...but a former cricketer was amongst the recipients.
James Wesley Richard Boyce a doyen of Ballymena Cricket Club and Cliftonville Football Club was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) for his services to football, but throughout local cricket many people will take great pleasure in this award.
A current Vice-President of FIFA Jimmy has been ‘lost’ to cricket for over 15 years, but before he got so heavily involved in his other sporting passion he had left an impressive cricket CV in his wake. A former Ballymena 1st XI captain, he was also NCU Chairman and PRO for both the NCU and Irish Cricket Union PRO. He served on the powerful Irish Cricket Union Executive Committee for many years and was renowned for bringing sponsors to the game and articulating any cause with great conviction and longevity. With his insurance background he inaugurated the popular Sun Alliance Ballymena Sixes Tournament in the 1970s and was a driving force in bringing cricket back to the Province after our isolation because of the Troubles. He drifted out of cricket in the Nineties, but was later made an Honorary Life Member of the Northern Cricket Union for his services.
An inspirational and no-nonsense orator Jimmy had an opinion on most subjects and was never short on sharing it. In both sports he tackled controversial issues head on and was affectionately dubbed “Boyce the Voice” by those who were close to him and more than anyone appreciated his wise counsel. The late Malcolm Brodie, that doyen of sports writers, was a close friend of Jimmy for many years and called him a “Media dream” because he never shirked an issue and was always available to the press.
Cricket’s loss was football’s gain when Jimmy became President of the Irish Football Association and he loved the limelight and the challenge of promoting the game at the highest level. Gradually he eased out of the chairmanship of Cliftonville Football Club and set about the massive task of trying to raise Northern Ireland football to a higher level on and off the field. His work in taking sectarianism out of local soccer was highly commendable especially at home international matches at Windsor Park and he bravely faced the controversial issues as and when they arose. His tenure as IFA President came to a surprise end in 2007 in a controversial coup, but his successor Raymond Kennedy lacked the charisma and high profile of the inimitable Boyce and he subsequently lost his position a few years later as the IFA stumbled from crisis to crisis. There were widespread calls for Jimmy to return, but by 2010 he was already heading up the FIFA batting order and moving into bigger circles. His elevation to Vice-President was the pinnacle of his sporting achievements and during his term in office he has retained all his qualities for openness and fair play in the face of some fierce scrutiny from journalists who are critical of the way football is run at the highest level. Despite some controversial high profile scandals Jimmy Boyce’s integrity and honesty have never been in question.
Jimmy’s tenure as Vice-President of FIFA is due to expire later this year, but he’s too passionate about his sport to settle comfortably in front of the fire so hopefully he’ll return to the cricket fold in some role. I’m not touting, but he was always a candidate for the Irish Cricket Union Presidency until football wooed him away so with the high profile of Cricket Ireland these days he seems an obvious choice.
In the meantime let’s congratulate him on his deserved OBE.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
