Player #416 for Aston Villa, Cornelius Joseph Martin known as Con Martin, played as a both a centre back & goalkeeper between 1948-49 and 1955-56 making 212 appearances and scoring once.

Those figures only tell part of the story however as Con played 26 league matches and one FA Cup match as a goalkeeper with his other 186 appearances coming as a centre back.

A centre half of outstanding ability, tall and cool as a cucumber, Con proved himself a stumbling block to even the best centre forwards yet for all his individual qualities was a team player par excellence. Con was a big unit for the time, over 6ft and 13st he made a formidable opponent.

Con was versatile in a way few players were and won his first cap for Eire as a goalkeeper - a role he would have no problem in adopting over a long period for Villa. In his more familiar role as centre half, Con proved a grand presence in the side who dominated his own half of the pitch, hard to beat in the air with a talent for kicking timed to perfection to outwit the opposition attacks.

Tall and agile as well as his well timed kicking Con had a good head giving him a perfect defensive foundation which he exploited to great effect in Villa’s back line.

Con was born in Rush, Fingal, Ireland on 20 March 1923 and made his debut appearance for Villa on Saturday, 2 October 1948 at the age of 25.

Villa had signed Con from Leeds United in September 1948 for a fee of £10,000.
Con was immediately installed in the centre-back position but during his first season played a few games at right-back. He missed only two games during the 1949–50 season and was a permanent fixture in defence for two-thirds of the 1950–51 season before injury sidelined him for two months.

Con started the 1951–52 season as a left-back, but after goalkeeper Joe Rutherford was injured and the club were caught without cover he took over duties between the posts. Con was the 50th custodian of the Villa goal in professional football.

Con’s performance in goal for Villa was very respectable - conceding 39 goals in 27 games at a rate of 1.44 goals per game. Once he reverted to his centre half position Con scored once – a penalty in a 4–1 league win at Charlton Athletic in April 1950.

Con made his final appearance for the club on Saturday, 28 January 1956 at the age of 32 before moving on to Waterford in July 1956 as player manager.

Con had played under Villa managers Alex Massie, George Martin and Eric Houghton and he passed away in Rush, County Dublin on 24 April 2013 aged 90.