The Longside Reference

Name: Michael Kevin Conroy

D.O.B: 31st Dec 1965

Place of Birth: Glasgow

Previous Clubs: Coventry, Clydebank, St Mirren, Reading, Burnley, Preston, Fulham,

Fee paid by Burnley: £40k from Reading

Signed by Frank Casper

Burnley League Debut:Aug 17th 1991 Rotherham United

Last Game for Burnley:May 5th 1993 Stoke City

Claret  stats: 98(3) games 41 goals (all comp's)

Michael Conroy the Glaswegian born front man began his much travelled career as a junior with Coventry City before moving north signing senior forms with Clydebank in 1984.

Conroy spent three successful years in the Scottish top division with the Bankies scoring 38 goals from 92 League starts. He then moved onto St.Mirren before beginning a long and impressive career south of the border.

The big Scot signed on for Reading for £50k but after 80 games at Elm Park (before the premiership days and the madejski stadium was built) he only netted a meager 7 goals, not much of a 20 goal a season front man.

In step Frank Casper a striker of some considerable class in his day, he saw something in the big Scot, and straight away won over the Claret faithful with a goal against hated rivals Blackburn Rovers in the Lancashire mancs cup at Turf Moor.  This wasn't his debut, that came in Russia the first time Burnley had ever travelled across the iron Curtain! Conroy notched a goal in the 1-1 draw Dynamo Stavrpol.

On to his league debut against Rotherham United at Millmoor and yet again Conroy found the net unfortunately in a 2-1 reverse. Conroy missed four games early in that championship season which coincided with Frank Casper stepping down from the managers position.

Up to the plate came Jimmy Mullen, and the rest as they say is history! Burnley under Mullin went and won nine League games on the bounce Conroy back from injury netted six goals with a youngster named Graham Lancashire up front alongside him.

Conroy would net 24 League goals in Burnleys Championship year the most League goals in a season since Willie Irvine back in 1966!

But Conroy would only play one more season in the Claret of Burnley and although his goals column didn't read that well, that's only half of the story, Jimmy Mullen brought in a striker to partner Michael Conroy, former England international Adrian Heath, and while the little striker of our Little and Large strike force netted 23 league and cup goals the Larger Conroy only found the net on 10 occasions, but his assists must have been in double figures.

Micheal Conroy would be sold, his last game as a Burnley player was against Stoke, the last game of 1992/93.

Preston North End would sign the striker in 1993 for £85k, and after 57 games for the lillywhites Conroy would score 24 goals and get himself in the list of all time post-war top goalscorers alongside other names us Claret fans would recognise Graham Alexander, Kurt Nogan, David Eyres, Tony"Elvis"Ellis and Willie Irvine, Conroy stands around 50th in that post-war list with 24 Preston Goals.

In 1995 he joined Fulham, and scored 32 goals in almost 100 appearances for the Craven Cottage club.  After shooting Fulham into the English Second Division with 23 goals in 1996/97, after just three years in London Conroy became one of the casualties of the Kevin Keegan era and was sold to Blackpool for a fee of £50k.

Blackpool was a disaster for Conroy failing to find the net in 14 games, he found himself loaned out to Chester City where in two loan spells at the Deva stadium club found the net just 3 times in 15 games.

Conroy was on his way back home to Scotland in 1999 and Airdrie, when a chance of a lifetime came knocking, Stuart Munro offered Conroy a chance to play in Australia,  Conroy duly accepted playing for Carlton and a season with Eastern Pride in the Aussie sun, and that is where he is rumoured to be to this day.

In a career that spanned 16 years,  11 clubs and two continents Micheal Conroy made almost 500 appearances scoring 134 goals.

A Claret statistic of 98(3) games all comps 41 goals. 31 of those goals coming in the League.