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Tag Archives: Association Football


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Founding of the Football Association of Ireland

The Football Association of Ireland (Irish: Cumann Peile na hÉireann), the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland, is founded on September 2, 1921.

In the 19th century, association football outside of Ulster is largely confined to Dublin and a few provincial towns. The British Army teams play a role in the spread of the game to these areas, especially in Munster, as local clubs are initially reliant on them to form opposition teams, leading to the nickname “the garrison game.” Association football is played in relatively few Catholic schools as middle-class schools favour rugby union while others favour Gaelic games. The Irish Football Association (IFA) had been founded in 1880 in Belfast as the football governing body for the whole of Ireland, which was then a part of the United Kingdom and considered a Home Nation. The Leinster Football Association was an affiliate, founded in 1892 to foster the game in Leinster, outside of the Ulster heartlands. This was followed by the establishment of the Munster Football Association in 1901.

By 1913, the Leinster FA becomes the largest divisional association within the IFA, displacing the North East Ulster Football Association, yet all but two clubs in the 1913–14 Irish League are based in Ulster. While this largely reflects the balance of footballing strength within Ireland, southern members feel the IFA is doing little to promote the game outside of the professional clubs in its northern province. In the other provinces, association football is also under pressure from the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), which has banned members from playing or watching the sport as it is considered a “foreign” game. Furthermore, there is a growing feeling in Dublin of alleged Belfast bias when it comes to hosting matches and player selection for internationals. This view is not helped by the composition of the IFA’s sub-committees, with over half of the membership consisting of delegates hailing from the North-East, and the International Committee, who chooses the national team, containing just one member from Leinster. The Belfast members are mainly unionist, while the Dublin members are largely nationalist. World War I increases the gulf between the northern teams and the clubs in the south as the Irish League is suspended and replaced by regional leagues, foreshadowing the ultimate split. Tensions are then exacerbated by the Irish War of Independence of 1919–21, which disrupts contact between northern and southern clubs further and prevents resumption of the Irish League. The security situation prompts the IFA to order the March 1920-21 Irish Cup semi-final replay between Glenavon and Shelbourne to be replayed in Belfast, rather than in Dublin as convention dictates. This proves to be the final straw and the Leinster FA confirms their decision to disaffiliate from the IFA at a meeting on June 8, 1921.

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) is formed in Dublin on September 2, 1921, by the Leinster FA. The Free State League (originally the Football League of Ireland and now the League of Ireland) is founded in June of that year when the Leinster FA withdraws from the IFA. This is the climax of a series of disputes about the alleged Belfast bias of the IFA. Both bodies initially claim to represent the entire island. The split between Southern Ireland (which becomes the Irish Free State in December 1922) and Northern Ireland (which comes into existence as a jurisdiction in 1921) does not produce a split in the governing bodies of other sports, such as the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). The Munster Football Association, originally dominated by British Army regiments, falls into abeyance on the outbreak of World War I, and is re-established in 1922 with the help of the FAI, to which it affiliates. The Falls League, based in the Falls Road of nationalist West Belfast, affiliates to the FAI, and from there Alton United wins the FAI Cup in 1923. However, when the FAI applies to join FIFA in 1923, it is admitted as the Football Association of the Irish Free State (FAIFS) based on a 26-county jurisdiction. (This jurisdiction remains, although Derry City, from Northern Ireland, are given an exemption, by agreement of FIFA and the IFA, to join the League of Ireland in 1985.) Attempts at reconciliation followed. At a 1923 meeting, the IFA rejects an FAIFS proposal for it to be an autonomous subsidiary of the FAIFS. A 1924 meeting in Liverpool, brokered by the English FA, almost reaches agreement on a federated solution, but the IFA insists on providing the chairman of the International team selection committee. A 1932 meeting agrees on sharing this role, but founders when the FAIFS demands one of the IFA’s two places on the International Football Association Board (IFAB). Further efforts to reach agreement are made through a series of conferences between the IFA and FAI from 1973 to 1980 during the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The IFA does not feel obliged to refrain from selecting Free State players for its international team. The name Football Association of Ireland is readopted by the FAIFS in 1936, in anticipation of the change of the state’s name in the pending Constitution of Ireland, and the FAI begins to select players from Northern Ireland based on the Constitution’s claim to sovereignty there. A number of players play for both the FAI “Ireland” (against FIFA members from mainland Europe) and the IFA “Ireland” (in the British Home Championship, whose members had withdrawn from FIFA in 1920). Shortly after the IFA rejoins FIFA in 1946, the FAI stops selecting Northern players. The IFA stops selecting southern players after the FAI complains to FIFA in 1950.

From the late 1960s, association football begins to achieve more widespread popularity. Donogh O’Malley, TD and then Minister for Education, begins a new programme of state-funded schools in 1966, many with association football pitches and teams. The Gaelic Athletic Association’s ban on members playing “foreign” games is lifted in 1971.  RTÉ television, founded in 1962, and British television (available nearly everywhere on cable or microwave relay from the 1970s), broadcast association football regularly. Above all, the increasing success of the international side from the late 1980s gives increased television exposure, more fans, and more funds to the FAI.

However, increased media exposure also highlights some inadequacies of its hitherto largely amateur organisation. In January 1999, the FAI announces a planned national association football stadium, to be called Eircom Park after primary sponsors Eircom. This is to be a 45,000-seat stadium in City West, modeled on the GelreDome in Arnhem. It gradually becomes apparent that the initial forecasts of cost and revenue have been very optimistic. FAI and public support for the project is also undermined by the announcement of the Stadium Ireland in Abbotstown, which would have 65,000 seats and be available free to the FAI, being funded by the state. The Eircom Park project is finally abandoned in March 2001, amid much rancour within the FAI.

During preparation for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the captain of the senior football team, Roy Keane, leaves the training camp and returns to his home. He is critical of many aspects of the organisation and preparation of the team for the upcoming games, and public opinion in Ireland is divided. As a result of the incident, the FAI commissions a report from consultants Genesis into its World Cup preparations. The “Genesis Report” makes a number of damning criticisms regarding corruption and cronyism within the association, but is largely ignored. The complete report is never published for legal reasons. The FAI subsequently produces its own report of itself titled “Genesis II” and implements a number of its recommendations.

In 2002, the FAI announces a deal with British Sky Broadcasting to sell broadcasting rights to Ireland’s international matches, as well as domestic association football, to be televised on its satellite subscription service. The general public feels it should be on RTÉ, the free-to-air terrestrial service, in spite of their offering much lower rates. Faced with the prospect of the government legislating to prevent any deal, the FAI agrees to accept an improved, but still lower, offer from RTÉ.

In 2002, the FAI makes an unsuccessful bid with the Scottish Football Association to host UEFA Euro 2008.

Following the respectable performance of the national team in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the team’s fortunes decline under the management of Mick McCarthy, Brian Kerr and Steve Staunton.

In September 2006, Lars-Christer Olsson, CEO of UEFA, is quoted as anticipating that Lansdowne Road in Dublin (actually owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union) will stage the UEFA Cup Final in 2010, and that the FAI and the IFA will co-host the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The 2010 final is ultimately awarded to Hamburg, but in January 2009, UEFA nameS Lansdowne Road as the host stadium for the renamed 2011 UEFA Europa League Final. In August 2010, an FAI spokesman says they will have repaid all of their stadium debt of €46 million within 10 years despite the disastrous sale of 10-year tickets for premium seats at the Aviva Stadium.

In November 2007, the FAI moves to new headquarters at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown. Its headquarters since the 1930s had been a Georgian terraced house at 80 Merrion Square, which is sold for a sum variously reported as “in excess of €6m” and “almost €9m.”


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Birth of Peter Farrell, Irish Footballer

Peter Desmond Farrell, Irish footballer who plays as a right-half for, among others, Shamrock Rovers, Everton and Tranmere Rovers, is born in Dalkey, County Dublin, on August 16, 1922. As an international, he also plays for both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. His playing career follows a similar path to that of Tommy Eglington. As well as teaming up at international level, they also play together at three clubs.

Farrell is born and raised in the Convent Road area of Dalkey and is educated at Harold Boy’s National School and the Christian Brothers in Dún Laoghaire, from which he wins a scholarship. He is playing football with Cabinteely Schoolboys when spotted by a Shamrock Rovers scout and subsequently joins Rovers on his 17th birthday in August 1939. Among his early teammates is the veteran Jimmy Dunne. With a team that also includes Jimmy Kelly, Tommy Eglington, Jimmy McAlinden and Paddy Coad, he later helps Rovers reach three successive FAI Cup finals. They win the competition in 1944 and 1945 and finish as runners up in 1946.

In July 1946, together with Tommy Eglington, Farrell signs for Everton. In eleven seasons with the club, he plays 421 league games and scores 14 goals. He also plays a further 31 games in the FA Cup and scores an additional four goals. In 1951 he is appointed Everton captain and during the 1953–54 season leads them to the runners up place in the Second Division, thus gaining promotion to the First Division. During his time with the club his teammates, apart from Eglington, also include Alex Stevenson, Peter Corr, Harry Catterick, Wally Fielding, Tommy E. Jones, Brian Labone and Dave Hickson. He is never sent off during his time at Goodison Park.

Farrell leaves Everton in October 1957 and follows Tommy Eglington to Tranmere Rovers where he becomes player-manager. He plays 114 league games for Tranmere, before leaving in December 1960. After a time as manager at Sligo Rovers, he becomes manager of Holyhead Town and, helped by a number of former Everton and Tranmere players, guides them to the Welsh Football League (North) title.

In September 1967, Farrell signs a one-year contract to manage St. Patrick’s Athletic F.C. He manages the Pats in their 1967–68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup ties against FC Girondins de Bordeaux but resigns in March 1968.

When Farrell begins his international career in 1946 there are, in effect, two Ireland teams, chosen by two rival associations. Both associations, the Northern Ireland–based IFA and the Ireland–based FAI claim jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland and select players from the entire island. As a result, several notable Irish players from this era, including Farrell, play for both teams.

Farrell makes 28 appearances and scores three goals for the FAI XI. While still at Shamrock Rovers, he captains the FAI XI on his international debut on June 16, 1946, against Portugal. On September 21, 1949, together with Johnny Carey and Con Martin, he is a member of the FAI XI that defeats England 2–0 at Goodison Park, becoming the first non-UK team to beat England at home. After Martin puts the FAI XI ahead with a penalty in the 33rd minute, Farrell makes victory certain in the 85th minute. Tommy O’Connor slips the ball to Farrell and as the English goalkeeper Bert Williams advances, he lofts the ball into the unguarded net. He scores his second goal for the FAI XI on October 9, 1949, a in 1–1 draw with Finland, a qualifier for the 1950 FIFA World Cup. His third goal comes on May 30, 1951, as Farrell scores the opening goal in a 3–2 win against Norway.

Farrell also makes seven appearances for the IFA XI between 1946 and 1949. On November 27, 1946, he makes his debut for the IFA XI in a 0–0 draw with Scotland. Together with Johnny Carey, Con Martin, Bill Gorman, Tommy Eglington, Alex Stevenson and Davy Walsh, he is one of seven players born in the Irish Free State to play for the IFA XI on that day. The draw helps the team finish as runners-up in the 1946-47 British Home Championship. He also helps the IFA XI gain some other respectable results, including a 2–0 win against Scotland on October 4, 1947, and a 2–2 draw with England at Goodison Park on November 5, 1947.

After returning to Ireland following his retirement, Farrell settles in Dublin and follows his father into the insurance business. He dies on March 16, 1999, following a long illness. He is buried in Dean’s Grange Cemetery in Deansgrange, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin.


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Death of Kathleen Mills, Senior Camogie Player

Kathleen “Kay” Mills-Hill, a sportsperson who plays senior camogie with Dublin from 1941 until 1961, dies at her home in Dublin on August 11, 1996. She is regarded as one of the greatest players of all-time, winning fifteen All-Ireland Senior Medals.

Mills is born in 31 South Square, Inchicore, Dublin, on October 8, 1923. Her mother, Winifred (née Wills), is from Inchicore and her father, Thomas, is from Glanmire, County Cork. Her father works for Great Southern Railways. She has three siblings, Gertrude, Ada and Robert. Her mother dies when she is just eighteen months old, leaving her to be raised by her maternal grandmother, Charlotte Wills, who lives at 1 Abercorn Terrace, Inchicore. She is educated at St. Vincent’s Industrial School, Goldenbridge, where she plays table tennis and association football as well as doing gymnastics. However, camogie is her first love, which she starts playing at age five. She leaves school at a young age, and goes to work in Lamb’s jam factory.

Through her father, Mills is able to participate in and avail of the sporting activities in the GSR Athletic Union. Two pence per week are deducted from the worker’s wages to go toward the financing of the sports activities in the Railway. In 1947, she marries George Hill. They run the Red Seal Handbag Company from the North Circular Road, and later Hill Street. Later they become vintners, running the Seventh Lock public house on the Grand Canal, Ballyfermot.

Mills makes her camogie debut with the Great Southern Railways club in Dublin in 1938 at the age of fourteen, and is promoted to the senior team for her second match. Three years later she makes her debut for Dublin while still sixteen and plays in Dublin’s unsuccessful 1941 All-Ireland Senor Camogie Championship final against Cork, winning her first All-Ireland medal after a replay against Cork a year later in the 1942 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship final.

In 1943, the same counties meet in the All-Ireland final for the third consecutive year. Once again Mills ends up claiming an All-Ireland medal, her goal from fifty yards range being described as the highlight of the match. The following year, 1944, brings a third All-Ireland medal. In 1945 and 1946, a dispute in the camogie association keeps Dublin out of the All-Ireland championship in spite of being Leinster champions in both years. In 1948, Dublin is back on form and Mills captures a fourth All-Ireland medal. She takes no part in the 1949 championship, however, the 1950s brings much success to Mills.

From 1950 to 1955, Mills captures six consecutive All-Ireland titles. In 1956, “the Dubs” surrender their crown to Antrim but it is soon reclaimed in 1957. In 1958, she is appointed captain of the Dublin camogie team. Led by her, Dublin defeats Tipperary to capture yet another All-Ireland title. She captures three more All-Ireland medals in 1959, 1960 and 1961. The occasion of the 1961 final is special as it is her 38th birthday and her last outing in a Dublin jersey.

In her playing days Mills is regarded as one of the all-time greats. She is regarded as camogie’s first superstar she has often been described as the Christy Ring, Mick Mackey, Nicky Rackard and Lory Meagher of the camogie world. With a haul of fifteen senior All-Ireland medals, she is the most decorated player in the history of Gaelic games at the time of her retirement. Since then Rena Buckley and Briege Corkery have won more than Mills.

Mills-Hill dies on August 11, 1996, from undisclosed causes, at her home on the Naas Road, Dublin. She is buried in Palmerstown Cemetery. In 2010, the camogie trophy for the annual inter-county All-Ireland Junior Camogie Championship is named in her honour. The Kay Mills Cup is a replica of the O’Duffy Cup. A plaque to Mills is erected at her former home, 1 Abercorn Terrace, Inchicore.


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Birth of Peter McParland, Former Northern Irish Footballer

Peter James McParland MBE, former Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as an outside left, is born in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland, on April 25, 1934.

McParland is spotted playing for Dundalk in the League of Ireland First Division by Aston Villa manager George Martin. Martin signs him for a fee of £3,880.

McParland holds a unique place in English football history as the first player in the game to score in and win both English major domestic knockout Finals. One of the finest headers and strikers of the ball of the past fifty years, he is regarded as one of the greatest players to represent both Aston Villa and Northern Ireland.

During his time with Aston Villa, McParland is influenced by Jimmy Hogan. He later wins the FA Cup in 1957, scoring twice in the final against Manchester United but also becoming involved in a controversial incident in which he shoulder-charges (at the time a legitimate form of challenge) the Manchester United keeper after only six minutes. This leaves United’s goalkeeper, Ray Wood, unconscious with a broken cheekbone. McParland’s two-goal haul is remembered fondly as an example of his all-round abilities as a player showcasing his diving header and volleying techniques.

McParland also wins the Second Division title in 1960 and the League Cup in 1961 while with Aston Villa. He is on the scoresheet for the second leg of the 1961 League Cup final, when Aston Villa overturns a 2–0 deficit against Rotherham United to win the second leg 3–0 at Villa Park, becoming the winners of the first Football League Cup.

Following Aston Villa, McParland joins local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers for a brief period in 1962. Although he is only there for one season, he manages to score 10 goals in 21 games. The following season he moves on to Plymouth Argyle, his final English league club before hanging up his boots. In 1965, he is recruited to play for Toronto Inter-Roma FC of the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League. He scores many memorable goals, especially one against the Hamilton Steelers to give his side the victory.

McParland plays for the Atlanta Chiefs of the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1967 and 1968. He ends his career as player-manager of Glentoran.

McParland represents Northern Ireland 34 times and scores twice in his debut against Wales in the 1953–54 season. He also stars for Northern Ireland in the 1958 FIFA World Cup in which he scores five goals and helps his team to the quarterfinals. France defeats Northern Ireland 4–0 in their quarterfinal match.

McParland holds the record for being the highest-scoring Northern Irish player in World Cup finals history.

In April 2015, the feature-length documentary Spirit of ’58 is screened as part of the Belfast Film Festival. It features McParland prominently alongside Billy Bingham, Billy Simpson, Jimmy McIlroy and Harry Gregg, the other surviving players at the time, as it tells the story of Northern Ireland’s journey throughout the 1950s under the managership of Peter Doherty, culminating in the 1958 World Cup.

McParland is the last surviving player from the 1957 FA Cup Final following the death of Bobby Charlton on October 21, 2023. Following the death of Billy Bingham on June 9, 2022, McParland is the last surviving member of the Northern Ireland squad from the 1958 World Cup campaign. He is one of the last surviving members of the 1958 FIFA World Cup.


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Birth of Paddy Coad, Irish Football Player & Manager

Patrick “Paddy” Coad, Irish football player and manager, is born at 100 Lower Yellow Road in Waterford, County Waterford, on April 14, 1920. He plays as a forward for Waterford, Glenavon, Shamrock Rovers and Ireland. Although known, primarily, as a maker of goals, he scores 126 goals in the League of Ireland and a further 41 in the FAI Cup. In 1946–47, he is top goal scorer in the League of Ireland. As a player manager, he also guides Shamrock Rovers to three League of Ireland titles and two FAI Cups, before he returns to Waterford and guides them to their first league title in 1966. He is appointed manager of Limerick in September 1967.

Coad is educated at De La Salle College Waterford and first distinguishes himself as a sportsman playing hurling and table tennis, becoming a Munster champion at the latter sport. He also begins to play football with Corinthians, a local junior club based in the Lower Yellow Road area of Waterford. He is soon spotted by Waterford, making his League of Ireland debut in 1937 at the young age of seventeen. He then moves to the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) club Glenavon but returns to Waterford after the start of World War II. He is a member of the Waterford team that finishes as a runner up to Cork United in both the League of Ireland and the FAI Cup. Waterford could have won the league title, but their players refuse to turn up for a play-off game against Cork after a dispute over bonus payments.

Coad signs with Shamrock Rovers in 1942 and on February 8 makes his debut against Brideville in the FAI Cup. During his early seasons with the club, he plays alongside Peter Farrell, Tommy Eglington, Jimmy McAlinden and Tommy Breen. He also helps Rovers win the FAI Cup three times. In November 1949, after the untimely death of Jimmy Dunne, he reluctantly accepts the position of player manager. He brings in many young players, including Liam Tuohy, and the team becomes known as Coad’s Colts. The Colts win 19 trophies between 1954 and 1959. Under his guidance, Rovers win three League of Ireland titles and the FAI Cup twice. In 1957, they also make their debut in the European Cup. Despite losing 9–2 on aggregate to Manchester United, Coad at the age of 37, dominates the away game at Old Trafford. He makes two appearances in the European Cup. On May 2, 1955, he is rewarded with a benefit game against Chelsea F.C. with Rovers winning 3-2.

Coad returns home to manage the Blues in 1960. In the 1965–66 League of Ireland season Waterford wins the Championship for the first time. Coad reflects on his legacy: “To bring the first title to my native Waterford leaves everything else in the shade.”

Between 1946 and 1952, Coad also makes eleven appearances and scored three goals for Ireland. He makes his debut on September 30, 1946, in a 1–0 defeat to England. On March 2, 1947, he scores his first goal for Ireland in a 3–2 win against Spain. During this game he also sets up both of Ireland’s other goals for Davy Walsh. On May 22, 1949, he scores the only goal, a penalty, in a 1–0 win over Portugal. His third goal for Ireland comes on May 30, 1951, in 3–2 away win over Norway. Ireland is 2–0 down until Peter Farrell and Alf Ringstead level the score. Then in the 82nd minute Coad scores from 20 yards to win the game. He plays his last game for Ireland in a 6–0 away defeat against Spain on June 1, 1952.

Coad wins the Texaco Hall of Fame Award in 1981 and the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland (PFAI) Merit Award in 1983.

After his professional playing career Coad works for twelve years as a commercial traveler for B. P. Ganley Ltd, a bacon and pork distributor in Waterford. He and his wife, Bud, have two daughters and a son. He is ill for six months prior to his death on March 8, 1992, at his daughter’s home in Waterford.

Coad’s brother, Seamus, plays for Waterford in the late 1960s and manages the team in the 1990s. Seamus’ sons Gary and Nigel Coad continue the family name by lining out for the Blues under their father before both going on to win many trophies locally. Amazingly, both Gary and Nigel become only the third set of second-generation brothers to play together for Waterford, following Paddy and Seamus, the Hales and Fitzgeralds. In 2012, Seamus’ grandson, Conor, becomes the latest Coad to play for Waterford United.

The Shamrock Rovers Player of the Year trophy is named after Paddy Coad.


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Birth of Billy Whelan, Irish Footballer

William Augustine Whelan, known as Billy Whelan or Liam Whelan, Irish footballer who plays as an inside-forward, is born at 28 St. Attracta’s Road, Cabra, Dublin, on April 1, 1935. He dies at the age of 22, as one of eight Manchester United players who are killed in the Munich air disaster.

Whelan is the fourth of seven children born to John and Elizabeth Whelan. His father is an accomplished centre half-back for Dublin club Brunswick and is instrumental in winning the FAI Junior Shield in 1924. His mother is an avid Shamrock Rovers supporter. His father dies in 1943 when Whelan is just eight years old.

Whelan plays Gaelic games, winning a medal for St. Peter’s national school in nearby Phibsborough. After leaving school at the age of fourteen, he works in Cassidy’s, an outfitter on South Great George’s Street. He is an accomplished Gaelic footballer and hurler, but association football is his first love.

Whelan begins his career at the age of twelve when he joins Home Farm before joining Manchester United as an 18-year-old in 1953. He is capped four times for the Republic of Ireland national football team, including a surprising 4–1 victory against Holland in Rotterdam in 1956, but does not score. His brother John plays for Shamrock Rovers and Drumcondra and his eldest brother Christy plays for Transport.

Whelan makes his first appearance for Manchester United during the 1954–55 season and quickly becomes a regular first-team player. He goes on to make 98 first-team appearances in four seasons at United, scoring 52 goals. He is United’s top scorer in the 1956–57 season, scoring 26 goals in the First Division and 33 in all competitions as United wins their second successive league title and reaches the semi-finals of the 1957-58 European Cup. He also gives a commanding display in the 1957 FA Cup final despite losing 2–1 to Aston Villa. Such is the strength of the competition in the United first team that he is soon being kept out of the side by Bobby Charlton. He is a traveling reserve for United’s ill-fated European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade in Belgrade on February 6, 1958, and is one of eight players to die in the subsequent air crash that destroys Matt Busby‘s young team and claims twenty-three lives. Fellow Irishman Harry Gregg, United’s goalkeeper and a survivor and hero of the Munich air crash, recalls Whelan’s last words as the plane is attempting take-off for the third and final time as “Well, if this is the time, then I’m ready.”

Thousands attend Whelan’s funeral on February 12 in St. Peter’s Church, Phibsborough, Dublin, and line the streets as the funeral procession makes its way to his burial-place in Glasnevin Cemetery. In December 2006 Dublin Corporation unveils a commemorative plaque on a bridge at Faussagh Road, Cabra, which was renamed Liam Whelan Bridge.

Although of a cheerful disposition, Whelan is also modest and shy by nature, and a quietly devout Catholic. He has a particular dislike of swearing and tends to fix a look of pained disappointment on teammates who use bad language. Nobby Stiles admits that he “would rather be caught swearing by the pope than by Billy Whelan.” His religious devotion regularly fuels rumours that he is considering being a priest, although at the time of his death he is engaged to be married to Ruby McCullough.


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Death of Peter Farrell, Irish Footballer

Peter Desmond Farrell, Irish footballer who plays as a right-half for, among others, Shamrock Rovers, Everton and Tranmere Rovers, dies in Dublin on March 16, 1999. As an international, he also plays for both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. His playing career follows a similar path to that of Tommy Eglington. As well as teaming up at international level, they also play together at three clubs.

Farrell is born on August 16, 1922, and raised in the Convent Road area of Dalkey, County Dublin, and is educated at Harold Boy’s National School and the Christian Brothers in Dún Laoghaire, from which he wins a scholarship. He is playing football with Cabinteely Schoolboys when spotted by a Shamrock Rovers scout and subsequently joins Rovers on his 17th birthday in August 1939. Among his early teammates is the veteran Jimmy Dunne. With a team that also includes Jimmy Kelly, Tommy Eglington, Jimmy McAlinden and Paddy Coad, he later helps Rovers reach three successive FAI Cup finals. They win the competition in 1944 and 1945 and finish as runners up in 1946.

In July 1946, together with Tommy Eglington, Farrell signs for Everton. In eleven seasons with the club, he plays 421 league games and scores 14 goals. He also plays a further 31 games in the FA Cup and scores an additional four goals. In 1951 he is appointed Everton captain and during the 1953–54 season leads them to the runners up place in the Second Division, thus gaining promotion to the First Division. During his time with the club his teammates, apart from Eglington, also include Alex Stevenson, Peter Corr, Harry Catterick, Wally Fielding, Tommy E. Jones, Brian Labone and Dave Hickson. He is never sent off during his time at Goodison Park.

Farrell leaves Everton in October 1957 and follows Tommy Eglington to Tranmere Rovers where he becomes player-manager. He plays 114 league games for Tranmere, before leaving in December 1960. After a time as manager at Sligo Rovers, he becomes manager of Holyhead Town and, helped by a number of former Everton and Tranmere players, guides them to the Welsh Football League (North) title.

In September 1967, Farrell signs a one-year contract to manage St. Patrick’s Athletic F.C. He manages the Pats in their 1967–68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup ties against FC Girondins de Bordeaux but resigns in March 1968.

When Farrell begins his international career in 1946 there are, in effect, two Ireland teams, chosen by two rival associations. Both associations, the Northern Ireland–based IFA and the Ireland–based FAI claim jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland and select players from the entire island. As a result, several notable Irish players from this era, including Farrell, play for both teams.

Farrell makes 28 appearances and scores three goals for the FAI XI. While still at Shamrock Rovers, he captains the FAI XI on his international debut on June 16, 1946, against Portugal. On September 21, 1949, together with Johnny Carey and Con Martin, he is a member of the FAI XI that defeats England 2–0 at Goodison Park, becoming the first non-UK team to beat England at home. After Martin puts the FAI XI ahead with a penalty in the 33rd minute, Farrell makes victory certain in the 85th minute. Tommy O’Connor slips the ball to Farrell and as the English goalkeeper Bert Williams advances, he lofts the ball into the unguarded net. He scores his second goal for the FAI XI on October 9, 1949, a in 1–1 draw with Finland, a qualifier for the 1950 FIFA World Cup. His third goal comes on May 30, 1951, as Farrell scores the opening goal in a 3–2 win against Norway.

Farrell also makes seven appearances for the IFA XI between 1946 and 1949. On November 27, 1946, he makes his debut for the IFA XI in a 0–0 draw with Scotland. Together with Johnny Carey, Con Martin, Bill Gorman, Tommy Eglington, Alex Stevenson and Davy Walsh, he is one of seven players born in the Irish Free State to play for the IFA XI on that day. The draw helps the team finish as runners-up in the 1946-47 British Home Championship. He also helps the IFA XI gain some other respectable results, including a 2–0 win against Scotland on October 4, 1947, and a 2–2 draw with England at Goodison Park on November 5, 1947.

After returning to Ireland following his retirement, Farrell settles in Dublin and follows his father into the insurance business. He dies on March 16, 1999, following a long illness. He is buried in Dean’s Grange Cemetery in Deansgrange, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin.


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Birth of Noel Cantwell, Irish Footballer & Cricketer

Noel Euchuria Cornelius Cantwell, Irish football player and sometime cricketer, is born at 2 Illen Villas, Mardyke Walk, Cork, County Cork, on February 28, 1932.

Cantwell is one of five sons and a daughter of Michael Cantwell, a master tailor, and his wife Hannah (née Daly). He is educated at St. Joseph’s national school and the Presentation Brothers College in Cork. He plays as a full-back for Western Rovers, Cork Athletic, West Ham United and Manchester United.

While at West Ham, Cantwell features in the London XI side that competes in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final on May 1, 1958. He captains the Hammers to winning the Division Two championship in the 1957–58 season thereby leading the club into the topflight for the first time since 1932.

In November 1960, Cantwell joins Manchester United for £29,500 which at the time is a record for a full-back. He helps the club win the 1965 and 1967 league titles and captains United when winning the 1963 FA Cup Final – just as his fellow countryman Johnny Carey had done in United’s previous FA Cup win fifteen years earlier.

Cantwell also serves as Chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association.

During his International career (1953-67), Cantwell wins 36 full International caps for the Republic of Ireland, typically playing at left full-back and on several occasions at centre-forward. He makes his debut against Luxembourg in October 1953, with his final appearance coming away to Turkey in February 1967. He scores fourteen goals including five from penalties and also captains the Republic on several occasions including a match against England at Wembley Stadium.

In his first managerial role at Coventry City, Cantwell has the onerous task of following Jimmy Hill who had taken the club into the First Division for the first time in their history. He narrowly keeps the Sky Blues in the top in his first two seasons before taking them to a sixth-place finish in 1969–70, earning them qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (a year before it is replaced by the UEFA Cup).

Cantwell departs Highfield Road on March 12, 1972, but within seven months is back in English football as manager of Peterborough United. He helps Peterborough win the Fourth Division title in his first full season as manager, before leaving on May 10, 1977, to manage the New England Tea Men.

Cantwell returns to Peterborough on November 19, 1986, for a second stint as manager, remaining in this role until he becomes general manager on July 12, 1988. He is general manager at London Road for a year until he quits football to become licensee of the New Inn at Peterborough, where he remains for ten years until he retires in 1999. He also is landlord of the Bull and Swan in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

Cantwell also plays cricket for Cork Bohemians Cricket Club and Ireland as a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium bowler. He plays five times for Ireland, making his debut in what is his sole first-class match versus Scotland at Edinburgh in 1956, scoring 31 and 17. His last match for Ireland is against Lancashire in July 1959.

Cantwell dies from cancer at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, not far from his home in Peterborough, on September 8, 2005. He is survived by his wife Maggie, a native of Belfast, and two daughters, Liz and Kate. A 22-year-old son, John Robert, is killed in a car crash thirteen years earlier.

Cantwell’s former teams each hold a moment of silence for him before their next matches.


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Birth of Donogh O’Malley, Fianna Fáil Politician & Rugby Union Player

Donogh Brendan O’Malley, Irish Fianna Fáil politician and rugby union player, is born on January 18, 1921, in Limerick, County Limerick. He serves as Minister for Education (1966-68), Minister for Health (1965-66) and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance (1961-65). He also serves as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick East constituency (1954-68). He is best remembered as the Minister who introduces free secondary school education in the Republic of Ireland.

O’Malley is one of eight surviving children of Joseph O’Malley, civil engineer, and his wife, Mary “Cis” (née Tooher). Born into a wealthy middle-class family, he is educated by the Jesuits at Crescent College and later at Clongowes Wood College, County Kildare. He later studies at University College Galway (UCG), where he is conferred with a degree in civil engineering in 1943. He later returns to Limerick, where he works as an engineer before becoming involved in politics.

O’Malley plays rugby at provincial level for Munster, Leinster and Connacht and at club level for Bohemians and Shannon RFC. His chances at an international career are ruined by the suspension of international fixtures during World War II. It is at a rugby match in Tralee that he first meets Dr. Hilda Moriarty, who he goes on to marry in August 1947.

Although O’Malley runs as a Fianna Fáil candidate, he is born into a politically active family who supports Cumann na nGaedheal until a falling-out with the party in the early 1930s. He first becomes involved in local politics as a member of Limerick Corporation. He becomes Mayor of Limerick in 1961, the third O’Malley brother to hold the office (Desmond from 1941-43 and Michael from 1948-49). He is a strong electoral performer, topping the poll in every general election he runs in.

O’Malley is first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for Limerick East at the 1954 Irish general election. Fianna Fáil is not returned to government on that occasion. He spends the rest of the decade on the backbenches. However, his party is returned to power in 1957. Two years later, the modernising process begins when Seán Lemass takes over from Éamon de Valera as Taoiseach. Lemass introduces younger cabinet ministers, as the old guard who has served the party since its foundation in 1926 begin to retire.

In 1961, O’Malley joins the government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance. He is part of a new, brasher style of politician that emerges in the 1960s, sometimes nicknamed “the men in the mohair suits.” It is expected that this generation of politician, born after the Irish Civil War, will be a modernising force in post-de Valera Ireland.

Although his sporting background is in rugby and swimming, it is association football which O’Malley gets involved in at a leadership level, becoming President of the Football Association of Ireland despite never having played the sport.

Following Fianna Fáil’s retention of power in the 1965 Irish general election, O’Malley joins the cabinet as Minister for Health. He spends just over a year in this position before he is appointed Minister for Education, a position in which he displays renowned dynamism. Having succeeded Patrick Hillery, another dynamic young minister, he resolves to act swiftly to introduce the recommendations of an official report on education.

As Minister for Education, O’Malley extends the school transport scheme and commissions the building of new non-denominational comprehensive and community schools in areas where they are needed. He introduces Regional Technical Colleges (RTCs), now called Institutes of Technology, in areas where there is no third level college. The best example of this policy is the University of Limerick, originally an Institute of Higher Education, where O’Malley is credited with taking the steps to ensure that it becomes a university. His plan to merge Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin arouses huge controversy, and is not successful, despite being supported by his cabinet colleague Brian Lenihan. Access to third-level education is also extended, the old scholarship system being replaced by a system of means-tested grants that give easier access to students without well-off parents.

Mid-twentieth century Ireland experiences significant emigration, especially to the neighbouring United Kingdom where, in addition to employment opportunities, there is a better state provision of education and healthcare. Social change in Ireland and policies intending to correct this deficit are often met with strong resistance, such as Noël Browne‘s proposed Mother and Child Scheme. As a former Health Minister, O’Malley has first-hand experience of running the department which had attempted to introduce this scheme and understood the processes that caused it to fail, such as resistance from Department of Finance and John Charles McQuaid. This influences his strategy in presenting the free-education proposal.

Shortly after O’Malley is appointed, he announces that from 1969 all education up to Intermediate Certificate level will be without cost, and free buses will bring students in rural areas to their nearest school, seemingly making this decision without consulting other ministers. However, he does discuss it with Lemass. Jack Lynch, who, as Minister for Finance, has to find the money to pay for the programme, is not consulted and is dismayed at the announcement.

By announcing the decision first to journalists and on a Saturday (during a month when the Dáil is in recess), the positive public reaction tempers resistance to the idea before the next cabinet meeting. O’Malley’s proposals are hugely popular with the public, and it is impossible for the government to go back on his word.

Some Irish commentators consider that O’Malley’s extension of education, changing Ireland from a land where the majority are schooled only to the age of 14 to a country with universal secondary-school education, indirectly leads to the Celtic Tiger boom of the 1990s-2000s when it is followed for some years by an extension of free education to primary degree level in university, a scheme that is launched in 1996 by the Labour Party and axed in 2009 by Fianna Fáil’s Batt O’Keeffe.

In 1967, O’Malley appoints Justice Eileen Kennedy to chair a committee to carry out a survey and report on the reformatory and industrial school systems. The report, which is published in 1970, is considered ground-breaking in many areas and comes to be known as the Kennedy Report. The Report makes recommendations about a number of matters, including the Magdalene laundries, in relation to which they are not acted upon. The report recommends the closure of a number of reformatories, including the latterly infamous reformatory at Daingean, County Offaly.

O’Malley’s reforms make him one of the most popular members of the government. He is affectionately known as “the School Man” for his work in education. His sudden death in Limerick on March 10, 1968, before his vision for the education system is completed, comes as a shock to the public. He is buried with a full Irish state funeral.

Following O’Malley’s death, his widow, Hilda O’Malley, does not run in the subsequent by-election for the seat he has left vacant. It is won narrowly by their nephew Desmond O’Malley. Hilda seeks the Fianna Fáil nomination for the 1969 Irish general election, but Fianna Fáil gives the party nomination to Desmond, as the sitting TD. Hilda runs as an Independent candidate in that election. After what proves a bitter campaign against her nephew, she fails to get the fourth seat in Limerick East by just 200 votes.


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Birth of Karl Mullen, Rugby Union Player & Gynecologist

Dr. Karl Daniel Mullen, rugby union player and consultant gynecologist who captains the Irish rugby team and captains the British Lions on their 1950 tour to Australia and New Zealand, is born on November 26, 1926, in Courtown Harbour, County Wexford.

Mullen is one of three sons and seven daughters of Daniel Mullen, an officer of the customs and excise, and his wife Annie (née Hargrove). After his parents move to Home Farm Road, Drumcondra, Dublin, he is educated at the Dominican St. Thomas’s Academy, Eccles Street, the Jesuit Belvedere College, Great Denmark Street, and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). He plays rugby and cricket at school, association football with Home Farm F.C., and golf in the summer months. Initially a centre, he becomes a prop on the Belvedere junior cup team and, after injury to a teammate, hooker on the senior cup team, which loses the Leinster Schools Rugby Senior Cup final to Castleknock College in 1944.

On January 25, 1947, Mullen makes his formal Irish debut in a 12–8 loss to France. He plays as hooker, winning 25 caps for Ireland from 1947 to 1952. A year later, on January 31, 1948, he plays his first game for Barbarian F.C. in a 9–6 victory over Australia in Cardiff, Wales. After helping Ireland to victory over France on January 1, 1948, at the age of 21, he captains Ireland for the first time, on February 14, 1948, leading them to an 11–10 victory over England at Twickenham Stadium.

Mullen captains the Irish team to their first Grand Slam in the 1948 Five Nations Championship and is one of eight players from that team who live to see the country’s next Grand Slam in 2009.

Ireland retains the triple crown in 1949 by beating Wales 5–0 in Swansea, ending a run of defeats on Welsh soil lasting fourteen years. The following season Ireland suffers from injuries and loses to both England and Wales, the latter securing the triple crown.

Mullen is selected to captain the 1950 Lions Tour to Australia and New Zealand. After appearing in the first two tests against New Zealand, a 9–9 draw and an 8–0 loss, he sustains an ankle injury in the latter game and concedes his place to Dai Davies of Wales. Returning for the second test against Australia, a resounding 24–3 victory, he also plays in a semi-official “British Isles RFU” team against Ceylon during their return journey in September.

Under Mullen’s captaincy Ireland regains the international championship in 1951. His last cap comes in a 14–3 loss to Wales at Lansdowne Road on March 8, 1952. In twenty-five successive appearances (fifteen as captain), he secured three international championships and two triple crowns for Ireland in four seasons, their most successful haul of the twentieth century.

Mullen’s distinguished rugby career has to be fitted around his medical studies. In 1945, he enters the RCSI, graduating L and LM (RCSI and RCPI) in 1949. Awarded the diploma in obstetrics (1952) and membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (1956), he trains at Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital, Jervis Street Hospital and the Rotunda hospitals. After serving as senior obstetrics registrar at the Derby City General Hospital (1953–56), he returns to Dublin to become a consultant obstetrician, based at Mount Carmel Community Hospital, Churchtown, Dublin, and develops a considerable private practice. By his retirement in 2002, he is estimated to have delivered over 40,000 babies. A proponent of sex education in schools, he appears on RTÉ‘s 7 Days in December 1970, outlining various methods of birth control and calling for a more honest and realistic approach to artificial contraception.

Mullen marries Doreen Kilbride, an accomplished soprano, on April 30, 1952, in Donnybrook, Dublin, interrupting their honeymoon to play for Old Belvedere R.F.C. in the Leinster Senior Cup final. They have eight children, three boys and five girls. In 1975, they move from Altamount, Dundrum, Dublin, to Tulfarris House, Blessington, County Wicklow, adjacent to Poulaphouca Reservoir, where they farm and bred Irish draught horses. In 1985, he sells the property and much of his art collection and moves to Kilcullen, County Kildare.

Mullen is one of eight surviving members of the 1948 team to witness Ireland’s second grand slam on March 21, 2009. Only weeks later, having suffered from a long illness, he dies on April 27, 2009, at his home, Gilltown Lodge, in Kilcullen.

(Pictured: Karl Mullen, captain of the British Lions rugby union team, 1950)