League of Ireland Monthly: July 2015

volume 2 / issue 05 july 2015

INSIDE: WE BREAK DOWN THE LEAGUE’S EUROPEAN PROSPECTS SPECIAL REPORT: SPORTS CORRUPTION AND THE LEAGUE OF IRELAND LEAGUE OF IRELAND CULT HEROES GREATEST LEAGUE IN THE WORLD LOI INTERNATIONALS: ALF HANSEN AND MUCH MORE...

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LOI INERNATIONALS: ADOLPH ‘ALF’ HANSON

Dave Galvin tells us about the famous Everton and Liverpool winger whose succesful time on Merseyside was mirrored with Dublin’s Reds.

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Aaron Doherty gives us the lowdown on all the best young talent the League of Ireland has to offer, and who might be leaving our shores soon.

Editor / Designer Kevin Galvin Photography / Graphics Timmy Keane timtimmedia.com Peadar O’Sullivan posephoto.wordpress.com Comeragh Photo comeraghphoto.weebly.com Barry Masterson barrymasterson.com socawarriors.net Contributors / David Kent Aaron Cawley Mícheál Ó hUanacháin Dave Galvin Aaron Doherty Colm Cuddihy Dylan Murphy Conor Philpott Kieran Burke Cover Page / Europe Beckons: Once again it’s the time of year when Irish times begin their European adventure, who will be the big winners?

The use or redistribution of any part of this magazine is strictly prohibited unless explicitly authorised by LOI Monthly

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LEAGUE OF IRELAND: YOUNG TALENT

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INTERVIEW: ALAN MATHEWS This month’s interview is with Alan Mathews as he opens up about Bray Wanderers, former Cork City Chairman Tom Coughlan, and his job at Athlone

GLAMOUR TIES AND GLORY NIGHTS

Colm Cuddihy brings us back to some of the League of Ireland’s greatest European moments.

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THE SWISS CHEESE Mícheál Ó hUanacháin takes advantage of the recent mid-season break to take a look at not only what’s been going on recently at FIFA, but how the seeds were sewn many decades ago...

LOI MONTHLY: EUROPEAN PREVIEW

Dylan Murphy gives us the lowdown on how Ireland’s five representatives will fair in Europe.

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LEAGUE OF IRELAND: CULT HEROES

Conor O’Donnell looks fondly back over some of the biggest fans favourites from abroad that have graced the League of Ireland in the past.

continent has to offer!

This year Irish teams on the whole have gotten a fairly decent break with the European draw.

Dundalk had an extremely difficult pot in the UEFA Champions League, and have their work seriously cut out with Belarussian powerhouse BATE Borisov who can count Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich amongst recent victories in Europe.

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

This edition marks our year anniversary! Our first edition came out this time last year, July 2014; and despite our meagre beginnings and design flaws we still had an amazing response!

Unfortunately due to other circumstances we had to shelve the magazine until this year, but 2015 has been thus far a roaring success for the magazine!

We have had almost 40,000 people check out our magazine since that time a year ago, and expect to break that number with this issue! Moreover our social media stats are still fantastic, with 600 likes on our new facebook page, and at the time of writing we’re just short of 1,000 Twitter followers, but will be hopefully past that mark by the time this magazine comes out!

There’s a whole host of thanks that are needed.

All of the names you see on that contributors list have been a fantastic help, contributing top quality pieces on a regular basis; not just those who contributed this month but ever since we’ve started.

Cork City have been handed a trip to Icelandic side KR Reykjavik, who finished 3rd last season, 9 points behind Celtic Champions League opponents Stjarnan. While the tie isn’t as much of an automatic qualification as the likes of Andorra or Luxembourg, John Caulfield’s men will still be expected to qualify, the home leg being crucial to that.

Shamrock Rovers meanwhile will be expected to advance comfortably against Progrès Niedercorn of Luxembourg, probably the best draw the Hoops could have gotten in the circumstances. As I’m writing this Pat Fenlon’s men are getting setup to play their first leg game away from home, but hopefully they can put the tie to bed and look forward to facing either Moldova’s FC Sheriff or Odds BK of Norway in the Second Round.

University College Dublin, Ireland’s first ever First Division European participant also coincindentally drew a Luxembourg outfit in the shape of Dudelange, but are expected to have a lot more trouble given their relative strengths.

The only tricky UEFA Europa League tie was handed down to St. Patrick’s Athletic, who haven’t the greatest luck when it’s come to European draws of late. Liam Buckley’s side will face 15-time Latvian champions Skonto Riga, who are currently 3rd in the Virsliga.

Our fantastic photographers, and graphic artists who have helped make the magazine look so good, and my job designing the magazine so much easier!

This issue has a bit of a European flavour about it.

Dylan Murphy gives us an indepth analysis about the sides that Irish clubs are competing against at the moment, while Colm Cuddihy looks back over some of the biggest European success stories in the league’s history

Our sponsors Divally Designs and SP Sports whose help have enabled us to make the magazine available to more, and launch our website loimonthly.com, putting everything about the site in a simple to navigate webpage!

Elsewhere there’s a fascinating piece by Mícheál Ó hUanacháin on Sports Corruption and the League of Ireland, while Conor Philpott has a look at some of the LOI’s most fondly remembered cult heroes.

And most importantly a massive thanks to all of you who have made these numbers possible! Your reads, shares, likes, comments (good and bad!) have made all the hard work and long hours we put in worth it!

If you enjoy the magazine please think about donating and helping us continue providing this free service! loimonthly.com/donate is where to go for that

That all being said it’s time to turn back to the football, and we’re coming into my favourite time of the year, the European adventure! The sun is shining (well maybe not this year), the season is nicely poised with any number of teams in with a shout, and we get to plan trips to faraway lands to support our local sides as they take on what the rest of the

Enjoy the read,

Kevin Galvin Editor.

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opinion | david kent

ALL ABOARD THE EUROPEAN EXPRESS!

I love this time of year!

It’s the LOI’s chance to show itself off, and this year in particular, pocket a huge cash amount, triple than they would for winning the league in some cases, but more on that in previous/future issues. And this year I think is Ireland’s best chance in years, especially in the Europa League.

Last year’s column, I complained about John Delaney’s wage. And at time of writing, that’s in the media, calls for a wage cut. No change in one year, and probably not one coming, I still insist that divide his pay by 4, and plunge it into the league .But I also lauded the profits of professional clubs, and of summer football. And look at what happened.

Dundalk stunned Hadjuk Split, St.Pats were 90 minutes away from knocking out Legia Warsaw and both Sligo and Derry got results. And with the standard of the league improved than last year, the confidence should be at a high level. The recent focus on games as well by the site Copa90 has showed just why we’re going every week.

Don’t write UCD off so quickly says our man David Kent

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SOURCE: FAI.ie

Dundalk get BATE Borisov, can Stephen Kenny topple the Belarussian giants again?

Let’s start with Dundalk. One of the best sides seen by many in this country. The top two players in the league in Towell and Horgan. They’re away at BATE Borisov, which is a gruelling journey to Minsk. But Kenny has history, he beat BATE with Bohemians in 2003. Now, they’ve improved tenfold since then, including a victory over Bayern Munchen in recent years. But no doubt that they will look at the draw and see a small little Irish club drawn against them. And they’ll possibly overlook them. They shouldn’t. Ask Malmo and Hajduk about that. Dundalk will trouble them, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if they got through.

Moving onto the Europa. 4 teams (first time ever) representing in the second tier. Shamrock Rovers, St.Pats, UCD and my own club Cork City.

And looking at the draw, you’d have to be confident. UCD will be absolutely delighted with a home tie against F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg. I know we complain about the coefficients (ED Note: This issue was explained in Dylan Murphy’s interview with Collie O’Neill last month) and how UCD would embarrass the league. But against a side that’s arguably smaller than them? Did anything possibly think that UCD could actually progress? What a story that could be. Relegation and qualification.

A possible clash of the colleges awaits in Round 2

SOURCE: uefa.com

(Europa FC from Gibraltar) Cork City renew their acquaintances with Iceland as they travel to KR Reykjavik. Another trek, but City fans have reason to be confident. They’ve beaten Icelandic opposition before, big Dan Murray scoring against Valur in 2007 to send them through. Awaiting them this season should they get past are the standard side that Irish teams end up against in Europe – Rosenborg (provided they beat Faroese opposition). Glory days are back again on Leeside. Yes, their style of football isn’t the greatest. But if I still have the buzz I have right now at this stage next season, I won’t care.

Rovers will progress against Progrès (ba dum bum tish ) Niederkorn of Luxembourg, and following that have a decent looking second round draw against Sheriff of Moldova or the oddballs of Odds BK in Norway. Dublin rivals St.Patrick’s Athletic have the trickiest of the draws for the Europa League sides, coming out of the bowl against Skonto of Latvia, with the first leg in Riga. If they can grab a goal out in the Baltic, they should have enough to power past them in Richmond Park, but following that they’ll likely come up against a much sterner test in Debrecen of Hungary.

Dave’s Picks : All Irish sides to exit in second round. But the cash will make up for it!

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LEAGUE OF IRELAND INERNATIONALS ADOLPH ‘ALF’ HANSON

BY DAVE GALVIN As an immediate consequence of England declaring war on Germany in September 1939, Football League competition as structured up to that point was abandoned in favour of the absolute priority of the war effort. Before long Regional Leagues were established throughout England, ten in total, and each one based on a maximum fifty- mile travel limit.

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To a degree, these Regional structures did help to compensate for the footballing void that resulted from wartime, but with so many footballers signing up to fight, clubs found it increasingly difficult to field sufficient numbers.

At times unable to discharge fixture obligations, some had little option but to resign and resume again post conflict. A handful never returned.

To offset the shortage of experienced professionals many clubs employed so called ‘guest players’. Top of this particular list was Crystal Palace who fielded no fewer than 186 guest players up to the resumption of official competition and the reintroduction of the FA Cup in 1946. Later on that same year full continuity was re-established as the Football League itself got underway again. Controversially, wartime appearances, including those by some of the most gifted footballers of their generation, have never been considered as part of players’ official playing records.

Wartime football also heralded the return of the ‘wartime international’ a sporting peculiarity not seen since the Great War two decades earlier. Such fixtures took place haphazardly right across the continent of Europe however, throughout the conflict there was an ongoing sequence of ‘home internationals’ which involved England taking on both Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland for their part did not reappear on the international stage until the post war ‘victory internationals’ of 1945/46.

Wales and Scotland did not actually meet during wartime. All told, 29 wartime internationals were played as England encountered Scotland fifteen times with the balance coming against the Welsh. Again, many featured some of the greatest footballers of the era.

As with wartime league records, wartime internationals, and those who took part in them, are not officially recognised, and caps were never awarded. The decision to omit these fixtures from the ‘official’ record books has long been the subject of strong criticism, not least, given that for a select group of players who were not officially capped pre or post war, such fixtures represented their sole opportu-

nity to appear on the international stage. One such player was Adolph ‘Alf’ Hanson who appeared as a guest for a multiplicity of different clubs during the war years and made a single wartime international appearance for England against Scotland in February 1941. From our perspective, Alf Hanson is of particular interest having played post war League of Ireland football as player manager of Shelbourne, where he finished joint top league scorer in the1946/47 campaign.

Born Adolph Hansen, the son of a Norwegian mariner in Bootle, Liverpool, on 27th February 1912, Hanson (he later anglicized his surname) came up through the ranks at Everton and lined out for a single season in the Toffees’ reserve side before moving across Stanley Park to rivals Liverpool in November 1931. A ship’s plumber by trade, he made his first team debut for the Reds at outside left on 27th January 1933 away to Aston Villa who proceeded to thump their visitors by 5 goals to 2.

Over the next six seasons Hanson made a total of 177 first team appearances, scoring 52 goals, before being sold to Chelsea for a then Liverpool record transfer fee of £7,500.

This was not a particularly successful period in the history of either Liverpool or Chelsea however, Hanson was widely acknowledged as among the best left wingers of the era.‘ A slip of a lad, he was not entirely a one footed player but it was that left boot which put fear into the hearts of goalkeepers when they saw Alf prancing down the wing’, was one quote attributed to the Liverpool Echo.

Having already altered his surname, not surprisingly, Hanson worked hard at spiriting away his given birth name, Adolph, following the outbreak of war. Despite appearing for a host of clubs while still contracted to Chelsea among them New Brighton, Wrexham, Manchester City, Chester, Bolton Wanderers, Crewe Alexandra, Rochdale, Tranmere Rovers, Southport, and finally, back again to Liverpool, the war effectively ended Hanson’s professional playing career in England. Interestingly, among the many to guest for Liverpool during this period were two very famous Irishmen,

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February 1939: Hanson (far right) in his Chelsea days , also pictured from left are Dick Spence, Joe Payne, George Mills and Jimmy Argue

SOURCE: HSPN Tumblr

Dubliner John ‘Jackie’ Carey and Magherafelt’s Peter Doherty. Perhaps somewhere, the records show that one or both lined up alongside Hanson in Liverpool colours.

Despite the difficulties of maintaining a career in such tumultuous times, Alf Hanson, as previously mentioned, did enjoy one standout moment with that single international outing. It came on 8th February 1941 when the English, with Alf at outside left, hosted Scotland at St James Park, Newcastle. This was the third in the sequence of wartime internationals between the two and the English were as yet unbeaten. Among Hanson’s teammates that night were household names of the era including Joe Mercer, Wilf Mannion, Stan Cullis, Joe Bacuzzi (the father of exCork Hibernians player manager Dave) and Tommy Lawton. Included in the Scottish line up at halfback was James ‘Jimmy’ Dykes, who would later feature in the League of Ireland for Dundalk. Despite the prolific Lawton again featuring on the score sheet, Hanson was destined to suffer defeat in this, his one and only international, the gift of a Bacuzzi own goal helping the visitors to a 3-2 success.

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Intriguingly, Alf Hanson was also a baseball player of some repute and represented Great Britain. Indeed, the cancellation of the 1940 Olympics Summer Games set for Tokyo denied him the opportunity to appear for his country on the world stage in a very different sporting discipline to the one in which earned his crust, so to speak. In tandem with his nomadic wartime football career, Hanson played in and helped organize many high profile baseball games involving exhibition teams drawn from serving British and US military personnel.

By the summer of 1946 Hanson had crossed the Irish Sea to take up his first coaching role as player-manager of Shelbourne where he took over coaching duties from the former (Northern) Ireland international, Johnny Feenan. In common with football elsewhere in Europe, the League of Ireland, despite the country’s neutral stance, had suffered greatly during the war. Restrictions on travel in particular, had reduced the number of participating teams to just eight by 1943, with half of those based in Dublin. Ironically perhaps, it was an outstanding Cork United side which dominated the LOI war years however; Shel-

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bourne for their part had interrupted the Leesiders’ sequence of five titles in six seasons, with a League and Shield double of their own in 1943/44.

To compensate for a wartime championship programme reduced to just fourteen games, the Dublin City Cup and Shield competitions took place in advance of the league itself and also utilised a league style format. Hanson enjoyed a hugely impressive opening to his LOI career scoring a hat-trick in a 4-0 Dublin City Cup win away to Limerick on 18th August 1946. With six wins from seven, the Reds went on to lift the inaugural trophy of the season with a point to spare over Bohemians. The Dublin City Cup win was a portent of the success to come later in the season, even if the follow up Shield campaign proved decidedly unspectacular.

During his time at Shelbourne Hanson renewed his rivalry with the aforementioned Scotland International Jimmy Dykes, who had joined Dundalk on loan from Heart of Midlothian the previous season. Raich Carter, Frank Broome, David McCulloch and Jimmy Delaney are among other wartime internationals to later feature on the League of Ireland scene however; all of those were also capped ‘officially’. Dykes and Hanson were not.

As it transpired, Shelbourne also opened their league campaign away at Limerick, on 1st December 1946, where Hanson was again on the mark in 2-1 win. With the exception of defending champion’s Cork United, it was the four Dublin sides who were to the fore in what proved one of the closest title races for some years. A final day victory at great rivals Shamrock Rovers gave Shels the sweetest of victories, however, so tight was the contest, that first to fourth were separated by just three points. Significantly, the three remaining provincial outfits Dundalk, Limerick and Waterford all finished well adrift of the main contenders, and rooted in the bottom three places.

Hanson played in all but one of Shels league outings and according to almost all sources notched up 11 league strikes to leave him as

the league’s joint top scorer alongside ace Shamrock Rovers goal bagger, Paddy Coad. It should be noted however, that in his excellent 1996 publication Shelbourne FC Facts and Figures-Centenary Booklet, Frank Martin credits Hanson with 12 league strikes. Whatever the exact total, and accepting the fact that goal scoring is often the subject of dispute; the campaign was a huge personal triumph for the new player manager.

In the FAI Cup meanwhile, to compensate for the fact that only the eight LOI sides participated, all ties except the final were played over two legs. Having seen off the challenge of Shamrock Rovers following a replay, the Reds were then involved in a titanic semi final joust with Bohemians eventually losing out 5-6 on aggregate. Bohs lost out to north Dublin rival’s Drumcondra in the decider itself. Once again Hanson added to his impressive goal tally by notching 5 goals in 5 FAI Cup ties that year.

With the title secured, the celebrations that followed, were perhaps a little too exuberant; in any case Shelbourne suffered humiliation in their final competitive outing of the season.

The Inter City Cup, a forerunner of more recent all-Ireland incarnations such as the Tyler, Blaxnit and Setanta Cups, included all eight LOI sides. Shels were drawn to meet Linfield and having lost out by just a single goal at home at Dalymount Park, were trounced 10-0 at Windsor Park in the return leg in Belfast. It was an ignominious end to what had otherwise been a memorable season.

Despite a hugely promising start to his coaching career at Shelbourne and the spearheading of an impressive revival of fortunes for the club, Hanson moved on from Dublin at the end of that 1946/47 campaign to player manager roles at non-league South Liverpool, Ellesmere Port Town and Penmaenmawr, before drifting out of football. His wartime feats went largely unheralded and undocumented while details of his life after football have been lost in the midst of time. Adolph ‘Alf’ Hanson died in St Helens, Lancashire, in October 1993 at the age of 81.

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LEAGUE OF IRELAND: BEST YOUNG TALENT BY: AARON DOHERTY

Brandon Miele in action

SOURCE: George Kelly

For years the League of Ireland has produced some superb talent; Paul McGrath, Seamus Coleman, Wes Hoolahan and Keith Fahey are just some names that started their careers in the LOI. When players move across the water, it can work out like it has for the aforementioned players but if it doesn’t, they come back home a different player.

A central defender that has pace and understanding. He can pass the ball, weather its short or long. Superb technician in tackling and has an incredible leap. Sean Hoare has bundles of confidence and is constantly improving with every game. At such a young age, his reading of the game is phenomenal and it’s as if he was playing for years.

The current crop of players need to think before making the move and although money is hard to turn down, it’s time the players stopped thinking that the UK is the place to be. A new season brings new talent, new blood and below are players that, in my opinion, are certain for a move in the future.

He captained his college team to the Collingwood Cup in 2014 and that shows his leadership skills. Hoare very rarely succumbs to injury and he’s physically strong. The Saints defender has already been capped at under 21 level for his country but will need to move to make a senior appearance. If Hoare played in the lower levels of France or Spain, played in Belgium or Holland. He would have the european power houses knocking at his door as he is that good.

Sean Hoare: St Patricks Athletic At just 21 years of age, this just might be the last season in the League of Ireland for Sean Hoare. St Pat’s signed the talented defender thanks to their scholarship deal with NUI Maynooth in 2012 and he immediately joined the under 19s. He broke into the first team after just one year with the underage Saints and has never turned back.

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John Kavanagh: Cork City John is a product out of the conveyer belt of talent at Cork City. This is his first real season with the senior squad and you wouldn’t realise it giving how good he has been. He was also captain

of Cork City’s excellent under 19 squad that won two leagues in a row. After Brian Lenihan moved to Hull City last summer, there was only one place where John Kavanagh was going.

The Cork native is a modern day full back and is of the same mould as Seamus Coleman. Loves to attack, composed on the ball and has good end product. Very strong in the tackle and is very rarely caught out of position. It may take another year or so for John Kavanagh to get any move abroad but it is a phone call that will certainly happen.

Adam Evans: Bohemians The young attacker has been a revelation for this exciting young Bohemians team this season. He has already come up with big goals and assists and his all round game play is very good. Adam has returned after a spell in England and Scotland where he played with Burnley and Inverness Caledonian Thistle respectively and is hoping to get back there one day.

He can play as a winger or as a striker and although he is not technically brilliant he can cause lots of problems for defenders. Bohemians have great options when he is on the pitch. His superb speed to go beyond the back line gives them the chance to go long or use the pockets of space that Evans has created.

He is a little inconsistent at the moment but at 21, he certainly has time on his side.

Jake Keegan: Galway United

Keegan. The American is a real live wire in and around the box and if giving the chance, he will punish you. It has taking him some time to settle in the Premier Division but it has been worth the wait with some of the goals he has scored.

He netted 17 times last season and was his clubs top scorer.

He has brilliant off the ball movement and his reading of where the ball will fall is superb. Can score from outside or inside the box and he loves to take the ball in and bring others into play.

He turned 24 in April so still has plenty of years ahead of him but where could he end up is unknown. I think this season will certainly be his last with the tribesmen. If nobody abroad will take him, one of the big four certainly will.

Brandon Miele: Shamrock Rovers The former Newcastle United youngster has tremendous talent and ability. It has taking him sometime too get to grips with the league but on his game he standouts.

His awareness to pick up the pockets of space is superb and his vision on the ball is great to watch. Brandon can play in any of the attacking three positions but is most influential in the centre.

He turns 21 this August and if he continues to give these types of individual displays it will be hard for Pat Fenlon to hold onto him. He has however some work to do on his own game. He is inconsistent and decision making can be poor at times but with the right coach he will improve his all round game.

Galway have a real goal machine in Jake

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SLIGO DEBACLE PROVES LOI #GREATESTLEAGUEINTHEWORLD BY: AARON CAWLEY

As a regular Twitter user I’m used to seeing the hash tag #Greatest LeagueInTheWorld used by people when they’re talking about the League Of Ireland football and some of the controversies that occurs in the league both on and off the pitch. I’m saddened to say that some of the decisions made by those in charge of clubs so far this season have genuinely astounded me, and not in a good way! From players leaving to managers getting sacked without officially getting sacked, many of the debacles this season could so easily have been avoided.

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Currently the club I follow Sligo Rovers are in the midst of some sort of turmoil. It was rumoured at the start of June that the board had sacked Owen Heary after a humiliating five one defeat to Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght. It seemed that the board had finally seen sense & bowed to fan pressure and removed Heary from his job.

However nothing was forthcoming from the club officially and it was left fto rumours and speculation about Heary’s position at the club. Finally

after a dramatic 2014 season which saw Rovers sack the club’s most successful manager Ian Baraclough after a bad start to the season; Baraclough’s replacement, John Coleman, lasted only a few weeks before he went back to Accrington Stanley. The season was then left to Gavin Dykes to finish out. For 2015 the main consensus amongst fans was the club needed stability This to me beggars belief that it and Heary was seen as the man to took the club so long to make an bring the stability back. But sadly announcement about the manager, especially as Heary has seen the club for Rovers fans this hasn’t been the case. through a poor run of results which has seen them win only two games Where next for the Bit O’Red only in the first half of the season and sees them sitting a lowly tenth in the time will tell. Whoever’s next to take league. The players brought in haven’t charge has a massive job on their been living up to the hype, and those hands. They need to inject confidence who are stalwarts of the club have,i n back into the team and bring the fans my opinion, have been disrespected back through the gates. There is no reason why Rovers can’t climb up by the current management team. the league and finish at least fifth.

And if rumours are to be believed The run of results and the style of this process has already started with play has seen fans stop coming through the turnstiles. It’s turned the three players been told that they are surplus to requirements. Whatever club and the league in my opinion happens it’s going to be an interesting into a laughing stock. In no other league in the world would we find the finish to the season for the Bit O’Red and it’s fans. situation Rovers found themselves in this June, and yet this isn’t even shocking. there was an official announcement, (albeit a bit late!), and only a week before a make or break game for the Bit O’Red against Bray Wanderers.

Straight after the rumoured demise of Owen Heary potential names were floated around as replacements and us fans can only wait and see who takes over the Rovers hot seat.

As for Heary, he came into the club 15

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BANKING ON A FRESH START

Mathews celebrates Cork City’s Setanta Cup Triumph with Pat Sullivan

2015 has been a bit of a rollercoaster year for Alan Mathews. The Dubliner, and all six of his staff, walked out of Bray Wanderers en masse at the beginning of April citing a ‘complete breakdown in communication, appreciation and toleration of our roles’ in a later-released statement.

Now, at Athlone, the two-time FAI Cup winner is trying to steer around the fortunes of another League of Ireland team who have found themselves in financial difficulty of late.

‘I am under no illusions as to where we are. I met the Chairman and we all know that things are tight, not unlike many other LOI clubs, however I am satisfied that we will be ok and believe we have a very hard working Board and Chairman who will ensure everything will be done as it should be.’

SOURCE: Peadar OSullivan

or 4 years old by my father and was brought up to Milltown to see Shamrock Rovers play.

We lived in Beech Hill in Donnybrook and would walk up every Sunday to see the Hoops play, I got hooked on the League of Ireland from then ‘ Alan himself got the chance to don the famous green and white hoops, after short spells at Pats and Drogheda, and was named their young player of the year for the 1986-87 season, this experience has helped him on his course of being a manager.

It helps that the former Longford boss has virtually seen it all, Mathews has spent over three decades involved in League of Ireland football, a passion which began from an early age

‘I never said to myself “I want to be a manager or a coach”, I had finished playing and it was just a progression that I went in to coaching and then managing. As a player you just have to look after yourself as a manager you have to look after everyone, I played for some very good managers who would manage in a very open way and you always knew where you stood with them. I would always look to treat the players the way I would like to be treated myself’

‘I was first brought to a game when I about 3

One of Mathews’ clubs as a player was mid-

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land side Longford Town, who he took over as manager in 2002, with the Town having just beaten Finn Harps in the Promotion/Relegation playoff to cling onto their top flight status; things were about to change. Under Mathews ‘Town’ rose up the divisions, becoming an established Premier Division outfit, and, under the Dubliner, cup specialists.

In 2003 he won the club’s first Senior Trophy by defeating former club St Patrick’s Athletic 2-0 in the FAI Cup final, getting revenge for a loss in that year’s League Cup final. The year after he repeated the trick, this time Waterford United were undone in the showpiece event, while the club completed a double by capturing the League Cup that had eluded them the previous year against Bohemians on a special night at Flancare Park.

‘We had a very good group of players who were all very hungry to be successful. We had a bit of luck along the way but to reach 4 Cup Finals in a row was down to the determination and attitude of the players and terrific support from the Chairman Jim Hanly and the Board.’

In 2008 Alan was offered the job at Cork City, a club who had won the FAI Cup only the year previously, and seemed to be in a strong financial position with new investment group Arkaga having taken over, and Europe on the horizon.

‘I was delighted to be given the opportunity to manage the club. I had availed of a career break in the bank and so was able to take up the post full-time.’

City’s trip to Finland against FC Haka had come around bills, and wages, weren’t being paid.

‘It was tough; not being paid for 3 months was very difficult for everyone. People had mortgages to pay and families to support and it was very challenging for all those involved at the club at the time. We were all in it together we motivated each other really. We would have spoken about our responsibilities to do as best we can on the pitch and be fully committed to training and playing. The group of players we had in Cork that time were brilliant professionals and a joy to work with they showed 100% commitment to the cause and I tried to do the same.’

Despite the serious mismanagement at executive level, on the pitch City had reached the Setanta Cup final, and in front of a sold-out crowd, the Leesiders came from behind to capture their first and so far only Setanta Cup against Glentoran. However, the club under Arkaga had racked up debts touching €1 million officially and the examiner found a new investor to take the club forward; the now infamous Tom Coughlan, who sacked Mathews despite his success.

‘I never felt let down by the club, Coughlan was now in charge and he dismissed me over the phone. Having seen him in action I wasn’t surprised how things panned out under his term at the club.’

From there the Donnybrook native moved closer to home, steering Drogheda away from their own financial trouble and safeguarding their Premier Division status, before ShelHowever, unbeknownst to Alan, things weren’t bourne came calling. Mathews took Shels to going to plan off the pitch, Arkaga were begin- the Premier Division, but more than that, he ning to pull out their interest, and by the time was back in the, now new, Lansdowne Road dugout, as his side lost to Sligo Rovers, this

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time on penalties.

‘I wouldn’t prepare the team any differently for a Cup game , but I do believe if you get a favourable draw you can find yourself at the business end of the competition without many people noticing it.’

Unfortunately for Alan, after a poor start in 2013 the fans began to turn, and he decided to take the decision to resign, not standing for the abuse he was taking he admitted recently to the Irish Mirror. From there the Ulster Bank worker took time off to focus fully on his profession, making an occasional appearance in the media, before he took the Bray Wanderers job at the beginning of 2014.

these issues, which had arisen ‘from day one under Denis O’Connor’ according to Mathews, still haven’t been dealt with.

As for improving the league as a whole…?

‘The better outfits want a smaller top flight but we are reaching a point where it is worth targeting a 16-team Premier and a less intensive and regionalised amateur structure below it.

We should ake the season longer, clubs want 40-week contracts for cost reasons, but the long pre-season is becoming counter-productive on so many levels. By September, there are teams with nothing left to play for and have to wait until next March for a game that will attract floating fans, that’s a six-month wait to get punters back through the turnstiles.

‘Coughlan was now in charge and he dismissed me over the phone. Having seen him in action I wasn’t surprised how things panned out under his term at the club.’

Moreover things on-the-pitch weren’t working out, while off the field of play the relationship between the coaching staff and the club administrators was beginning to disintegrate.

We should have a community connection - Follow the model of successful community clubs, and take a lead from clubs in the UK and Scotland , which make a significant impact on their community. This also should involve a schools link; start with the kids in primary schools and try to keep them involved, support the teachers with equipment and training. There should be regular sessions with the kids to connect with them and get them to identify with the players in their local club; do your best to make it fun with the kids and build relationships with them Keep them on board, in whatever capacity you can. The FAI should also be doing more, but they can’t be expected to do everything at the same time.’

Part of the statement read ‘We wish to disassociate ourselves with the direction the football club is heading under the current stewardship and we can no longer serve the club in a professional manner’ and it seems clear that

For Alan, going back to the Midlands to Athlone will hopefully bring him the same success that the 50-year-old had found with Longford, and this time he’s looking to keep them out of the red, and in the black.

He secured the Wicklow outfit’s survival that year, and it seemed that Bray were rebuilding for the coming season, when things off-thefield, once again, took centre stage. The Irish Daily Mail on Sunday reported in mid-January that €452,891.35 claimed under the Sports Capital Programme was not accounted for in the company’s accounts or on the club’s asset list register. This was only a month or so after new owners, the McGettigan Group, had been announced.

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GLAMOUR TIES AND GLORY NIGHTS Paddy Sullivan celebrates that famous goal in Belgrade

CREDIT: shamrockrovers.ie

BY COLM CUDDIHY Many League of Ireland clubs have their own fond memories of playing in Europe, whether it’s Athlone Town welcoming AC Milan in 1975, Dave Barry’s famous goal for Cork City to put them in the led against Bayern Munich in 1991 or even Shamrock Rovers becoming to first club from the league to play in the Europa League group stages in 2011, clubs in our league have done it all.

The first club to play European football from our league was Shamrock Rovers; they welcomed Manchester United in 1957, just months after the unfortunate 20

Munich Aircrash that killed 23 people, including Dubliner Liam Whelan. 25,000 people turned up to Dalymount that night to watch Rovers get smashed 6-0 in the first leg. The return leg in Old Trafford though Rovers may have lost, but they lost in the right manner (to quote the great Trevor Croly). They were beaten 3-2 on the night but the league had experienced its first ever bout in Europe.

In 1968, Manchester United returned to these shores, this time to play against Waterford in Lansdowne Road. United were just off the back

of winning the European Cup at the home of football, Wembley Stadium that previous May, so this was a real coup for the Munster side.

The game in Dublin ended 3-1 to Manchester United, with the return leg in The Theatre of Dreams being a resounding, 7-1 victory for United, meaning the English side won 10-2 on aggregate.

1975 and the time David v.

Goliath ended in a draw. Athlone Town welcomed European powerhouse AC Milan to St. Mels Park. Not a single person gave Athlone any hope of an upset, but when they were awarded a penalty just before the half hour mark, The Town were given a spark of hope. Unfortunately for them, the Milan keeper saved and the first leg ended in a 0-0 draw.

The reverse fixture in the San Siro finished with a 3-0 victory to the Rossoneri, but Athlone proved that any team from this league could hold their own against any of the big teams in Europe.

The following year, Dundalk faced Glasgow Celtic in the European Cup. 13 years after helping Celtic win the competition as a player;

Billy McNeill was now manager of the Scottish giants, and welcomed Jim McLaughlin’s Lilywhites to Parkhead. Celtic went two ahead after 30 minutes but the final score was 3-2. The second leg finished 0-0 in the Oriel with Celtic progressing onto the third round. The Lilywhites may not have progressed, but they certainly gave the Scottish giants something to think about.

Fast forward to 18th of September 1984, Bohemians were drawn against the blue side of Glasgow, Rangers in the UEFA Cup; the build up to the game was more about the politics than the football. 3,000 Rangers fans made the trip from Scotland and many more coming from the North to Dublin with heavy a Garda presence in and around the stadium.

Despite this, fights between both sets of supporters broke at halftime, both on the pitch and in the stands.

Bohs ended up winning the game 3-2 in Dalymount. The return leg in Ibrox, was less fortunate to the Dubliners as the Scottish giants ran out 2-0 winners on the night, 4-3 on aggregate.

Bayern Munich would return to 21

Ireland in 1991, this time to face Cork City, who were only established six years beforehand. That Munich team was filled with German and Brazilian internationals, playing against a team of all amateurs, with Steffan Effenburg saying Dave Barry looked old enough to be his dad. The whole of Cork waited for Barry’s response which didn’t come, but what Barry lacked in words he made up for in footballing ability, as he opened the scoring for Cork to go 1-0 up against the Germans in Musgrave Park (now known as Irish Independent Park).

were drawn against Scottish side Aberdeen, a club a long, long way away from its glory days under Sir Alex Ferguson, and Collins new this.

Irish clubs, as we all know, don’t have a habit of winning European games away from home, whether it’s the travelling or lack of home comforts I’m not sure, but Collins was determined to overturn that fact.

His side travelled to Scotland for the first leg for their UEFA Cup clash with not many people giving them a chance, but goals from Shaun Maher and Trevor Molloy saw the Dubliners win out 2-1. They Effenberg equalised minutes later for may have lost 1-0 in Dalymount, but the Germans but the first leg finished Bohs were through to the next round 1-1. Barry did respond to Effenberg on away goals. claims, saying he played like his grandmother that day. City may 2004 and Shelbourne were the have lost the 2nd leg 2-0 but it was a first club from this isle to get to performance all of the league could the third round of qualification be proud of. for the Champions League, and Ireland’s best hope (until 2011 at Roddy Collins, let’s be honest, when least!) of qualifying for European he puts his mind to it, has done this competition. Shels reward for getting league more good than bad; fans of that far, Deportivo la Coruna. The Bohs know that more than anyone first leg was changed from Tolka else. 2001 was the year when they to Lansdowne Road was a pretty 22

uneventful game which ended in a 0-0 draw. Shels may have been beaten 3-0 in the second leg, but seeing as Depor beat AC Milan in the same stadium 4-1 in the Champions League quarter final stage; it wasn’t that bad of a result.

Also, in the same year, Cork City were in Intertoto Cup action against Swedish champions Malmo, the first leg ended in a 3-1 victory for the Leesiders in Turners Cross. The second leg ended in a famous 1-0 victory thanks to a Liam Kearney goal.

There were two choices I could have gone for to end this piece, both involving Shamrock Rovers. I could have written about the time that The Hoops played against current Serie A Champions Juventus in 2010, but instead I’m going to go with that famous night in Belgrade.

The first leg in Tallaght ended in a 1-1 draw, after Gary Twigg scored a late equaliser to keep the dream of playing in the group stages of the Europa League alive. The majority of the Partizan fans saw Rovers as an easy touch, having been runners up in the Champions League in 1966. The hosts went 1-0 up on the night through defender Volkov. The Hoops though refused to surrender and Pat Sullivan grabbed a stunning equaliser in the second half meant that the game was heading for

extra time. In the second half of extra time, now-Cork City striker Karl Sheppard was brought down inside the box by the goalkeeper for a Rovers penalty, which current Dundalk captain Stephen O’Donnell scored, to put the Dublin side 2-1 up on the night, 3-2 on aggregate.

The final whistle blew and Shamrock Rovers became the first side in League of Ireland history to play in the group stages of a major European competition. The Hoops may have lost all six of their group stage games, but despite this, they did make history that year.

Five clubs from the league are playing in Europe this season, Dundalk, Cork City, St Pats, Shamrock Rovers and UCD will all be hoping to make waves in this season’s Champions and Europa League respectively. Dundalk may have the unenviable task of trying to beat BATE, but there is good chance of progression elsewhere as Cork travel to Reykjavik to take on KR, Pats take on Skonto FC of Latvia and Both UCD and Rovers travel to Luxembourg, to play Dudelange and FC Progrès Niederkorn respectively.

This piece was written before any of those games take place, so hopefully it’s wins all round and maybe another famous chapter will be written in this book of LOI tales!

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THE SWISS CHEESE

As the Women’s World Cup in Canada loomed over the football world, Mícheál Ó hUanacháin was looking askance at the fall-out from FIFA’s general meeting With the long mid-season break surrounding us – all of a single football-free weekend that the powers that be try to convince us is a fortnight’s worth – recent events in Zürich loomed large during the month.

Say what you like about Sepp Blatter - and many have, in recent weeks - his influence on the game of football has been profound.

Between them, he and his mentor (and predecessor) Joao Havelange have led FIFA since 1974. Indeed, Blatter was first employed by FIFA in the first year of the Brazilian’s presidency.

By a strange coincidence, both men’s CVs seem to have been sanitised, airbrushed (or perhaps photoshopped), so that it becomes difficult to see how and why people were prepared to appoint and

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eventually elect them to high office in football’s most influential international body.

Their reigns were also paralleled in several ways by the disgraced former International Olympic Committee Chairman, Juan Antonio Samaranch who, strange but true, was also an associate of the two. Oddly enough, though, it’s difficult to identify many occasions on which the three met.

One of the few recorded instances of them seen together in public, tellingly, was at an April 1987 memorial service for Horst Dassler, heir to the Adidas brand invented modestly by his father Adolf Dassler, and partner with Patrick Nally in the marketing campaigns that helped propel both the IOC and FIFA into the sports stratosphere.

The three sports supremos were all controversial in

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different ways.

Samaranch, a highly-placed (and loyal) Franco placeman in local and national government after the Civil War in the 1930s, was a member of the Spanish Olympic Committee from 1954. He was Spain’s chef de mission at three Olympic Games before winning a place on the IOC in 1966. When Franco died, he quickly moved to ally his political group with the transition government, and earned a posting as Spanish ambassador to the Soviet Union.

to the position of Director of Development in FIFA a year after Havelange took the reins would mean he soon made their acquaintance.

Horst Dassler was a pushy young businessman, in the middle of a row about the family sports and leaisurewear business, and he wanted to make a splash. He realised, as few did at the time, the potential of major sports events - but he needed an ‘in’. A helping hand in the elections of both Havelange and Samaranch was only part of his plan.

When Blatter joined FIFA it was an obscure little Swiss-based unaccountable undemocratic quasi-private not-very-corrupt sport club. As he leaves, it is an impressively wealthy major Swiss-based unaccountable undemocratic quasi-private very corrupt sport club.

In Moscow, he won support by opposing the US-led boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games, and (with some help, it is said, from Havelange, who was already President of FIFA) eventually election as successor to Michael Killanin as President of the IOC. Havelange himself was an Olympian long before football took his fancy, competing as a swimmer in 1936 and 1952 before returning as Brazil’s chef de mission in 1956. By the time he threw his hat in the FIFA ring, he looked more likely to take over the IOC than the football body - he had been on the Brazilian Olympic Committee and President of the Brazilian Sports Confederation since the late 1950s, but in the interest of the Cycling Union!

He lobbied in 86 different countries for the presidency, often accompanied by Pelé, promising an expanded World Cup, and a youth World Cup, both targetted at developing countries who were tired of Europe’s dominance. In due course, in 1974, Havelange defeated the incumbent, Englishman Stanley Rous, and found himself in office with a long list of promises to keep.

It is hardly fanciful to suppose that young Blatter, Director of Sports Timing and Relations of Longines SA, and involved in the organisation of the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, already knew both Samaranch and Havelange. But if he didn’t, his appointment

Essentially, both FIF and the IOC were singleproduct bodies: each was dependent for the bulk of its revenue on a single event. Samaranch and Havelange faced parallel problems, and Dassler thought he had the answer.

International Sport & Leisure (ISL) was established at the beginning of the 1980s to market the rights to a range of saleable sports, ranging from the IOC’s Olympic Rings to the US TV rights to FIFA’s World Cups. But first, the company had to gain access to those rights - through Dassler’s friend Havelange, and his friend Samaranch, and eventually their mutual friend Blatter.

Even before ISL, the money was mind-boggling: in 1987, the European TV rights for the 1990, 1994 and 1998 World Cups brought in $440m. The nonUS rights for the next three events cost $2.2bn.

FIFA and ISL split the take, and if a few quid had to be bunged to someone who eased the company’s way into the deal, whom would it hurt? Between 1989 and 2001, ISL paid 185m Swiss francs in “personal commissions” to sports officials and other people involved in the marketing of sports rights.

Eventually, ISL overbid massively for a tennis rights deal and collapsed in 2001, by which time Blatter had taken over from Havelange in Zürich and Samaranch was stepping down in

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Lausanne. The 1998 election of Blatter in FIFA was stage-managed by Havelange, amid a welter of accusations of bribery and vote-rigging - including Marc Hodler’s whistle-blowing on the IOC Salt Lake City scandal that eventually cost 13 Committee members their lucrative positions.

Havelange turned the World Cup from a tournament of 16 nations, with just one nonEuropean and non-South American team, into 24 and then 32 teams, and it had also been held in North America and Asia. It was joined during his tenure by the U-17 World Cup, U-20 World Cup, Confederations Cup and Women’s World Cup - all solid marketing opportunities.

FIFA under the Brazilian was a culture of kickbacks. In July 2012, in Swiss court proceedings, Havelange and his son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira were named as having been paid 41m Swiss francs by ISL between 1992 and 2000. Separate prosecutions two years earlier had been stopped after the two men made large repayments.

Samaranch scrapped Olympic amateurism, rescued the IOC from the penury of the 1970s, turning it into one of the world’s richest sports bodies, and revamped the system so that host cities might at least hope to break even - but he also presided, in regal splendour, over a self-serving Committee that was then proved to have allowed itself to be bribed into the awards not only of the Salt Lake City games, but also Atlanta, Nagano and Sydney.

He expanded the games, established anti-drugs programmes after the embarrassment of the Ben Johnson case, and started a reform programme at the IOC itself - but the reforms would not apply to the office of IOC president. “I do not think it is necessary,” he told a US congressional hearing.

He personally solicited gifts from Amsterdam when

26

they were bidding for the 1992 games.

And Blatter? He has added further competitions to FIFA’s stable: Football at the Summer Olympics, U-20 Women’s World Cup, Women’s U-17 World Cup, Futsal World Cup, Beach Soccer World Cup. The only full-time person on the FIFA Executive Committee, he is paid approximately 2m Swiss francs, 1.2 million in salary and the rest in bonuses.

Leaked documents last year indicated $4.4m in secret bonuses were paid to committee members after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

He, too, has presided over a culture of kickbacks: after the 2011 presidential elections, at least two voters claimed to have been given gifts of $40,000 in cash to vote for Blatter’s opponent. And judges have strongly hinted (at the very least) that if he didn’t know what was going on, he should have and did, in the case of Havelange and Teixeira.

His answer? It wasn’t against Swiss law at the time.

When Blatter joined FIFA it was an obscure little Swiss-based unaccountable undemocratic quasi-private not-very-corrupt sport club. As he leaves, it is an impressively wealthy major Swiss-based unaccountable undemocratic quasi-private very corrupt sport club.

Joseph S. (the “S.” isn’t spelled out, but it’s not “Sepp”: that’s from “Joseph”) Blatter is not known for buying drinks for football fans: he tends to socialise with top executives of federations, or nations, rather than spectators; or for singing songs that aren’t politically correct, though at one time he supported himself as a wedding singer; or for encouraging dissent.

Nevertheless, it is a matter of concern that the cultural practices of the leaders of the sport might – as frequently happens in such cases – eventually be aped by those at a lower level, for example a national one...

ADVERTISE WITH US With cheap rates, a captive audience, and over 7,000 impressions a month, LOI Monthly offers the perfect chance to get your business across to football lovers across Ireland and the world!

Email Kevin at loimonthly@gmail.com for further information.

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UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino once again decides the fate of Irish sides

SOURCE: uefa.com

LOI MONTHLY EUROPEAN PREVIEW

Dylan Murphy assess’ this year’s chances for the League of Ireland sides looking to make an impact against some of the best teams in Europe this Summer (and maybe beyond!)

The League of Ireland’s sole Champions League entrants, Dundalk, will face a stern test if they are to progress in Europe this year as they face the in-form, in-season Belarusians, BATE Borisov. Since BATE’s 3-1 aggregate defeat to Bohemians in 2003 their fortunes have remarkably improved; winning 9 consecutive domestic championships and looking likely to add another title this year as they sit comfortably clear of the chasing pack in the Vysshaya Liga.

champions Bayern Munich in the 2013 Champions League 3-1.

While Dundalk face a mammoth task, their manager can take confidence in knowing that he’s already led a team to beat this opposition, as Stephen Kenny was at the helm of the Bohs side that overcame BATE in 2003. The Lilywhites will also be galvanised by their excellent domestic form and their impressive 2-1 away victory over Hajduk Split in last year’s Europa League qualifiers.

In European competition, they’ve also achieved admirable success; reaching the Europa League group stages twice and Champions League group stages 4 times, whilst most famously defeating eventual

Despite BATE’s European pedigree, they are not infallible and were embarrassingly dumped out of the competition by Shaktar Karagandy 4 years ago – the same team

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St Pats had beaten 2 years previously. The Town will be heavy underdogs but will hold the perceived advantage of travelling away in the first leg and will know that a victory in this tie would see them steal BATE’s seeding for the following round, giving them an excellent shot at the Europa League group stages at the very least. If there’s one League of Ireland team that can knock out a team of this calibre it’s Dundalk.

Shamrock Rovers will be confident of progression in their first Europa League match since their unprecedented appearance in the 2011 group stages.

The Hoops are 4 rounds away from that landmark with the first being a short trip to Luxembourg to face Progrès Niederkorn.

Rovers will be massive favourites against the out of season Progrès and should be buoyed by their opponent’s underwhelming European record of 9 defeats in 10 matches - with just a solitary goal scored in a 1-1 draw with Glentoran in 1981. Despite being fresh from a midseason break, perhaps Rovers’ biggest challenge will be the continental heat of up to 30 degrees compounded by a relatively early kick off time of 6pm.

Should the Hoops progress they will face either Sheriff of Moldova or Odds BK of Finland in what can be viewed as another reasonable draw, especially when considered that if Rovers can overcome the Moldovans they will take their seeding for the 3rd qualifying round.

St Patrick’s Athletic have achieved terrific European success in the last decade and will hope to add to their excellent record when they face Skonto Riga. The Latvians will be familiar to many League of Ireland

fans from their 2-1 aggregate defeat to Derry City in 2009. Skonto may represent a potential banana skin for Pats as they were amongst the trickier possible opponents in the draw; despite rarely progressing in Europe they have proved resilient against tough opposition, particularly in Riga where they’ve defeated Hajduk Split of Croatia and Slovan Liberec of the Czech Republic in recent years.

Luckily for the Saints the weather isn’t predicted to be much hotter than at home as Riga sits on the Baltic Sea, the Latvians, however, do play in a summer league negating the advantage that many Irish clubs enjoy of being sharper than their opponents. The Saints won’t be overwhelmed by their opposition in the following round as they face the winner of Debrecen’s match up with FK Sutjeska if they can progress past the Latvians.

Cork City will make their long awaited return to European football after an absence of 7 years when they play KR Reykjavík of Iceland. John Caulfield’s men were unseeded for this draw, but will be relieved to have avoided the many big names in the first round including West Ham and Hajduk Split.

Instead the Leesiders will face a considerably easier challenge in the form of KR whilst knowing that a victory would most likely set up a mouth-watering contest with Rosenborg in the next round.

City cannot afford to be complacent against the Icelandic side whose league’s results in Europe have improved remarkably in recent years – Iceland’s Pepsi-Deildinis league sits 6 places higher than the League of Ireland in UEFA’s rankings.

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Shamrock Rovers’ side who lined out against FC Progrès Niedercorn

KR can also boast some respectable European results including recent victories over MŠK Žilina of Slovakia and Larissa of Greece. In fact, KR are Iceland’s most successful club with 26 domestic titles and 14 cups, and averaged an impressive 1,700 fans per game last year in a country with a population little over 300,000. They also partake in a summer season so will have no excuse for rustiness when they visit a vociferous Turners Cross on the 2nd of July.

UCD enter the competition despite occupying a place in the First Division thanks to UEFA’s FairPlay entry system that rewards clean behaviour with an entry into the 1st qualifying round of the Europa League.

Even though the Students were unseeded in last month’s draw they’ve received a manageable tie with Luxembourg’s F91 Dudelange.

The College have a surprisingly competitive European record, recording only one loss in 4 matches and coming within the width of a post away from knocking Everton out of the Cup Winner’s Cup in 1984.

Dudelange however will be equally satisfied with this draw and will be confident of 30

Source: shamrockrovers.ie

progress. Having won 8 of their last 11 domestic championships, F91 are familiar with European competition and created history when they knocked Red Bull Salzburg out of the Champions League in 2012. Since then their European results have been less impressive; recording only one draw their last 4 ties.

The Students will also have the benefit of being in season and coming into the tie on the back of some impressive league form whilst their opponents have only recently returned to preseason from their holidays. If the Students dare to dream beyond the first round they can expect a fixture against Slovan Bratislava provided they dispatch minnows Europa FC from Gibraltar first.

In general, all of Ireland’s Europa League entrants will harbour genuine ambitions of progressing through at least one round, with Shamrock Rovers and St Pats looking most likely to reach the 3rd round. In the Champions League, Dundalk must be prepared to create history if they are to still be playing European football in August, but will believe that if there’s one team capable of doing it, it is them.

TRANSFER WINDOW KINGMAKER FOR LONGFORD TOWN

BY KIERAN BURKE Having spent the last seven seasons outside of the top flight of Irish club football, Longford Town FC have adapted admirably to life back in the Premier Division. Half way through the 2015 campaign and the Midlanders find themselves siting pretty in sixth place having won five and drawn four of their opening sixteen league matches.

Home draws against St.Patrick’s Athletic and Sligo Rovers coupled with big wins away to Drogheda United and Galway have undoubtably been the highlights of the Red and Blacks season so far as well as an emotional penalty shoot out triumph in the FAI Cup second round away to Finn Harps.

However, despite these successes, it is the lack of goals and disappointing transition from First Division goal kings to Premier Division strikers of David O’Sullivan and Gary Shaw that will have Tony Cousins up many a late night.

Former Wayside Celtic and Irish amateur international striker David O’Sullivan came

SOURCE: Barry Masterson

into this season in the form of his life, as he became Longford Town’s all time leading goalscorer during the 2014 First Division title winning season while Gary Shaw had enjoyed a late flurry of goals in his most consistent season ever for Town.

Fast forward to today and the pair have only managed to notch up five league goals between them. Couple that with manager Tony Cousins reluctance to play Don Cowan as a natural striker and to be fair of course Cowans injury issues then ‘’De Town’’ have a real crisis of confidence in their hands in that area. While pre-season arrival Kaleem Simon has looked lively and notched his first goal for the club at Tallaght Stadium only a few weeks ago, the former UCD man does look very light physically and it may take him a number of seasons before he can adjust to this level of football.

The non emergence of underage talent through the youth ranks has also not helped matters with promising local lad 31

Tom Morris found settling in at Longford difficult at first

CREDIT: Paddy Donnelly - ltfc.ie

Daryl Carrigy failing to make the break through.

jury hit campaign for the previously hot in form Don Cowan.

All of this now means the pressure is on long time boss Tony Cousins to find Longford a new goal scoring hero and with a premium of quality players open to offer in the July window, the former Shamrock Rovers striker may have to look further afield and to the English game in particular for his next signing.

Should ‘’De Town’’ manage to address these sectors of the squad and continue to make it difficult for the bigger teams in the division while picking up points from the teams around them as they have done so far, there is absolutely no reason that a top six finish can be labeled over ambitious for this historic football club.

Despite the obvious advantages of signing a player from England such as full-time training and the incredible fitness levels that come with that, there are just as many risks with the likes of Tom Morris failing to settle at the Midlands club most recently before his departure back home.

However, with fellow new boys Galway United hot on their heels following last weeks 1-0 reverse at City Calling Stadium and underachieving Sligo Rovers and Derry City looking to kick on in the second half of the campaign we could still yet see Longford being dragged into a relegation dog fight,, although that looks very unlikely.!

Given the poor form of experienced defenders Pat Sullivan and Conor Powell, the defence is sure to be another area Tony Cousins will have to address in the coming weeks while an experienced winger is yet again on the clubs agenda following an in32

LEAGUE OF IRELAND CULT HEROES BY: CONOR PHILPOTT As its name would suggest, the League of Ireland is comprised primarily of Irish natives, with a smattering of British players contributing as well. Yet, since 2000, the league has unearthed players from the farmost regions of the globe.

We’ve seen players from Japan, Barbados and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, line out in the self-professed “Greatest league in the World”™ in recent times.

This piece will look at these memorable players, and reflect on a period of relative success in the league. Some of these players did not last too long in the league, but they were memorable for one reason or another, be it for a distinctive celebration, a terrace chant and even a World Cup Appearance. They are not ranked in order, as it would be too cruel to distinguish between these fine men.

The 2000s of course saw Irish sides show real progress in Europe from Shelbourne’s titanic clash with Deportivo La Coruña, to Bohs beating Aberdeen, not forgetting Derry City’s landslide victory over Gretna,

Michael Nwankwo, Midfielder Cork City FC. Michael Nwankwo may not have been the first Nigerian to play for the Leesiders, Dominic Iorfa, I believe holds that distinction (ED NOTE: As covered by Dave Galvin last edition) , but Nwankwo’s year stint on Leeside is fondly remembered.

Nwankwo was part of a vintage Cork City team (so vintage that five members of their 2005 title winning team are still in the squad), that achieved success on the domestic scene and in Europe. While he would be slowly edged out of the team by a young Liam Kearney, Nwankwo still showed promising talent.

He was a speedy left winger, who showed a penchant for beating his man, even if his crossing left a bit to be desired. His mazy runs down the length of the “Old Turner’s Cross” will resonate with Cork City fans of a certain age.

Nwankwo’s dreadlocks bouncing as he took off on another gallop against Shelbourne’s Owen Heary certainly captured my own imagination as an impressionable youngster (My mother vetoed my desire to grow dreadlocks).

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As with many other cult heroes, Nwankwo had a stand out moment. To date, I cannot recall anyone doing anything similar on a League of Ireland pitch. In his first and only league goal for the team, Nwankwo scored an audacious lob with the outside of his left boot, which unfortunately we don’t have video evidence of.

Nwankwo’s celebration is perhaps as memorable as the goal itself. The Nigerian executing a series of somersaults with the confidence and panache of Obafemi Martins (Inter Milan era).

Nwankwo left the club during the 2005 season, as the team went on to win the League. He will be synonymous with a period of success in the Rebel County, contributing to the flowing football played under Pat Dolan and Damien Richardson.

Andrei Georgescu, Forward, Bray Wanderers.

If you think of some of the more revered cult football heroes of our time, many are synonymous with lower level clubs. Its part of their allure and mystique. Georgescu sounded like a Pro Evolution Soccer player, and much like the fallen video game franchise, Georgescu’s peak was from 2005 to 2008.

The Romanian striker enjoyed a fruitful spell with the Seagulls, with two midtable finishes, a far cry from the perennial basement they appear to dwell in. Georgescu, had a knack for scoring pivotal goals lifting Bray out of danger. Equally adept in a creative midfield role, Georgescu’s pace and incisive passing lifted the Wanderers out of trouble on more than one occasion. He has been out of the league since 2010, having spent five years with Bray, Shelbourne and Athlone Town.

In true cult hero fashion, Georgescu was plucked from relative obscurity playing for Dublin AUL outfit North Atlantic. The former Dinamo Bucuresti product will be fondly remembered by League of Ireland fans, his 2006 season where he notched seven League goals being the highlight of his tenure. “Franco” left an indelible mark on the League, his brief partnership with Eamon Zayed, forming one of the more fearsome striker pairings in the league before the Libyan interna-

tional moved to Drogheda.

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Mindaugas Kalonas, Midfielder, Bohemians.

Edgar Allen Poe once wrote “all intense excitements are, through a psychal necessity, brief”, it’s hard to elicit attention and interest over a long period of time. Kalonas appeared to agree with Poe, leaving an impression on Bohs’ fans in his half season with the club. The Lithuanian international won a League and Cup double in his brief tenure with the Gypsies. He arrived in July, played in 12 games, and scored 6 goals in the League. Kalonas’ proved to be a dynamic presence in a title winning Bohemians side. His stay was highlighted a dramatic late derby winner and a penalty to seal an FAI Cup win in a penalty shootout . Kalonas is a silky attacking player, and is a regular on the international circuit with over 40 caps to his name. As Poe described, a brief story can often be the most captivating, Kalonas’ stay was certainly that.

Gints Freimanis, Midfielder, St.Pats.

A former teammate of Kalonas and a trialist with Cork City, and a short term signing for Longford Town. Freimanis’ cult status is derived primarily from friendly games. Issues with his club FK Riga prevented him from signing with Cork, but a little over a year later, Freimanis appeared in a St.Pats friendly against a Chelsea XI. Fabio Borini is now the most noteworthy player in that particular game, with the likes of Liam Bridcutt, and Irish underage international Conor Clifford familiar names on the Chelsea side.

Freimanis provided the star turn, netting the equaliser for the Saints, while also winning a free kick which Alan Cawley dispatched with aplomb.

Freimanis was a right sided attacking player, who enjoyed drifting inside, his blonde flowing locks, given the air of a discount version of Pavel Nedved. While his 2009 season, and six league appearances were nothing to write home about, Freimanis’ epitomises the cock-eyed optimism and anticipation that a new season brings. Every trialist will work out and decide the title race.

Freimanis is now a Latvian international, with 3 caps to his name. In a slightly bizarre move, ensuring his legendary status with the Richmond Park faithful, Freimanis’ Twitter account has a picture of him in full Saints garb (see above!).

The club certainly left an impression on him.

Avery John, Defender, Bohemians

Other names worthy of mention include:

John spent four seasons in the League of Ireland, with spells at Bohemians, Shelbourne and finally Longford Town. I believe John is the only League of Ireland player to play in the league this millennium while also appearing at a World Cup this century (Joey Ndo was in Cameroon’s 2002 World Cup squad but did not play, he did however play in the 1998 World Cup), that is until Damien Duff joins a team in the near future.

John represented Trinidad & Tobago at the 2006 World Cup, playing in their draw against Sweden and defeat to Paraguay.

Wesley Charles, Defender, (Sligo Rovers, Bray Wanderers, Galway United, Salthill Devon).

He also holds the distinction of being the first Trinidadian to be sent off in a World Cup, receiving his marching orders against the Swedes for a second yellow card. John can look back fondly at his time on Irish soil, as he won the FAI Cup in his final season with Longford.

Charles was a commanding defender from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, who played over ten seasons in the League of Ireland in between spells in Canada and Russia. With a name straight from a Dickens novel, Charles is fondly remembered. While Sligo Rovers would later recruit players from Haiti and Benin, Charles was the original unusual import for the Connacht side.

Alvin Rouse, Goalkeeper ( Sligo Rovers, Monaghan United, Galway United, Longford Town) Continuing our Caribbean theme, we have Alvin Rouse, the Barbadian goalkeeper.

John could fit anywhere across the Why players from backline, and was tropical regions prone to the odd rash have a strong challenge, but he was affiliation with the beloved by the BoheWest of Ireland mians faithful. John alludes me, but was unfortunate to there is certainly a miss Bohs’ League and John in action with Trinidad & Tobego SOURCE: socawarriors.net pattern here.

Cup double having moved to Shelbourne at Rouse spent five total seasons in the league as the period, returning for the 2002 season. an occasional starter and backup. Rouse proved himself to be a decent shotstopper in the League John had a series of chants dedicated to him, over the years. The shotstopper still resides in demonstrating the esteem fans held him in. He Ireland, and according to his LinkedIn profile, would finish his career with a few fruitful years in the MLS as well as a beloved League of Ireland he is a goalkeeper for Irish Premier League side Dungannon Swifts while also working as a coach. player.