmere led to the marginalization of Ian Muir, who remained a regular goalscorer when called upon for the remainder of his Tranmere career. To a generation of Tranmere Rovers fans, Ian Muir is remembered as a legendary player, who played the starring role in the greatest period of the club’s history and also the finest center forward not to have played in the top tier of English football.
JOHN ALDRIDGE
Born: 18 September 1958 Place: Liverpool, England
Position: striker Years: 1991–1998 Appearances: 243 Goals: 138 International Caps: 69 International Goals: 19
John William Aldridge is a former Republic of Ireland international footballer and football manager. A return to Merseyside on 11 July 1991 with Tranmere Rovers was Aldridge’s next step. He repaid the bargain price of £250,000 as he scored a club-record 40 goals in his first season at Prenton park- scoring his 40th goal against former club Oxford United. Aldridge made his debut for Rovers aged 32 on the 17 August 1991 scoring both the goals in the 2-0 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion at the Goldstone Ground. He eventually amassed a total of 294 appearances for the Birkenhead club scoring 174 goals, a goal every 1.7 games, including 22 goals from just 25 League Cup ties. His goals also helped them reach their highest position ever in the league – top-six finishes in the second tier in 1993, 1994 and 1995 – which delivered playoff victories each time, but all of them ended in semi-final defeats. This meant that Tranmere could not make it to the Premier League, and Aldridge missed out on the chance of a return to the top flight. At Tranmere, Aldridge also came close to the chance of winning another major trophy – something which would have been unthinkable at the club just a couple of years earlier – as they took Aston Villa to a penalty shoot-out in the 1993-94 League Cup semi-finals before bowing out to the eventual competition winners. Coincidentally, Villa had tried to sign Aldridge 18 months before turning their attention to Dean sanders (the player who had replaced him at Oxford a few years earlier) instead. During his career in England alone he played 739 games, scoring 411 times, an incredible goal every 1.8 games. In 1996, he became player-manager of Tranmere, finally giving up playing and concentrating on the management side two years later. In 889 career appearances, he scored a record 476 goals, a tally not matched by any goalscorer in post-war English football to this day. Tranmere were involved in some memorable runs and giant-killing acts in cup competitions, including reaching the 2000 Football League Cup Final(which they lost to Leicester City) and consecutive FA Cup quarter-finals in 2000 and 2001. However, they were relegated into English football’s third tier in 2001, where they have since remained. Aldridge resigned in March 2001 just before Rovers went down, and has yet to return to management. In 2006 he gained media celebrity in Ireland by appearing in RTE’s Charity You’re a star competition. Despite not having a natural singing voice, John won the competition and in the process raised money for his nominated charity Temple Street Children’s Hospital.
ROBERT (BUNNY) BELL
Born: 10 April 1911 Place: Birkenhead, England
Position: Center forward Years:1930–1936 Appearances:114 Goals: 104 International Caps: 0 International Goals: 0
Robert C. “Bunny” Bell (10 April 1911 – 1988) was a footballer who played for Carlton, Tranmere Rovers and Everton. On Boxing Day 1935, he scored nine times in Tranmere’s 13–4 defeat of Oldham Athletic, at that time an English record. He might have made it 10, but missed a penalty. He scored 57 goals for Tranmere during the 1933–34 season, and ended his Tranmere career with 104 goals in 114 games. Bell then signed for Everton, but the outbreak of World War II effectively ended his career.
Fred Urmson
Born: 26 November 1907 Place: Little Hulton, England
Position: Outside left Years: 1927–1936 Appearances: 310
Goals: 107 International Caps: 0 International Goals:0
Fred Urmson (26 November 1907 – 11 September 1985) was an English footballer who played as an outside left for Atherton, Tranmere Rovers and Exeter City. He made 333 appearances for Tranmere, scoring 107 goals.
Barry Dyson
Born: 6 September 1942 Place: Oldham, England Position: Striker
Years:1962–1966 Appearances:174 Goals: 100 International Caps: 0
International Goals: 0
Born in Oldham, Lancashire, Dyson started his career as a 16-year-old amateur at Bury in August 1959, turning professional shortly after his 18th birthday. After failing to make a league appearance at Gigg Lane, Dyson moved to Tranmere Rovers in 1962. During his time there maintained a strong scoring rate in his 174 league appearances.His form attracted the interest of Crystal Palace, who paid Tranmere £15,000 for his services. Dyson scored nine goals from 34 appearances over the next 18 months, before transferring toWatford for £9,000 in January 1968, in the search of more regular first-team football. Dyson’s time at Watford was one of stark contrasts. His impact at Watford was dramatic; he scored 15 goals in Watford’s 20 remaining fixtures of the 1967–68 season, including 13 goals in his first 13 starts. Despite havingplayed fewer than half of Watford’s league games, he finished the season as their top scorer. However, the sale of winger Tony Currie to Sheffield United in July 1968 impacted on the number of chances the team created the following season. Additionally, the purchase of fellow striker Barry Endean prompted manager Ken Furphy to use Dyson in a deeper role. Consequently, he could only manage 4 goals from his 20 appearances in 1968–69. With the agreement of Furphy, Dyson was allowed to transfer to Orient in December 1968, for £1,000 less than Watford initially paid for him. Although Dyson was the first-choice striker at Orient, he was unable to regain the strike rate he had previously maintained, scoring 28 goals in 160 league games. He joined Colchester United in 1973, for whom he scored 6 goals before finishing his career with a loan spell at Chelmsford City. Barry Dyson suffered brain damage as a result of a heart attack and died shortly after.
Tranmere Rovers Official Supporters Club Ireland Branch 