INSIDE:JOHN O’SULLIVAN ‘I HAD STOPPED LOVING FOOTBALL’

THERE’S METHOD TO RODDY COLLINS’ MADNESS

LIGHTS SHINING BRIGHT AT ORIEL

CELTIC NATIONS REQUIRE A FOOTBALL REVOLUTION

LOI INTERNATIONALS: DAVE NORMAN

AND MUCH MORE...

volume 2 / issue 03may 2015

Editor / DesignerKevin Galvin

Photography / GraphicsBarry Masterson barrymasterson.com

Timmy Keane timtimmedia.com

Eye To The Groundseyetothegrounds.blogspot.ie

Comeragh Photocomeraghphoto.weebly.com

George Kellygeorgekelyphotography.com

Contributors /David KentGerry DesmondAaron CawleyMícheál Ó hUanacháinDave GalvinKieran BurkeAaron DohertyKarl Reilly Dylan MurphyThomas SargentCraig McMahon John-Paul Fahy

Cover Page /Dundalk and Cork City take to the pitch at Turner’s Crossfor their top-of-the-table clash. 24th April 2015

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LIGHTS SHINING BRIGHT AT ORIELAaron Doherty analyses the reigning champions’ blistering start to 2015

LOI INERNATIONALS: DAVE NORMANDave Galvin tells us the story of the Canadian who made over 50 caps for Canada and once fized an international tournament in Indonesia!

VIBRANT CROSS PROVES THERE’S LIFE IN THE OLD DOG YETDylan Murphy questions the consensus that the League of Ireland’s crowds are dtying out

THE TRANSFER GAMEJohn-Paul Fahy looks at the trend of players from Provincial clubs moving across the water

THE FORGOTTEN PRINCE OF STRIKERSGerry Desmond looks back on Jimmy Turnbull’s blitzing League of Ireland stint

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20 THERE’S METHOD IN RODDY COLLINS’ MADNESSIs the Dubliner just one big publicity show? Kieran Burke gives his opinion

INTERVIEW: JOHN O’SULLIVAN24Former Cork City, Athlone Town and Limerick FC boss John O’Sullivan gives us his thoughts on Market’s Field, Tom Coughlan, and the future

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TINY VILLAGE AFC BEATS SHAMROCK ROVERSWith the FAI Daily Mail Cup 2nd Round Draw coming up Mícheál Ó hUanacháin looks at the decline in cup upsets in recent years

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Hello all once again and welcome to the latest issue of League of Ireland Monthly!

Once again a massive thanks to everyone who read the latest issue April 2015, and have given us their feedback, we appreciate every message, share, like, retweet and favourite we get, and it only helps us reach more League of Ireland fans and promote our league to the world!

This month chez-LOIMonthly we have, thanks to the generosity of our partners, a brand new website with domain name, making it so much easier to access the magazine and back editions, and check out what’s going on at the magazine, and around the league.

You have probably already seen it to get here, so I encourage you to have a good look around and check it out, we kept it fairly simple but everything you need vis-à-vis the magazine is there,

We do this totaly unpaid, and each name on that list of contributors to your left have put in their time and effort to put together this magazine. If you have anything to donate; whether it be time, money, publicity, or expertise, we would love to hear from you..

The email address, as ever, is loimonthly@gmail.com

Now back to the league and thankfully talks of financial meltdowns have been put to the back-burner for the moment as the football again takes centre-stage. It’s been very much a multi-tiered league so far with a number of different levels emerging.

At the top you have Dundalk and Cork City, who faced off last week; the Lilywhites once again came away with the win, surely leaving John Caulfield left wondering wha he must do to beat Stephen Kenny’s men. City have lost their last four encounters against their biggest rivals now.

Then there’s the challengers; Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic, who have had rocky starts but are beginning to establish themselves. Joining them have been Bohemians, under Keith Long, who has

elevated the Gypsies far above where they had been expected to be at the start of the season, and is really getting the best performances out of a squad gutted by Owen Heary’s switch to Sligo.

Speaking of Sligo, and they have been the surprise package on the other side! With the arrival of Heary and a number of key players to bolster what the Bit O Red already had, it seems that gelling has become a real problem, and the Westeners have been finding the going very tough, thumped 3-1 by Bray Wanderers at the start of April.

And on the subject of Bray Wanderers, it seems that new coach Maciej Tarnogrodzki has been doing a fantastic job of turning things around, at least on-the-field for the club that seemed to be in a bit of a crisis after the departure of Alan Matthews. The Seagulls have elevated themselves out of the danger zone.

Limerck however are still deep down in the mire. They enjoyed a fantastic draw against last-year’s champions Dundalk, stifling and frustrating Stephen Kenny’s men at Jackman Park, but apart from that have only picked up four points in their first 10 games, and haven’t a win to their name/

In the First Division it’s been Finn Harps who have surprised everybody and stole an early lead in the race to promotion. Despite many tipping UCD to lead comfortably what has been labelled a weak league, the Harps have stormed out of the blocks and have yet to lose a game at the time of writing.

The Students meanwhile have come out of the blocks with lead on their feet, and have really laboured to some poor results against teams they would be expecting to beat.

Wexford Youths, despite their loss on the opening day to Cabinteely have made up the best of the rest, but even still have a large gap to make up on Finn Harps as the league gets into its second round of games.

Eddie Gormley’s men have been faring admirably, and got their second League of Ireland win a few weeks later against Waterford United. Gormely have them playing a compact, hard-to-break-down style, and it seems, for the most part, to be paying off for the newcomers.

May is always a hugely interesting month as the leagues really begin to take shape, and with the weather getting better hopefully we’ll start to see things really kick-off all over the country!

Enjoy the read!

Editor.

Kevin Galvin

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‘’If it’s stupid and it works, it ain’t stupid’’ That saying can be used for so called ‘negative’ football, which I’m hearing a lot of being a Cork City fan. But anyone who has gone to a Cork City home game so far this season will laugh at the idea of being negative. Hence why the Dublin media are picking apart John Caulfield’s style of football away from home, because they hadn’t gone to Turner’s Cross before last Friday.

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Football is a results game. So let’s examine the results and stats from these so called negative performances by Cork. Sligo Rovers away, torrid conditions. You ask any fan of any club if they’d take a point away in the Showgrounds and they’ll say yes. Alan Bennett struck the bar late on, so Cork went for the win. Next up, the truly dire game in Tallaght, where Cork openly played for the draw. But Rovers were just as bad. Same amount of shots, same amount of shots on target (1). So if Cork were ‘negative’ away

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from home, what exactly were Rovers? Moving onto Bray, in more horrific conditions. Media sees a 1-0 scoreline and Dan Murray in midfield and think oh typical Cork negative football. Anyone at the game could tell you it should’ve been 6, such was the attacking mentality of Caulfield. And then the one that got everyone’s attention, the 0-0 at St.Pats. City had more possession and more shots on target than the hosts. And they got a result. 3 of Cork’s 5 away games so far have come at 3 of the last 4 champions. And they are unbeaten away from Turner’s Cross. Never mind looking at the home games sandwiched around, where they’ve scored 13, and up until Friday hadn’t conceded in 5 games. But the opposition and the media don’t talk about that. They prefer to criticise a system that has worked so far.

I liken it to Donegal GAA and Jim McGuinness and his anti-football. Was it pretty? No. Was it effective? Yes. It took them to the top. Even across the Irish Sea, we see Chelsea scrapping for as many points away from home as possible, most recently a 0-0 against Arsenal. Are they playing nice football? No. Is it working? Mourinho and his men about to romp to another league title. Football at the highest level isn’t a game of style, it’s a results business, it always has been it always will be. Every manager is given the same task, to get their team as far up the table as they can. So for one to find a system that does just that, only

to have the media openly criticise it? The mind boggles…

The Rebel Army gone from promotion to near league-winners in the space of three years, and have shown that they have what it takes to have another go at it straight at it, unlike many of the teams competing in the league at the moment. The very same people giving out about John Caulfield’s ‘negative tactics’ will be the very same praising another fantastic performance should City progress in Europe.

It’s clear that the Leesiders are setup to be solid away from home, while waiting for the home games to flex their muscles. Last week’s disappointment against Dundalk was the Rebel Army’s second home defeat since the 9th June 2013, the other coming last year also against Stephen Kenny’s Dundalk side.

City scored the third most amount of goals last season, the second most this season, and haven’t been outside of the Top 3 in the league for the better part of an entire season. Negative football? It seems to be working!

LEAGUE OF IRELAND INERNATIONALS

DAVID NORMAN

BY DAVE GALVIN

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As some of you will know, tales of overseas internationals who fetched up onto League of Ireland shores towards the tail-end of their careers, dreaming of one final tilt at glory perhaps, or simply looking to pocket some easily earned cash, are all too familiar. That said, it can’t be too often that a player who features in the League of Ireland for three consecutive seasons subsequently goes on to earn over half a century of caps for his country, and to appear in a World Cup Finals.

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That is exactly what transpired with Canada’s Da-vid Norman however, and his story is one afforded greater significance given that, despite earning more than 50 caps, Norman was banned from lining out on the international stage for almost six years in the wake of a betting scandal which unfolded in Singapore in 1986 and which rocked Canadian football to its very core. It was a scandal that impacted hugely, not just on the international career of David Norman, which might well other-wise have seen him secure a place near the top of the list of Canada’s most capped performers of all time, but also on the careers of his co-accused. More on those particular events later.

As it transpires, the catalyst for David Norman’s ca-reer in League of Ireland football and beyond was one, John Giles. Having failed to realize his ambi-tion of elevating Shamrock Rovers to the euro-challenging status of Ireland’s first ‘super club’, by the turn of the 1980s Giles had moved on to take up a position as coach of North American Soccer League (NASL) outfit, Vancouver Whitecaps. Over the course of the next three seasons the Irishman imported into the NASL a host of former team mates and opponents from his time in English football including Terry Yorath, Peter Lorimer, Bruce Grobbelar and Peter Beardsley. At the same time, a clutch of high profile home grown per-formers here in Ireland, including Fran O’Brien of Bohemians and the Shamrock Rovers’ trio of Pierce O’Leary, Dave Henderson and Liam Buckley, all tried their luck with the Whitecaps in the NASL, enjoying varying degrees of success.

At the same time Giles initiated a near unique reverse traffic in players, certainly in terms of numbers, as Vancouver squad members were temporarily loaned out to League of Ireland outfit UCD for the duration of the NASL off-season. Eng-lish born Shaun Lowther, who would also go on to play for Canada alongside Norman, as well as the aforementioned ex Leeds United and Scotland for-ward Lorimer, and others such as Ralston Dunlop, Sammy Sanduh, Brent Barling and Carl Shearer were among those who spent some or all of their respective NASL close seasons between 1980 and 1982 playing League of Ireland football. In some ways this inter-league transfer from LOI to NASL and back might have constituted a somewhat odd arrangement, but for three seasons at least, it certainly brought a little something different to two footballing nations on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

David McDonald Norman Jr. was born in Glasgow on 6th May 1962, and following his family’s emigration to Canada just a few short years later, Norman grew up in Coquitlam, British Colombia, right in the recruiting heartland of the Vancouver Whitecaps. He signed his first professional contract in mid-1980 and was soon among the first wave of Canadians loaned out to UCD by Giles in the autumn of that year, making his League of Ireland debut as a substitute in a1-3 home defeat to Sligo Rovers on 5th October. At this point UCD were barely twelve months on from gaining LOI mem-bership at the expense of Cork Celtic and in truth, were still struggling to make the transition to the

The 1982 Vancouver Whitecaps side which included amongst others 13-Peter Beardsley; 11-Peter Lorimer; Coach-John Giles; 3-Terry-Yorath; 17-Dave Norman; 23-Shaun Lowther; Back Row 2nd left-Carl Shearer; 20-Pierce O’Leary.

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senior grade.

Across the three seasons covered by this player loan agreement, the Students finished in the League’s bottom four on each occasion, failing miserably to make any impact whatsoever in either FAI Cup or League Cup competition. Having played twenty one times in his first spell, nineteen of those in the league, and with two goals scored, Norman was back again in Vancouver by mid-March 1981. The Canadian influence at Belfield that first season was espe-cially significant with the aforementioned Shaun Lowther managing to notch up slightly more appear-ances than Norman, while Barling weighed in with an impressive six league strikes and Dunlop with four. Nor-man seemed to really take to the LOI scene and over the course of his time at Belfield, he notched up just over fifty appearances in total for the Students, the bulk of these in the league given UCD’s pitiful cup record, and he scored nine league goals. Those flowing blond locks became a famil-iar sight to LOI followers of the time as the midfielder plied his trade up and down the length and breadth of the country.

Back home following his League of Ireland adventures, Norman made his full debut for Canada as a substitute in a 0-1 away defeat to Honduras on 14th December 1983. By the following summer he was a part of a Cana-dian squad which competed at the 1984 Olympic Games in the United States, appearing as a sub-stitute against both Yugoslavia and Iraq, but not featuring against either Cameroon, or beaten final-ist’s Brazil, who put paid to Canadian hopes at the Quarter Finals stage.

By 1986 an emerging Canadian side had reached the World Cup finals in Mexico for the first, and to date only, time in their history. Despite los-ing all three group encounters with the Soviet Union, France and Hungary nevertheless, Dave Norman started all three games and by the end of the tournament had amassed an impressive total

of 26 caps, just weeks on from his 24th birthday. Within a few short months however, Norman’s world, along with that of fellow international’s Igor Vrablic, Hector Marinaro and Christopher Cheude was to come crashing down, while the image of Canadian football was to suffer a serious blow.

In a worldwide context, Singapore’s Merlion Cup was, in truth, a fairly obscure football tournament. Played sporadically between 1982 and 1992, the 1986 tournament was contested soon after the

aforementioned World Cup finals, in late August/early September of that year. Six teams took part: Canada, China, Singapore, North Korea, Malaysia X1 and an Indonesian X1. The latter two were drafted in at the very last moment following the late defec-tions of both Thailand and Yugoslavia, while only those games involving the first four named above were afforded the status of full internationals by their respective football associa-tions and FIFA.

Not surprisingly, given that the team was coming off the back of a World Cup Finals appearance, Canada were strong favourites to lift the trophy, and so a 0-1 reverse to North Korea in the semis came as some-

thing of a surprise. In the event, China went on to defeat the Korean’s in the final itself and secure the Merlion Cup. Almost immediately follow-ing the team’s return home to Canada, rumours of match fixing surrounding the semifinal defeat began to circulate. At the conclusion of a 10 month investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Po-lice, Vrablic, Marinaro, Chuede and Norman were charged in November 1987 with attempting to ‘fix’ the outcome of the game. The four were further charged with ‘taking into Canada money obtained while committing a criminal offence outside the country’. It was alleged that all four players had accepted bribes totaling $100,000. At the same time two Singapore bookmakers were arrested on charges of ‘attempted bribery to fix the outcome of a game in the Merlion Cup’.

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Despite repeated protestations of innocence, all four were suspended indefinitely by the Canadian Soccer Association for ‘bringing the game into disrepute’. However, the case was complicated by the events having taken place outside Canadian court’s jurisdiction. As the saga dragged on, and in the absence of a court case, the Association was bitterly split by the decision to keep the suspen-sions in place. Vrablic, the most high profile of the four, having secured a contract with Olympaicos Piraeus in Greece following the World Cup, never appeared for Canada again, or played football in Europe, and neither did Cheude. As with Norman, Marinaro did reappear briefly for the national side in the early 1990s. Overall, the whole sorry mess proved catastrophic for the careers of all four play-ers who struggled to make any real living from the game following the events in Singapore.

Eventually in 1992, Dave Norman, then lining out with Vancouver 86’rs in the Canadian Soccer League, admitted to his role in the affair, and was reinstated to the national side. In the intervening years the midfielder had spent a period playing indoor soccer with Tacoma Stars in the USA and another spell in the aforementioned CSL with Win-

nipeg Fury. He made his international comeback in June of 92 in a 3-1 friendly win at home to Hong Kong, and as well as a gaggle of other friendly matches, also played a further eleven World Cup Qualifying ties. During this time however, Canada were not able to replicate the heights of qualifica-tion achieved in 1986. In total, Norman appeared 51 times for Canada scoring just once against Ghana in another friendly encounter, and finally brought his international career to a close with a substitute appearance against the Netherlands in June 1994.

After his playing career ended, Dave Norman went back to coach where it had all begun, in Coquitlam, British Columbia. No doubt, many in his adopted country still associate him with that career shattering scandal almost three decades ago now, but perhaps there are a few old stagers out there who recall him in the blue of UCD plying his midfield trade in League of Ireland football, at Belfield or beyond.

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The Numbers Game I - Karl Reilly1978 The year when Ray Treacy (RIP) scored the last goal for Ireland by a home-based player. He netted a brace in a 4-2 win over Turkey at Lansdowne Road.930 Minutes Shamrock Rovers went without conceding a league goal at Tallaght Stadium until the 2-2 draw with Dundalk.305 Appearances made by Gavin Peers for Sligo Rovers.92 Consecutive ninety minute league appearances by Wexford Youths goalkeeper Graham Doyle. The record is held by Dundalk’s Alan O’Neill, who started 161 games between 1987 and 1992.64 Number of Republic of Ireland international caps in the league. That’s Stephen McPhail, Colin Healy, Jason Byrne, Liam Miller, Alan Bennett and Keith Fahey.48 Straight games in which Ronan Finn has scored without being on the losing side. Since UCD’s 2009 League Cupsemi-finaldefeathisteamshavewon36anddrawn12.42 Years since a non-Dublin club retained the title (Waterford).34 Months since Shamrock Rovers came from behind to win a league game. Since that 2-1 win over Cork City at Turner’s Cross they have fallen behind 26 times, salvaging a point in 10.30 Days until the Annual Programme Fair at St Andrews Resource Centre on Pearse Street.22 Red cards so far in this season’s Premier Division and also the number of yellow cards picked up by St Patrick’s Athletic. Cork City are the only team with no players sent off.20 Years since a player scored a league hat-trick against Cork City. It was Monaghan United’s Ian Douglas who scoredthreetimesatBishopstown;JohnCaulfieldrepliedfortheLeesiders.19 Matches unbeaten for Dundalk in all competitions.17 Seasons that Jason Byrne and Kevin McHugh have been playing in the League of Ireland. Both made their debut in August 1998.

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ENCOURAGING NEWSUPPORERS

What do Dinamo Zagreb, CSKA Sofia and Motherwell have in common? None of these teams are averaging as many fans as Cork City this season. Cork drew just shy of 7000 people to Turners Cross for their televised game against Dundalk, a just reward for the extraordinary work being done on Leeside in recent years and an answer to the many who think the League of Ireland is dying.

In fact, Cork’s average attendance of 4500 this year is more than any club in Bulgaria, including the twice European Cup semi-finalists CSKA Sofia, who, despite occupying a city 10 times as big as Cork, still only attract 4000 to their games. Elsewhere, Getafe, Monaco and Chievo, all playing in the top flights of Spain, France and Italy respectively, have posted smaller crowds this season than attended the Cross last Friday. And, apart from Dundee United’s game with Celtic, Cork pulled

in more people than any in the Scottish Premiership that weekend.

Whilst there is always room for improve-ment, and many League of Ireland games drew unimpressive attendances on the same night, the often lamented poor crowds in this country must be taken in context. 7000 for an early season, tel-evised league match is remarkable by all accounts. Similar sized leagues are strug-gling to attract fans all around Europe.Regular participants in European competi-tion.

BATE Borisov averaged domestic crowds of just over 4000 two years ago when they beat the eventual champions, Bayern Mu-nich, 3-1 in the Champions League. Fur-thermore, the Belarusian league, currently positioned 21st in UEFA’s rankings, aver-aged fewer people per match last season than the League of Ireland is at present.

VIBRANT CROSS PROVES THERE’S LIFE IN THE OLD DOG YET BY DYLAN MURPHY

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Even some of the more successful teams in Europe struggle to draw crowds when a wealth of top-class football is available at the push of a button.

We think that televised football has hit us hardest, but we are not unique; every minor league in Europe shares our strug-gle against the generations bred on Sky Sports. We all bemoan the overbearing allure of modern football and all battle to attract fans to live football in the absence of excessive marketing teams. We are col-lectively fighting a losing battle against a footballing community less and less concerned with the weaker leagues and increasingly captivated by the big five.

This is why Cork’s recent surge in support is so remarkable. The sizeable and fever-ish crowd that crammed into the Cross last week is a testament to what can be achieved when all the right elements are put in place. The Leesiders have proved that once innovative marketing cam-paigns are implemented, attracting fans to a ground fit for the 21st century and of course coinciding with an upturn in re-sults, the crowds will come out and return.

In an age where an abundance of world class sport is accessible from the comfort of your own home, crowds like these are to be admired and heralded, particularly when the sparse attendances often seen in other Irish grounds are so well publi-cised. The only problem Cork faced was surely a refreshing one, having to turn people away from a sold out Turners Cross.

Cynics may assert that City’s recent on field success is the only reason why crowds have swelled on Leeside, and to an extent it is true that a ‘bandwagon’ ele-ment has accompanied their good results. However, Cork have succeeded in intro-ducing thousands to the thrills of live foot-ball, when testing times return many will jump ship, but it’s certain that the excel-lent facilities at the Cross combined with sustained and professional marketing will ensure that the maximum number of fans that could be retained will be. Don’t most lifelong fans start out on a bandwagon of some kind?

The Numbers Game II - Karl Reilly16 Competitive games since Galway United FC were involved in a draw. Their 5-0 win over Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds equalled the old club record for an away league victory.11 Successive FAI Cup and League Cup ties in which Athlone Town have been knocked out.9 Ever-present players in the Dundalk side.8 Clean sheets kept by Dean Delany for Bohemians in 2015.6 Games without a home league win for Sligo Rovers.5 Goals scored by Danny Furlong in Wexford Youths’ club record 7-0 win over Cabinteely last week. Jonathan Speak (6 for Derry City, 1987-88 Premier Division), Pat O’Connor (5 for Home Farm, 1988-89 First Division) and Dave Warren (6 for Cobh Ramblers, 2004 First Division) are the other players to accomplish the feat in the modern era.3 Current League of Ireland managers on Twitter. They are @HOTSHOTZ2, @kevdoc5 and @collieoneill, the managers of Cobh Ramblers, Shelbourne and UCD respectively.0 Home goals conceded this season by the two league leaders, Dundalk and Finn Harps.

to back; you could argue that this is down to the merry-go-round that occurs within the League of Ireland and in particular the Dublin clubs and its surrounding area; with the smaller clubs tending to lose their up & coming young stars to the bigger clubs who are able to offer more money and better chance of success.

Having looked back at the cross channel transfers from the League of Ireland the trend is that the two dominant forces in this area is the two provincial sides furthest away from Dublin and no doubt the biggest clubs in their area, they are of course Derry City and Cork City.

If we take a look at Derry City after the sale of Darren Kelly to Carlisle in 2001 they never really had a big money transfer until Paddy McCourt made the move to Celtic in 2008. Since then they’ve had a steady flow of big money (in terms of League of Ireland) sales across to England or Scotland with a few free agencies thrown in alongside them, McCourt was followed by McGinn to Celtic, Sammon to Kilmarnock, McClean to Sunderland, McLaughlin to Forest and Lafferty to Burnley, with Ireland’s number one goalkeeper until recently David Forde moving to Cardiff on a free after an impressive season in 2006 at the Brandywell.

Derry City’s superiority in the North West means that they can get the pick of the best, nurture them, bring them through, sell them on and find another to replace them; this has been the case over the last few years, with many describing it

Having watched the recent International between Ireland & Poland at the end of March, I’m sure you’ve all seen the infamous photograph that featured James McClean, Seamus Coleman, Wes Hoolahan and Shane Long all celebrating the former Cork City striker’s 90th minute equaliser; a great advertisement for the league.

That photograph got me thinking about the number of transfers that have taken place from the League of Ireland over the last 10-15 years across to England or Scotland. In the early 00’s Shelbourne were the dominant team in the league and it reflected on the transfers across the water with Richie Foran joining Carlisle, Wes Hoolahan going to Livingstone, Colin Hawkins (Doncaster Rovers) and Bobby Ryan (Dunfermline) were to name just a few of the players who left Drumcondra to pursue career in full-time football.

However Shelbourne’s financial problems meant they were no longer in the top division never mind the dominant force in the League of Ireland and it was time for somebody else to take the mantle of Ireland’s number one. In the past 10 years this has proved elusive with only Bohemians (2008 & 2009) and Shamrock Rovers (2010 & 2011) managing to win the league back

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THE TRANSFER GAMEJOHN-PAUL FAHY

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as the Derry City “conveyor belt”. The majority of the credit has to go to John Quigg and Hugh Harkin who are working with the young lads getting them ready to make the jump into the first team and possibly move on to pastures new with Michael Duffy being the latest product of the Derry City “conveyor belt” making the move to Celtic on January deadline day. However the fact that Derry’s nearest realistic competitor in terms of Geography and budget is Sligo Rovers (approx. 2 hours) it means they can cut their cloth accordingly and still hold on to their young local talent such as Barry McNamee (another of that conveyor), who reportedly had offers from St. Patrick’s Athletic and Sligo Rovers along with a number of others. McNamee, like the others however opted to stay at the Brandywell instead of uprooting to Dublin or another part of the country, for just a few extra quid in his pocket, and in this loyalty holds the key to the Candystripes making money on their local talent. I can’t help but wonder had McNamee been at one of the smaller Dublin or other Leinster clubs who were offering reduced terms due to minor financial problems that he would’ve been there; I find it hard to believe and being away up out of the road means they can rely on their youthful policy without having to worry about rival teams poaching them on a free, instead they will make money on their development which is nothing more than they deserve.

The other club and possibly the most successful club of doing transfers across the water in the last 10 years is Cork City, like Derry they too have the comfort of being more than 3 hours away from their Dublin rivals when it comes to holding on to young local players long enough to be able to make money on them. City have dominated the U19 Elite League of Ireland, having won the first three titles since its inauguration in 2011/12. Brian Lenihan, who was one of those successful u19 players, was the latest Leesider player to make the move across to England when he signed for Premier League Hull City in August 2014. His u19 team-mate Alan Browne made the move to League One Preston North End 8 months before and impressed manager Simon Grayson when

he appeared as a substitute in a 3-1 win over Peterborough in March of that year. Lenihan is the latest in a long line of Cork players to make such moves in the past 10 years, starting with Kevin Doyle’s and Shane Long’s double transfer to Reading, followed by Dave Mooney’s move a few years later to the same side, Roy O’Donovan then moved to Sunderland following Roy Keane’s appointment, Colin Healy went to Ipswich (also under Keane’s stewardship) not to mention Denis Behan and Joe Gamble signing for Hartlepool, I could go on and on.

Not all these came through the ranks on Leeside but they are a prime example just like at Derry of how in the League of Ireland being a good few hours away from your challengers can be an advantage of holding on to your key players, developing them and then moving them on in order to further develop but also to help the club financially. However there is a flip side to being a distance from the likes of Dublin and that if you want the big Dublin based players to join you then you must be prepared to pay big money in order to convince them to uproot and move.

After financial difficulties which saw both clubs demoted in 2009, the pair now look like they have learned from their mistakes, with Cork going from strength to strength whilst Derry look to be cutting their cloth to try and build again; but one thing that remains the same is both these clubs are the dominant two in terms of moving players on across the water.

However we must not forget other transfers of Jake Carroll from Pats to Huddersfield, Keith Fahey from Pats to Birmingham in the past with Rory Gaffney & Gearóid Morrissey (Cambridge) and Pat Hoban (Oxford United) having impressive seasons in 2014 to do enough to earn moves to the English Football league in the 2015 January window, and with a number of players impressing at either end of the country (in particular Lenihan’s replacement at Cork City) John Kavanagh, it seems like this City tradition shows no signs of stopping!

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JIMMY TURNBULLModern era League of Ireland fans will be famil-iar with the exploits of Brendan Bradley, Jason Byrne, Pat Morley and Glen Crowe, strikers who clocked up impressive career tallies in the goal-scoring stakes, but few will have heard of Jimmy Turnbull’s incredible season on Leeside when two amazing records were written and remain unmatched. Gerry Desmond recounts how the Englishman notched his phenomenal total and terrorised League of Ireland defences around the country. Indeed, Jimmy’s incredible tally would be out of the reach of many teams in the modern era, let alone individual strikers…

Long before inscribing his name, quite pos-sibly forever, in the annals of League of Ireland achievements Jimmy Turnbull’s nomadic career had its unlikely origin in America following his emigration there as a teenager. Football, though poorly organised in the States and modest com-

pared to its mass appeal in Europe, still held a strong attraction for the burgeoning emigrant communities from the old countries. Jimmy honed his natural skills to good effect on US soil before returning to his native land in 1932. Once back in England, he quickly sought an opportu-nity to try his hand in the Football League and readily accepted professional terms from Barnsley manager, Brough Fletcher. After two years with the Tykes, who won the old Third Division North with a club record 118-goal haul during his final season at Oakwell, Turnbull’s itchy feet saw him surprisingly moving on to his hometown side, Gateshead, which was then a league club and operated in the division that Barnsley had just been promoted from. However, Jimmy spent just one season on duty at Redheugh Park before wanderlust hit him again and he crossed the Irish Sea, where his name would become legendary on both sides of the border.

THE FORGOTTEN PRINCE OF STRIKERS

GERRY DESMOND REMEMBERS...

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That was in the summer of 1935, when the direc-tors of struggling Cork FC signed the unsettled English striker amid a clutch of other imports in a bid to sort out the club’s troublesome centre-for-ward berth. It was a gamble on the board’s part as Turnbull’s three years in the professional ranks had offered little hint of the prolific days that lay ahead for him in Ireland, while several comparatively highly paid British players had previously failed to deliver the goods on Leeside. But, in their wildest dreams, they could hardly have anticipated just how effective their new man would prove to be. The other newcomers were Billy Little, signed from Newry Town, Nor-man MacKay from Plymouth Argyle, Alex McKendrick from Darlington and John Laverty. The new arrivals were expected to blend with the best of the locals, who included goalkeeper Billy Harrington, set to be capped by December, Owen Madden who would follow him onto the Irish team twelve months later, Eugene Noonan and the very prom-ising junior player, Finbarr Morley from Evergreen United.

The Leesiders had just finished the 1934/35 campaign rooted to the foot of the table, win-ning a meagre three matches and barely hitting double figures on points. Bobby Buckle and Jim O’Neill had shared joint top spot with a paltry six goals apiece. But Turnbull’s arrival not only solved Cork’s net-finding problems it also shattered all existing League of Ireland goalscoring records and set standards, which, even today, nine dec-ades later, are still beyond emulation. Indeed, Jimmy’s incredible tally would be out of the reach of many teams in the modern era, let alone indi-vidual strikers.

He came to Leeside without a glowing reputation – he had not caused much of a stir in the lower reaches of the English leagues after all – and on Sunday, 25 August 1935, the Mardyke regulars got their first sight of Turnbull when Cork de-feated a Munster selection 4-0 in a practice game. Jimmy obliged with two goals against the scratch

outfit. The previous day he had lined out some-what anonymously in a 0-2 League of Ireland Shield reverse versus Bohemians at Dalymount Park. But the following Sunday, on his competi-tive home debut, the new boy dropped his call-ing card in no uncertain fashion, notching half of Cork’s total in an astonishing 10-3 trouncing of Dolphin, the reigning league champions. It was

an extraordinary way to open an account and sent an ominous signal to opposing defences. Nonetheless, Cork were not inspired by it and their Shield form remained erratic. They managed just four wins from eleven games, though fourteen of their twenty-eight goals in the competition bore Turnbull’s signature. Although he had averaged better than a goal per game in the competition, Cork

Examiner match reports more frequently men-tioned his poor form and his missed chances on those occasions when he drew a blank.

The championship campaign began with lit-tle inkling that his scoring rate would continue. Reds United, on their league debut having been elected when Shelbourne dropped out of league football, stole a 2-0 win at the ‘Dyke although Jim-my gleaned his first goal in the side’s next outing at the Iveagh Grounds in a 3-2 success against St James’s Gate. A single goal return in 180 minutes hardly set the world on fire but then, at the end of November, the Turnbull goal machine sud-denly hit full throttle. Sligo’s visit to the ‘Dyke may have ended 3-3 but all the home side’s goals were Turnbull’s and he went one better within a week at Kilcohan Park where Waterford were downed 4-1. Dundalk managed to shackle him at the Athletic Grounds but over the next three months there wasn’t a defensive unit in the country that could hold him as the goals rained in from all angles. The prolific sequence included another four-goal haul against Bray Unknowns, while he plundered further hat tricks against Shamrock Rovers and Dolphin.

Cork stormed up the table on the strength of

...the new boy dropped his calling

card in no uncertain fashion, notching half of Cork’s total in an astonishing 10-3 trouncing of Dolphin, the reigning league champions.

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Jimmy’s avalanche of goals, casting aside their re-election form of the previous year and get-ting within shouting distance of the crown at one stage before ultimately coming apart against Bohemians when they crashed 1-4 at Dalymount Park as the Gypsies clinched the title. Third spot was secured, however, a huge improvement in twelve months.

Match reports around the country were invari-ably subtitled, “Two more for Turnbull” or, “Turn-bull gets his usual brace”. Cork scored 61 league goals compared to 30 the previous season, Turnbull responsible for a phenom-enal 37, of which six were penalties. The previous League of Ireland (or, the Football League of the Irish Free State as it was more correctly known until 1937/38) record had been set five seasons ear-lier by a Scot, Alex ‘Sandy’ Hair, who registered 29 in Shelbourne’s colours. To date, only one other player, another Scot, Jimmy Gauld, has reached 30 league goals in a season. Gauld achieved this distinction with Waterford in 1954/55, before becoming involved in a notorious match-fixing scandal in England some years later.

Cork’s improved league form and the almost guaranteed goal or two from the irrepressible Turnbull saw the side begin a run that eventually brought them to the FAI Cup final as practical certainties to win.

They had started shakily enough though against Bray Unknowns, a club still awaiting its first league win of the season at that point. Turnbull supplied the ammunition for a two-goal lead, but Bray surprisingly hauled back the deficit. Jimmy, however, added two more in the 6-1 replay win at the Carlisle Grounds. A trip to Bohemians, the Cup holders and league champions elect, was the team’s dubious reward and once again Cork relied on their goal merchant to score at Dalymount and bring the replay to the Mardyke where he claimed another couple in the homesters’ 3-2 win. Drumcondra were knocked out 5-2 at the first

time of asking in the semi final at the Mardyke where Jimmy bagged three to install his side as red-hot favourites for the showdown with Sham-rock Rovers. In three league meetings with the Hoops that season the Leesiders had come out tops each time and Turnbull had rammed home five goals in the process despite missing the last league clash at Milltown through injury.

Cork arrived at the decider with a decent pedi-gree in the competition: they had won it just two

years earlier, although the cost of build-ing that successful team had all

but crippled the club. Now Cork was torn by internal strife in

the week of the final when the directors discovered that Owen Madden had signed a private deal with Norwich City after the semi final win over Drums without their consent, and the atmosphere in

the dressing room was not ideal for a big match build-

up. Madden lined out against Rovers in the decider but sub-

sequently incurred a ban from the FAI which meant he couldn’t play either

in Ireland or for Ireland, a decision that left him, ironically, with little alternative but to complete his move to Norwich.

Turnbull had bagged ten goals in the cup run and it seemed inevitable that he would add to his total. History relates that almost 31,000 wit-nessed him register his FAI Cup final strike with ten minutes remaining but earlier goals from Rovers’ legend Paddy Moore and Charlie Reid ensured the Glenmalure side’s name went on the famous trophy for the seventh time. Consolation for Jimmy was his eleven-goal Cup haul, another record that still stands.

Jimmy Turnbull wound up the season with a successful penalty against Glasgow Celtic in a testimonial match for Johnny Paton, a former Celt, who had skippered Cork to FAI Cup glory against St James’s Gate in 1934. It turned out to be Jimmy’s last goal for the club, at the end of a whirlwind season.

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Back in 1927/28 Everton’s Dixie Dean had set a Football League record with 60 goals in 39 matches; Turnbull had just finished his maiden campaign on Leeside with 63 competitive strikes from 40 games. Despite favourable comparison with Dean, albeit at a lower level of competition, the Cork directors felt Turnbull did not justify the £50 signing-on fee he sought for the upcoming season. It may seem a trivial sum now but back in the hungry 1930s it was a significant amount of money. Nonetheless, the club’s finances must have been in a reasonably healthy state as big crowds had been flocking to the Dyke each week as the goals flowed. The visit of Dolphin in April had brought 13,000 to the old venue; the Cup semi final with Drumcondra the previous month had attracted 12,000. However, in hindsight there can be little doubt that the Cork board erred in letting such a prolific striker depart so easily. Within a short period the club was back in the doldrums, out of contention for honours, strug-gling once more for goals and points and by February 1938 it was out of football forever, col-lapsing in mid-season.

The famous Elisha Scott, however, just retired from a lengthy career between the posts for Liverpool and Northern Ireland, and now concen-trating on full-time management, swiftly lured Jimmy to Belfast Celtic when Cork dithered over his terms. Cork’s loss was certainly Celtic’s gain as he hit an amazing 82 goals in his first season up North, including 43 in the league and a hat-trick in the Irish Cup final against Linfield. The follow-ing year, as Celtic completed back-to-back dou-bles, Turnbull chalked up another 36 league goals and brought his all-competitions total to 144 in just two seasons in Ulster! Turnbull had proved that his season on Leeside had not been a flash in the pan. Cork had left a jewel go for the sake of fifty quid.

In July 1939 he returned south, becoming the first ever signing of the new Cork City club, which had replaced Cork FC, and on St Stephen’s Day he became the first player to claim a Munster Senior Cup final hat-trick when Limerick were beaten 4-0 on his old stomping ground at the Mardyke. That provincial cup win proved to be City’s only trophy as the club sensationally folded in mid-season at the end of January, maintaining the disastrous trend in Cork throughout the impoverished

decade. It also proved to be Turnbull’s last great moment as, dogged by ongoing poor health, he drifted to Munster Senior League football with Evergreen United, returning for a couple of inter-rupted seasons with Cork United before retiring around 1941. He shared the United’s top scorer spot with Liam O’Neill in 1939-40, with just eight goals…

Jimmy Turnbull in his heyday was lethal with both feet and with his head; he also had a sharp foot-ball brain, but possibly his greatest asset was his natural speed – he had been a sprint champion in England’s North East – and he possessed the true hallmark of all great strikers: an insatiable appe-tite for goals.

Sadly, his outstanding achievements are con-signed to the yellowing pages of history and seldom-seen statisticians’ ledgers. Indeed, many supporters will never even have heard his name mentioned – unlike that of his contemporary, Dixie Dean, which is still legendary in British football. The clubs Jimmy played for – Cork FC, Belfast Celtic, the original Cork City and Cork United – have long departed the game, as have many of the clubs who suffered because of his gift. Several of the grounds where he created his record – Harold’s Cross, Dolphin Park, the Dundalk Athletic Grounds, The Iveagh Grounds, Kilcohan Park, even The Mardyke itself – have also been lost to the earlier chapters of the League of Ireland story. All that remains are his awesome feats though the likelihood is that they, at least, will survive for quite some time yet. They are now ninety years written and the ink is well dry on them, if a little faded. In that one glorious cam-paign Jimmy Turnbull scored against every team in the country. He hit seven hat-tricks or better. He scored 37 goals in 21 league games, 11 in half a dozen FAI Cup outings – not too far shy of two goals per game over the whole season. Although the League of Ireland only fleetingly saw him at his best, his double record is ample testimony to the phenomenon that was Jimmy Turnbull.

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Roddy Collins, just uttering the name sends the heart rates up and gets the blood flowing among the majority of League of Ireland fans. Despite not managing in the league or taking any real active role within it since his departure from Derry City early last season, the Dubliner is still box office among followers of the domestic game, and that’s exactly what the Dubliner wants and most of all needs.

Cast your mind back to the start of 2014, the camera teams and media men were out in force as Roddy Collins jumped ship from a First Division winning Athlone Town team to take the helm at one of Ireland’s most historic clubs, Derry City. Roddy’s media events rarely let the press down for headlines to write and quotes to capture and right from the off Collins was shouting from the roof tops that he would

bring the title home to the Brandywell. Fast forward just weeks later and the former Bohemians double winning gaffer was talking about ‘’foundations built on sand’’ and how he had a massive job on his hand to rebuild the football club. The already unloving City faithful weren’t buying it however, nor were the Derry hierarchy as Roddy was shown the door but not before one final media meltdown, as the under fire boss verbally berated a local journalist in a stunning radio interview.

From Midlands miracle worker to taking over one of the top clubs in the country, Roddy Collins stock had rarely been higher since the days of double glory at Dalymount Park and promotion with little old Monaghan United, although the final outcome there is sure to have soured the taste of any success achieved

THERE’S METHOD IN RODDY COLLINS’ MADNESSBY KIERAN BURKE

at Gortakeegan. However, the incredible velocity of Collins crashing and burning at Derry City looks to have put the final nail in his managerial coffin with many fans labelling him unhireable.

Now if you were to put that question to Mr.Collins, his response would be, as heard many times during his appearances on Newstalks Off the ball programme this season, that he has no interest in taking up a position with any club in Irish football due to the sheer unprofessionalism and lack of quality within the league. But is Collins correct in his assessment? Or is he just trying to deflect attention away from his own shortcomings? Well, when you examine Collins top flight record you will uncover the incredible fact that Roddy has failed to complete a full season at one club since 2001! Fourteen consecutive years without a full campaign in the Premier Division under his belt, while some of those ‘gap years’ have been down to clubs running into financial disaster and spells to manage abroad, you can see why a chairman with a long term project in mind would not even consider Collins for the job.

Having given the media so much ink down the years, Collins now has the chance to set the agenda with his appearances on Off the ball and his weekly newspaper columns. The first major talking point to come from the pundit Roddy post Derry was his over the top criticism of last seasons FAI Cup final and the quality of players within the League of Ireland. In short Roddy claimed no player on show at the Aviva that day would get into a League Two team, Luton Town In particular, this all off the back of one under par performance. The reaction

from League of Ireland fans and players in particular was one rarely seen before on social media with former Ireland international, Keith Fahey tweeting to say he’d play In League Two with his eyes closed. With so many players moving from the domestic game here to make hugely successful careers for themselves across channel, Collins comments clearly had no basis and were designed purely to generate the sort of reaction they received. Suddenly for the first time since his Derry City departure, everyone was talking about Roddy Collins.

One of the hottest topics within the national league at the moment is the redevelopment of, none other than Collins former stomping ground, Dalymount Park and whether or not Bohs arch rivals Shelbourne should groundshare as part of the project. Collins initial newspaper comments seemed balanced as he approved such a move for both clubs. However, skip forward to this very week and you will find a total contradiction from Collins, something we are becoming very use to seeing from the pundit, as he argued the case for eliminating all Dublin clubs from the League of Ireland bar Shamrock Rovers and Bohemains. Understandably the blood was once again boiling within LOI circles but once again what or who are we all talking about? With Sligo Rovers and Bray Wanderers just two top flight clubs who may or may not be soon in the market for a new manager, Roddy Collins and his outrageous outburst actually have a concerted goal behind them, to stay relevant and in chairmans minds come CV season. A case of method in the madness from Irish footballs most controversial character, Roddy Collins.

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If there is one topic in football that fans can relate to no matter who you support it’s referees and their decisions.

In the League Of Ireland us fans are no different. You only have to attend matches on a regular basis to see how poor, in my opinion, some of the ref-ereeing is. If you look at the League Of Ireland forums after games you’ll see fans regularly discuss referees and their performances. I’ve yet to see on any of these forums any comments praising referees and their performanc-es (although that is always the way). As a long-time League of Ireland fan I’ve seen my fair share of bad decisions made when it comes to games at the Showgrounds both for and against the Bit O’Red.

The poor standard of refereeing was shown in the League Of Ireland in gameweek three. Over the space of the weekend there was six players, yes six players sent off. Five on Friday night and one on the Saturday night. At one stage during the night there was more red cards than goals. I defy anyone to find any other league world wide the same size as the League Of Ireland, where over the course of a series of

games six players are sent off. What does this say about the standard of ref-ereeing in the League Of Ireland? Are referees making poor decisions? And if so what can be done to stop these bad decisions from being made?

I know the League has a relatively small pool to pick from when it comes to choosing referees for games, and because of this you would imagine that our referees were amongst the best out there. Week in week out bad decisions are being made, from poor time-keeping to questionable inconsist-encies, particularly in the handing out of bookings.

What can the FAI do to combat some of the poor decisions? I for one would like to see more training for officials, something along the lines of maybe having to explain why they made a certain decision and if it’s proven to be wrong they’re told it’s wrong and if they make a glaringly bad decision then they should be held accountable for it. I know referees are human and can make mistakes but the margin between one and three points could be the difference between winning the league or being relegated.

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HOW TO SOLVE A PROBLEM IN THE MIDDLEAARON CAWLEY

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The last few years have been a whirlwind for John O’Sullivan, a long-time volunteer in local sports, the Kerry native did what few do from the Kingdom and led a Cork team into battle in 2010, not as a player but as a Chairman of the new Cork City FORAS Co-Op. Having previously rescued the former being this new group had a mere fortnight to put together everything in place (facilities, staff, networks, and the business side of things) ahead of their first game against Derry City.

So how does a Pharmaceutical Quality Manager end up being a football chairman?

“I got involved in the official supporters club in 2005/6 and there was a desire among the group at the time to make a larger on-going contribution to the club and chairman Brian Lennox. The trust was envisioned initially as a means to put together an

infrastructure funding mechanism with a seat on the board to allow supporter input. When Arkaga got into trouble in 2008, we were thrust into the forefront of the battle to save the club. At that stage, we hadn’t even been officially launched and weren’t ready to step with a potential takeover the club. A year or so later, when we repeated the difficulties under Tom Coughlan’s stewardship, we were much stronger. “I’d never even considered it (being a chairman). I ended up in the role by default really as I was chairman of FORAS at the time we took control of the club. FORAS had been running match nights at the Cross for much of 2009 before the relationship with Tom Coughlan broke down and we’d learned a lot through that.

Personally, I knew very little about running a

JOHN O’SULLIVAN

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LOI MONTHLY INTERVIEWS....

John O’Sullivan has overseen the running of three separate League of Ireland clubs in the last five years, and now, after a lot of hard work, the former Cork City, Limerick and Athlone head honcho is looking to call his time in the other end of football management. Words by Kevin Galvin

John (left) with former Limerick manager Stuart Taylor and Pat O’Sullivan

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football club; in fact, I look back at what I thought I knew and I cringe. Our biggest advantage was we were aware of our knowledge gaps. As soon as we could, at various stages along the process, we approached and included people who knew the club, who could fill the gaps we had. Two days after taking over the club Kevin Mullen, Éanna Buckley and Jerry Harris had committed; many others were there to give advice and help out.”

FORAS were quickly called into action in the off-season of 2009 and 2010 to mobilise the formation of a new club after the FAI refused Tom Coughlan a licence and banned him from all footballing activities, but the group had been putting in much of the legwork months and in some cases years before in anticipation of the worst scenario and having to form a new entity.

“I think we suspected when Tom Coughlan was chosen as the preferred bidder for the club by the examiner in 2008. We did our best to work with Tom but I don’t think he had any idea what he was taking on. Also, where 12 months later we included people who knew the club, Tom chose to surround himself with people who he trusted. Which is fair enough, but he also excluded that knowledge base that had seen the club through the previous 24/25 years.I remember clearly a meeting we held looking for volunteers from the membership, in one meeting we collected over 150 names of people willing to take on roles. I was in Cork last Friday and many of the people who signed up that night are still volunteering in those roles.”

That volunteer force would prove absolutely crucial to the club in the early moments, with little trust following a number of years of bad management and owed debts all around the city and county. “I’m not sure people realise how difficult it was in the early days to get across how we’d be different, and why it would work. I think

there was also a sense of “sure they’re just fans” and an underlying belief that we couldn’t do it. But we fans, between them, had incredible life and business experience that still benefits the club today.”

Despite all of their inward help, for O’Sullivan the new massive challenge of guarding one of the country’s biggest football clubs would have unexpected burdens “On a personal level some of the media attention made me very uncomfortable. I was working full-time and would have co-workers finding my face on the back page of the Star or in the Evening Herald, or in local papers. There was a strain in that.

In terms of the club, we had a period where we went seven weeks with one home game against Mervue United. That wasn’t a great fixture for Cashflow. Then it got switched to a Thursday because of the Carling Cup in the Aviva, and to rub salt in the wounds, we had to play at 6pm because of an issue with the floodlights at the Cross. Some of the board, none of us wealthy, had committed to lodge our own money with the takings, so we could cover wages, in case the crowd was worse than expected. We couldn’t have risked a situation where bills, especially wages were unpaid. Luckily, the supporters came out and it wasn’t needed, but that was tough.”

However, after a first year of stability the club found its feet, and the next year charged late, overcoming a twelve-point deficit in the final round of matches to setup a final-day showdown with Shelbourne for the First Division title. A loss would have lost the side their automatic promotion place, but, at 1-1, and with champagne resting on the home bench in anticipation of Shelbourne’s inevitable league win, Graham Cummins scored a goal in the 94th minute to steal City the league. “It would have

previous generation had seen the club win league titles and draw with AC Milan in the European Cup. The age profile in the support base reflected that…I had to build relationships from scratch, people hadn’t a clue who I was. In many ways I was only starting to realise the benefits of that network when I was leaving, I would have liked an opportunity to continue working into 2012 after we’d hired Roddy Collins, but I really only overlapped with him there for about a month.”

Recently the Town have been going through dire straits as regards finances, and had to call a public meeting to call on the public to fund their squad, but for O’Sullivan the problem rests not at

boardroom level, but the simple inequality between the Premier and First

Divisions. “Going straight back down to

the first division was awful for everyone involved, especially when It looked like Keith Long might get them out of trouble. The first division is a difficult league for every club. Athlone have some great

people involved, but you can’t make a silk purse out

of a sow’s ear, and the first division is only good when you

leave it.

“The underlying mistake every club seems to make boils down to balancing player wages with the other requirements and responsibilities of the club. Salary Cost protocol and licencing has helped in this regard but clubs still look to get an additional player in the squad, who naturally will decrease the bottom line rather than taking the risk of bringing in a project or a person that might increase it, particularly in the areas of marketing. You can have a great side, but if you’ve no-one to spread the message about them, you may not win the support base to support them.

“I think the most common misconception from fans is that it’s common sense to run a football club, aspects of it are, but the variables and difficulties you encounter are incredible. The other thing that annoys me, having been in boardrooms, is when the idea spreads that the board “don’t care”, I’ve

been a proud night anyway, but the way we did it made it special. We could have gone up for the draw and gone up in second, but having been more than ten points behind Shels at one stage, Tommy (Dunne) made it clear we’d go for it. There must have been two thousand fans there to witness it. At 1-1 midway through the second half, Tommy made two attacking substitutions; one of them was Derek O’Brien. It was Derek’s cross that Graham Cummins headed home in the 94th minute to win the game and the title. It was the best night I’ve had in football. Our first match in Derry, our first as a fans owned club was very special too.”

Due to FORAS rules, John’s time as Chairman had to then come to an end, but from there he took the surprising decision to uproot and take up a position as CEO of Athlone Town.

“While we were chasing promotion in 2011, I found out the company I was working were was going to close and that I would be redundant that Christmas. It was a pretty stressful time, looking back at it. I’d enjoyed football and thought I could bring something different to it, with the professional background I had. Athlone were looking for someone to help breathe new life in, I met them and was interested by what they wanted to do. It was a great opportunity.”

However, John arrived fresh-faced from a club that had just won promotion, to a club who had stagnated from years in the Graveyard league, and moreover, had little to none of the contacts to help that he had forged on Leeside. “I think the biggest challenge was less the size of the club than the length of time they’d been in the first division. There were some really ambitious people in Athlone, but it’s very hard to build interest and excitement and engage people when you’ve been struggling in that league for that long. In Cork, there was a latent interest, even among those who didn’t attend. Athlone had a generation of people in the town who’d never seen any success, the

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never met anyone on a football board who doesn’t care about their club. There are areas for improvement, like any club, and I might do a better job second time around having aspects of that network I mentioned already in place. From the public meeting they held, their issues seem to be Cashflow rather than debt, which in the long term should settle down. I don’t think the situation is as bad as was thought a few months back.”

From there the University College Cork graduate moved to Limerick, with the club promoted and seemingly on the crest of a wave, playing in the stunning renovated Thomond Park ahead of their big planned move to Market’s Field. “It started really strong, we averaged about 3000 for first series of games. We weren’t scoring goals though and when there’s an absence of excitement on the pitch, it wasn’t long before Thomond felt very large and empty. Even day one against Cork City with 4,000 in, it was relatively quiet. Thomond was brilliant for away fans, but to maintain the high numbers we started with, we needed better results. We still ended up doubling the first division average, and the levels were comparable with many clubs but in Thomond, to be blunt, it looked negligible. We surveyed the fans in 2013 and the atmosphere in Thomond was a clear issue in the feedback.

“Finance was really the biggest roadblock in moving to Market’s Field I guess. I’m not sure the LEDP (Limerick Enterprise Development Partnership) really appreciated how vital, for a number of reasons, the move is to the club. I don’t think it was ever as high on the LEDP agenda as it was on the club’s. Though, even if they had wanted to get it done by 2012, the original planned date, I don’t know if they had the funds available. In the end it has been government money which has allowed it to get to the stage we’ll see in June.

“There are a number of thing I’d have done differently. Hindsight is of no use though. I did well in some areas, not well enough in others. I think the one area I wish I’d been much stronger was in terms of waste we had around the senior team, Pat O’Sullivan tended to treat the players and

managers like family, but sometimes that meant the club was too indulgent. I look back on the Spain trip in 2013 on particular as a terrible waste of money that could have been put to much better use. Overall though I’m really proud of the strides we made in areas setting the club up for the long-term and in Martin Russell I think they have the ideal man to knit it all together.”

Limerick chairman and John’s namesake Pat has come under criticism for a number of issues following his decision to pull back from the club, including an incident which led to the banning of a number of hard-core Blues fans, still in place.

“I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t recognise what he’s done for the club, whatever their personal feelings towards him are. I think the situation with the banning of the fans this year could have been handled better, but on the flip side, since the club have not laid out their side of the argument no one can really be sure of everything that’s happened.”

For John however, his time in the running of League of Ireland football is almost certainly over, a decision which hasn’t been taken lightly, but one that was necessary

“My own background is in science and to be blunt, it’s more stable and far more secure so I’ve gone back to that. I have a young family, the hours and travel were tough and I just didn’t see any long term future working in football. Also, I’d stopped enjoying football as a sport which was an unfortunate downside of my level of involvement. While I loved working in football, and it was constantly interesting and challenging it makes much more sense to me to have a steady ‘normal’ job and help out with clubs, which I still do, on a voluntary basis. As a hobby.

“Football was always my favourite sport and once I started attending League of Ireland matches, there was no turning back. I’ve made some fantastic friends, across a number of clubs that I would never have known had I not walked into Turner’s Cross as a student. I wouldn’t swap a minute of it!”

I’D STOPPED ENJOYING FOOTBALL

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It might not have the glamour of El Classico, it doesn’t have the sectarian hatred of The Old Firm and to be honest, it’s nowhere close to the madness that is River Plate vs Boca Juniors... but for fans of Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers - This. Is. It. THE Dublin Derby. Undoubtedly the biggest game in the capital city and, indeed, of the domestic game full stop. It’s Bohs and Rovers, the Gypsies and The Hoops, the Northside vs the Southside. This fixture has found its way onto lists of ‘World’s Greatest Derbies’ and if you have attended one live, you will know why. Despite it’s modest numbers on the global scale, pound for pound, this tale of two tribes packs a punch as good as any of the other pairings. They’ve been at war for 100 years now with over 200 battles on the pitch, and off it.

Shamrock Rovers are Ireland’s most famous and successful club. Founded in

Ringsend on Dublin’s Southside, they lead the honours table with 17 League titles to their name and 24 FAI Cups. They’ve supplied more international players to the Republic of Ireland national team than any other club and are the only Irish team to ever appear in the group stages of a European tournament. However, they’ve endured some torrid times as their ground at Milltown was sold and they went on the road without a home to call their own from 1987-2009. In these years they experienced problems with dwindling numbers, undesirable elements attaching themselves to the club and a once-unthinkable relegation in 2005.

Bohemians are the oldest League Of Ireland team in continuous existence. They have never been relegated from the top tier of Irish football and have the record for most victories in European competitions...along with Shamrock

DERBY DAYS PART I - THE DUBLIN DERBY

Rovers. Hailing from Phibsboro, they became the biggest team on the Northside following the demise of Drumcondra and a clear rival for their counterparts south of the River Liffey. They won back to back titles in 2008 and 2009 and are a 100% fan owned entity. Bohs, too, have not been without their own troubles as a failed sale of their historic stadium Dalymount Park coupled with a disastrous defeat to Welsh side TNS in Europe left them in a dire financial situation.

To say the two clubs are friendly rivals might be stretching the truth. The game is considered a high category affair by the Gardai and mounted units, dogs and public order officers are a common sight. There has been controversy on the pitch, but not just from the players. In 2004, former Rovers players James Keddy and Tony Grant lined out for Bohemians at Dalymount Park in a massive league game. Amongst all the furore, a pig’s head was thrown onto the field of play in a clear gesture of disgust at the ex-hoop men. The stunt grabbed front page headlines, which is rare for the League of Ireland.

A similarly controversial action, seemingly from Bohs ‘fans’, was when a monument to Rovers spiritual home of Glenmalure Park in Milltown was desecrated with spray paint. They also destroyed a mural in the city centre of the

Dublin skyline, replacing the green and white of Rovers with their own red and black. The players themselves can fuel the fire, as recently shown by Rovers hotshot Luke Byrne when he took to social media with a wad of cash and wound up his former fans with a four letter expletive towards the Northside club proclaiming that he follows the money.

Some scorelines on the pitch include the

famous 4-6 battle in Santry, where

a trailing Bohs came from 4-1 down at halftime to win with a late flurry. Perhaps Rovers got

their revenge with their 3 years

of dominance at Tallaght Stadium

including a dominant 3-0 scoreline. The SRFC

Ultras would taunt their rivals with a banner proclaiming ‘’You Will Never Win Here’’. However, Bohs not only got their elusive win in late 2012 which cost former Gypsies manager Stephen Kenny his job in Tallaght, but they did so merely months after a 4-0 humbling of the Hoops at Dalymount.

As it stands, the last three encounters have ended with both teams sharing the spoils but this is due to end sooner rather than later. The only question remaining is where will you be the next time these two tribes go to war?

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LIGHTS SHINING BRIGHT AT ORIELBY AARON DOHERTYDundalk Football Club have an incredibly proud history in the League of Ireland. They have won the league title on 10 occasions and are the second most winningest team in FAI Cup his-tory with nine, with their last coming in 2002. Since the appointment of Stephen Kenny in the November of 2012, the Lilywhites have turned themselves completely around and have become a dominate force on the pitch.

Stephen Kenny started his managerial career out with Longford Town back in 1998 and stayed there until 2001. His win rate was below 50% but Bohemians, who were struggling under the tutelage of Pete Mahon, offered the job to Kenny and he took it with both hands. Stephen had an immediate affect and guided Bohemians to the final of the FAI Cup, they would lose the cup final but the northsiders remained upbeat under the new coach.

In the following season 2002/03, Kenny guided Bohemians to the league title in fantastic fashion. They lost three games that season and beat Shel-bourne by three points, a superb turnaround by the Irish coach. He would eventually be sacked in 2004 after poor display in Europe but left Bohe-mians with a win percentage of over 50%.

He would not be out of the game for long, just under four weeks in fact, when Derry City came calling. Over the next seven years, including a brief forgettable stint in Scotland, Stephen Kenny would write his name into the Northern Irish clubs’ history. Under his tutelage the Candystripes would win the FAI Cup and the league cup on four occasions. The Dubliner even helped them get promoted back to the Premier League in 2010 after demotion the previous season.

He was appointed manager of Dundalk in No-

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vember of 2012 after having been arguably harshly sacked by Shamrock Rovers three months previously. Since Stephen’s appointment, he has made Dundalk a real force on the pitch. In 2012, Dundalk won the relegation playoff to stay in the Premier Division and the following season, which was Kenny’s first, he led them to a superb second place finish after losing out on the league by three points. In 2014 he would go one better and claim the Premier Division crown in fantastic fashion by beating rivals Cork City on the final day to lift the title.

Dundalk play in a 4-2-3-1 formation and they pos-sess players with skill, strength and pace that make them the best in the league. Last season they played with a high tempo, excelling by pressing teams all over the pitch and never giving them time or space. Led by the superb talent of Richie Towell who orchestrates the tempo of which the Lilywhites play at; the former Celtic player can pass, score, and play as a defensive midfielder or in behind the striker.

The question going into this season was, Can they do it again? If you look at the current league table, well the answer is abso-lutely. They have started their defence in superb fashion and after 10 games they remain unbeaten (at time of writ-ing). Dundalk have already taken seven points off their title rivals which is a fantastic return. With Pat Hoban moving on at the end of the season, questions were asked about the man to lead Dundalk’s front line? This season though David McMillan and the aforementioned Towell have already scored fourteen goals between them in 10 games, so goals don’t seem to be a problem for the Lilywhites.

Looking inwards it seems that last year’s Champi-

ons haven’t any weakness in their side, although some of the Dundalk faithful flag their defence as their achilles heel. Dane Massey competes with St Pat’s Ian Birmingham for the best left back in the league but to me Sean Gannon is nowhere near the level of Simon Madden. The central pairing of Andy Boyle and Brian Gartland remains solid but lack the quality of Kenna, Hoare, Dennehy to name but a few.

They succeed at the back through brilliant or-ganisation and understanding of the game. Chris

Shields, who sits in front of them plays a huge part, when he covers the attacking fullback on whichever side the ball is. He isn’t the most tech-nically gifted player but his hard working style has him in the starting team, which is what the basis of what this team is built. Hard work.

This back four will strug-gle when attacking players go beyond them, forcing the pairing of Boyle and Gartland to turn who aren’t exactly the most mobile. The problem for opposing teams is how to get in behind, and the press-ing of the ball from the likes of Finn, Towell, Hor-gan, Shields and Mount-ney to force the mistake.

Stephen Kenny kept hold of Richie Towell for this season and added Ronan Finn to the ranks, making them that bit stronger. At the moment, this Dundalk side is probably the best League of Ireland team since that superb Bohemians side in 2008, and going on current results, Stephen Kenny’s Lilywhites are in no mood to slow down.

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The First Round of the Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup 2015 took place almost unnoticed towards the end of April. Journalists love to hype the possibility of “minnows” taking high-flying “scalps” in the Cup, but the streaming of it and similar competitions has severely limited that prospect.

“The First Round Proper” is a term we don’t see much these days in connection with the domestic game, thank goodness. It’s a lazy way English journalists have of saying “the first round of the FA Cup anyone should really be interested in.”

But by the time Premier League teams join the fray (which is what the journos really mean), teams from the lower leagues and the so-called “non-league” teams have been involved for several rounds already.

There are a total of 14 rounds in that competi-tion: an Extra Preliminary Round, the Preliminary

Round and the First to Fourth Qualifying Rounds, followed by the First to Sixth Rounds, the Semi-Finals and the Final.

More than 700 teams enter the FA Cup, with clubs from more senior leagues joining in round by round. The 48 clubs from League One and League Two take part from the First Round on, and teams from the Premier League and the Championship enter at the Third Round.

“Non-league” is itself a contradiction in terms, which even so reliable a source as rsssf.com (short for “Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation”) still uses. Of course, the junior teams are anything but non-league. Here, they’re from the Munster Senior League, or the Athletic Union League, or the Mayo Association Football League, or the Inishowen League.

And the cream of them are invited, each year, to enter the FAI Senior Cup. In recent times that has usually meant the last 16 of the Intermediate Cup

“TINY VILLAGE AFC BEATS SHAMROCK ROVERS”How the structure of the FAI Cup has killed the giant-killersBy Mícheál Ó hUanacháin

teams and the Semi-Finalists in the Junior Cup. And they have normally played a first round before the League clubs join in.

That wasn’t always the case. In 1921/2, the first year the Cup was played, three “non-league” clubs were invited to join the then eight League clubs, and took part from the opening round.

Shelbourne disposed of two of them, West Ham of Belfast in the first round and Athlone Town in the second, but the third, a relatively unknown outfit called Shamrock Rovers, got to the final and held league side St James’s Gate to a 1-1 draw, before losing the replay by the single goal.

The following year, the league had expanded to twelve teams, and four non-league clubs joined the Cup competition in the first round with mixed results. Bray Unknowns were trounced 9-0 by Shelbourne, and Sligo Celtic succumbed to league side Dublin United after a second replay, but Ford-sons, the Cork works team, got a walkover from league outfit Rathmines Athletic and beat another league team, Dublin United, in the second round.

But in the semi-final, they met Alton United of Belfast who had disposed of two league sides, Midland Athletic in the first round and Shelbourne United in the second.

The Northern side beat the Southern 4-2 and went on to lift the Cup with a single goal victory over Shelbourne - the other one - in the final. It was a fitting end to what was to be the last time any team from outside the Free State took part in the domes-tic competitions.

In 1926/7, the FAIFS established a Qualifying Cup for non-League clubs, from which the winner would join the senior competition. Drumcondra won it, and followed that by beating league side

Brideville in the FAI Cup final.

The Qualifying Cup was eventually renamed the Intermediate Cup, and was also open to the reserve teams of League of Ireland clubs.

The Senior Challenge Cup remained an open draw for many years, though the rounds were occasion-ally re-defined: in 1941/2 there was a Preliminary Round, with eight teams taking part and four given effective byes to the”First Round”, really the second, leading directly to the semi-finals. Neither Cork Bohemians nor Distillery (Dublin) survived the opening skirmishes.

The following year, twelve teams participated in the opening round and four of the six winners played off in an “Intermediate” round to reduce them to four for the Semi-finals. Jacobs and Distillery were flying the flag for the non-league clubs that year, and though each held a league side to a draw in one of the legs of a two-legged first round, they both lost on ag-gregate.

The Cup was confined to the League teams for four years after that, presumably due to the wartime scarcity of fuel for travel, but the non-league representa-tives in 1948/9 included future league sides Cobh

Ramblers and St Patricks Athletic, who faced each other, with the Dublin side coming out on top.

But the league teams dominated the competition, including dishing out occasional hidings like Bohe-mians’ 8-0 over Cobh in 1932 or Waterford beating Rialto 11-1 in 1972 (and sometimes embarrassing each other, like Dolphin hammering fellow league side St James’s Gate 10-0 in 1932.

But by and large, the junior sides made little impression beyond survival to the second round until Longford Town made it to the semi-finals in 1954/5, going under to the eventual winners Sham-

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rock Rovers at that stage.

Workmen’s Dunleary managed the same feat the following season, but generally non-league clubs didn’t get to the final stages of the competition until they had had the experience of playing against stronger opposition as league sides.

And you have to come as far as 1982/3 for the next non-league entry to the semi-finals, Cobh Ram-blers. The Rams had taken part at least once in every decade since their first appearance in 1927 but had had to wait until their twelfth visit, in 1974, for their first ever victory, when they beat Droghe-da in a preliminary round encounter.

Almost ten years later, they despatched Dundalk 2-1 in what was described as the “1/8 Final” round, otherwise the first round, in 1982/3. Finn Harps were Ramblers’ next victims, a single goal suffic-ing. In the semi-final, they faced Sligo Rovers, and it took four encounters to separate the sides, Cobh holding the Bit o’ Red to draws twice in Flower Lodge and once in the Showgrounds before going down 3-2 in the third replay.

And six years after that, St Francis beat First Divi-sion opposition three times (Kilkenny City, Cobh Ramblers in a replay, and Newcastlewest) on their way to a semi-final against Bohemians, winning that by the only goal. But the last appearance of a non-League club in the FAI Cup Final to date ended in defeat by the hat-trick of Bray Wanderers’ John Ryan.

In the late 1970s the participation of “non-league” teams appears to have been expanded, but from the late 1980s on the system was revised so that teams from the new Premier and First Divisions did not

join until the lower-tier teams were reduced to a number suitable for a knock-out draw. Some years, that meant until the second round, and other years not until the fourth!

The consequence of that is that a significant part of the junior and intermediate participation is gone from the competition before the League teams join in - and with them, of course, some of the opportu-nity for giant-killing.

Avondale were the best of the “non-league” sides last year - but their route to the Quarter-Finals took them exclusively through Intermediate and Junior teams. In 2012, Cherry Orchard beat Longford Town in the Second Round, but went no further. The previous year, Sherrif’s entry to the Quarter-Finals by way of victory over Shelbourne was annulled on appeal.

In 2008, Wayside Celtic got to the same stage by beating Monaghan United, but were out of their depth against Bohemians, losing 6-1. And in 2006, Killester United’s route to the Quarters was eased by the withdrawal of Dublin City.

Those are just examples, but they show that bot-tom-versus-top upsets are increasingly small-scale, and getting rarer. In recent times, there has been no giant-killing. The nearest the lower-tier sides have come was taking the lead before losing, or at best holding a senior side to a draw, and then losing the replay.

It doesn’t quite measure up to “Local Junior FC beats Premier Champions”, does it?

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BARRY MASTERSON’S GALLERY barrymasterson.com

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BARRY MASTERSON’S GALLERY barrymasterson.com

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CELTIC NATIONS REQUIRE A

FOOTBALL REVOLUTION

THOMAS SARGENTScotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland are all currently in good positions in their re-spective groups for the Euro 2016 quali-fiers. With the upcoming internationals against England and Scotland for Ireland next month, I thought it would be a good time to look at my idea for improving foot-ball standards in Ireland. There’s has been a lot of debate recently in the Irish media about players contracts, and the lack of 12 month professionalism in the League of Ireland, and the recently relaunched Professional Footballers As-sociation of Ireland benevolent fund has reiterated the issue.

Most of the players in the three respec-tive international squads ply their trade in the English leagues, where the standard of football and money on offer is greater. Earlier this year, The FAI chief execu-tive, John Delaney, announced that plans are being worked on to improve domestic

football in Ireland as a legacy to the Irish capital hosting Euro 2020 matches at The Aviva.

The announcement sparked a great amount of debate throughout the Irish media with several outlets proposing ideas on how Irish football can be reformed to improve standards domestically. As a St. Patrick’s Athletic season ticket holder, I have a vested interest in the fortunes of Irish football despite being an Englishman.

Currently, I don’t think any of the league formats in Ireland, Northern Ireland or Scotland are best suited for football to progress domestically in order to provide players for their national teams, or provide entertainment on a level that can stop the hoards of fans filling planes to England every weekend during the Premier League season. I believe the way forward is a combined ‘Celtic League’ taking teams from the Scottish Premier League, the

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League of Ireland and the Irish Premier-ship. You could create a 16 - 20 team league which would pit the cream of Irish and Scottish football against each other playing each team once home and away every season. You could leave weekends open to play in the domestic cup competi-tions to give the small-er clubs their annual giant-killing opportuni-ties too.

The new league would have its prestige game with the Old Firm der-by, plus many others along the way. It would also allow the three nations to amalgamate their UEFA cup spots which could result in an automatic quali-fication berth for the champions, for exam-ple. I think the effect would be immense.

It would give players who might usually go to England to play in the Championship, League 1 or 2 the op-portunity to play for a club which might get European competition. It would give clubs more incentive to develop their academies and fans a better reason to follow their lo-cal club.

The new league would be able to get bet-ter TV deals, better sponsorship deals for clubs and the division which would result in more investment in infrastructure and play-ers. Celtic and Rangers might be the runa-way winners first off but cities like Dublin, Belfast and Cork would surely be able to drum up support for a club that could po-tentially challenge.

The example is ready made for us in rugby union with the Celtic League, or Pro 12, providing a winner of the Heineken Cup competition on five occasions since 2006. I’m not saying a club from the league could win the Champions League but maybe in ten years time it could pro-

vide an unexpected quarter or semi finalist.

People may argue that for some of rugby’s Celtic League clubs the domestic competition has become an afterthought but this wouldn’t be a problem with the Celtic Football League, as the members would provide more competition much further down the league. Domestic football, as demonstrated by Europe’s top leagues, is always considered to be the bread and butter

of the season in any case.

It is a drastic proposal but football in all three nations needs a massive shake up to improve standards. Let us not be fooled into to thinking that the teams are now better because more qualification places are up for grabs for Euro 2016 – the recent Scotland v Ireland qualifier showed us that. Nor am I slandering what is on offer domestically – I thoroughly enjoy the League of Ireland – I am simply hankering, as a supporter and general lover of football, for something a little more inspiring, a little closer to home.

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