Gaffers (13 page)

Seán Thomas, the man who led Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians on a trail of success in the 1960s, is a bit of an unknown entity. He did not have a football-playing background but had the interest and foresight to go to England and get his coaching badges. He is a football innovator who saw the potential in this country and impressed enough to be linked with coaching roles in England, manage in the USA and ultimately take charge of his country.

It is very hard to judge a man after only one game, but it would be equally unfair to leave Thomas out of this book, as he is still a big part of Irish soccer history. To fans of Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians he is a legend, and he managed some of Ireland’s top talent. He was later honoured for his role in Irish football, receiving a Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland merit award in 1992.

Very little is known about Thomas’ life before he became a manager. Tony O’Connell, who played under Thomas at Shamrock Rovers, recalls, ‘I remember him at Rovers. He was
one of the first men in Ireland to go and get their coaching badges in England. Nobody in Ireland had them at that time. He came in and moved things around, changing the system from the W–M formation that was used at every club in the country to the 4–4–2 system that we see now.

‘Seán was a very good motivator, and he knew the game. He obviously must have loved it to go and get his badges. I think he worked as a carpenter before that, but he had always wanted to be involved in football. Getting the qualification in England gave him an edge over other Irish managers.

‘He was very confident, and he could get his point across. That said, the times were ripe for a change. You see, the training in those days was a couple of laps around the field and a kick of the ball. It was very different to nowadays.’

Thomas’ achievement at domestic level, where he enjoyed great success, earned him the right to manage his country, and in 1973 he took charge for a friendly against Norway in Oslo, ending his reign unbeaten with a 1–1 draw. The team included Preston’s Alan Kelly, QPR’s Don Givens, Jimmy Holmes of Coventry, Manchester United duo Gerry Daly and Mick Martin, and Paddy Mulligan. It was a strong team on paper, although to be fair to Thomas and the players it was an end-of-season game with little to play for, and on top of that, according to Tony Byrne, the grass that day was ‘six inches long, making it almost impossible to play any ball’.

Ultimately, Thomas was merely a stopgap between Liam Tuohy and the appointment of Johnny Giles as player-manager. It was always going to be hard for a man who had never played at the top level of the game or managed in England to command the respect of players who were earning their crust in the English
leagues. As former Ireland defender Paddy Mulligan puts it, ‘It is very hard and almost unjust to judge Seán on his time with Ireland. He was only in charge for one game before he was forced to resign, I think over work commitments, and his only game in charge was a draw with Norway. I played under him for six months at Rovers, where he managed from 1960 to 1964, and during that time he won everything going – the FAI Cup, the League and the League of Ireland shield. He built a great team with some great players, including Pat Courtney, Frank O’Neill and Paddy Ambrose – all fantastic players.’

Before Thomas made his name at Rovers and Bohemians, he began his coaching career at Sligo, but he only lasted a few months, his time there including a first-round exit from the Dublin City Cup and a record 9–0 home defeat at the hands of a very strong Drumcondra side. He also had a short spell in charge of Home Farm. However, it is his time at Shamrock Rovers that made his reputation. He had big shoes to fill when he took over from Paddy Coad in 1960. Under Coad’s guidance Rovers had enjoyed a successful period in their history, winning three League titles.

With Coad deciding to return to his home county of Waterford, Thomas was given the task of rebuilding the team, and under his tenure the Hoops bounced back in 1963, winning the League and Cup double in impressive style. Liam Tuohy had returned after a spell at Newcastle, and he was joined in the side by players such as Frank O’Neill, John Keogh, Pat Courtney, Johnny Fullam, Bobby Gilbert, Mick Leech and goalkeeper Mick Smyth, all of whom would become stars at Rovers. In four years under Thomas, Rovers, one of Ireland’s most successful clubs, won the League, two FAI Cups and two League Cups as well as one Dublin City Cup.

As well as catching the eye in the League of Ireland, Thomas also came to the attention of the media and the FAI when in 1963 a League of Ireland selection played against their English counterparts. There was not too much between the countries in those days. Alf Ramsey was in charge of an English side which contained Bobby Moore, Ian Callaghan, Roger Hunt and Martin Peters, all of whom went on to be part of the team that won the World Cup just three years later in 1966. The League of Ireland XI beat them 2–1. Tony O’Connell recalls, ‘Eddie Bailham was a prolific goal scorer but couldn’t head the ball. He scored from outside the box. Seán had said to him, “You hang at the edge of the box, and when they head the ball out from a corner it will come to you.” And it did. Ronnie Whelan senior scored the first goal that day. It was a great result for the League and for Seán.’

That double-winning season should have been the start of a golden era for Rovers and Thomas. However, not long after winning the double, Thomas decided to quit Rovers. He then took over at Bohemians, and in doing so became the club’s first-ever manager. As seems to have been the standard for the period, Bohemians did not have a manager and relied on coaches, with a selection committee tasked with actually picking the side. But Thomas wanted to be a full-time manager. He was very ambitious and confident in his abilities, and the Bohemians role was, in some regards, made for him.

Managing Bohemians was a chance for Thomas to return to his roots, to where he had grown up. He had been a junior member of the club as a youngster, so the opportunity to bring success to his local team was a motivating factor in his decision to join the club. The season before Thomas had taken charge, the club had
finished bottom of the table, but after only one season under the new manager, the potential of the former Rovers manager and the previously untapped potential of the players were shining through. The club managed an impressive third-place finish, ending up just five points behind winners Drumcondra. That Bohemians were still an amateur side and the rest of the teams in the League were professional, puts this achievement into context. Thomas was rewarded for his efforts with the Irish Soccer Writers’ Personality of the Year award in 1965.

The following season, Bohemians again finished third in the League and this time managed to add some silverware to the trophy cabinet, winning both the Leinster Senior Cup and the President’s Cup. The strong performances of his young players had not gone unnoticed and eight of the team left at the end of the season for the professional ranks. The most high profile of these moves was Turlough O’Connor and Jimmy Conway, who both signed for Fulham.

With his stock on the rise Thomas signed a three-year contract with Bohemians in 1966 and that season he led the club to the runner-up spot in the League. That summer he then made the brave decision to leave the League of Ireland for the chance to manage in America with the Boston Shamrocks. However, the move was not the success envisaged and it wasn’t long before he was back in Ireland. At this point Thomas almost made the move to England to be manager of Fulham. Vic Buckingham approached him to join the coaching staff at Fulham, but the move fell through as Thomas was still in the process of resolving his contract with the Boston Shamrocks. Instead he returned to Dalymount Park, where the season without him had been a disaster for the club and they had finished bottom of the League.

As with the national side, changes were afoot at Bohemians and a historic EGM of club members in February 1969 saw the club change their constitution to allow salaries to be paid to players. One of the first salaried signings was Tony O’Connell: ‘I remember he signed me, Dinny Lowry and Johnny Fullam. My transfer was actually a first in the League of Ireland as I had bought out my contract with Dundalk to secure the move to Bohemians. No one had ever done that before [Tony was also the first semi-professional player on Bohemians’ books]. The move itself made more sense for me as I had a company in Dublin then. That first season we won the Cup under Seán.’

The arrival of some of the top talent in the League had the desired effect, as in 1970 Bohemians won their first major trophy for thirty-four years, beating Sligo Rovers 2–1 in the FAI Cup Final at the third attempt, after the first game and the replay both ended 0–0. The next three seasons saw Bohemians remain consistent in their performances, without ever really pushing forward, resulting in two third place finishes and a fourth place finish. However, under Thomas’ guidance the young squad were flourishing. Such was his talent that he even spotted a young player who would later become a top Hollywood actor. Liam Neeson was playing university football when Thomas noticed him and he was invited for a trial at the club. He even came on as a substitute in a game against Shamrock Rovers, but the world of football was to miss out as Neeson failed to impress enough to earn a contract and instead turned to a different sort of entertainment, albeit on a bigger stage.

In July 1973 Thomas resigned as manager of Bohemians after a disagreement with the club’s owners. He wouldn’t be out of the game for long, however, and when Mick Meagan and
Theo Dunne resigned from Shamrock Rovers, Thomas returned to the club where had enjoyed so much success. He won the League Cup in 1976 having re-signed Johnny Fullam and Mick Leech, as well as John Conway from Bohemians.

That League Cup-winning season of 1976–1977 saw Rovers finish the League in a disappointing eleventh position. That summer saw Thomas replaced in the Rovers hot seat by Johnny Giles, who was also the Ireland manager at that time. Thomas then wound down his career in management with spells in charge of Athlone Town, Bray Wanderers and the Wicklow junior side before he left the game for good. Although out of the game, he was not forgotten and in 1992 his achievements in the League of Ireland were acknowledged when he was awarded a Professional Footballers Association of Ireland merit award.

SEÁN THOMAS’ CLUB MANAGERIAL HONOURS RECORD:

League of Ireland: Shamrock Rovers – 1963–64
FAI Cup: Shamrock Rovers – 1962, 1964 and Bohemians – 1970
FAI League Cup: Shamrock Rovers – 1976
League of Ireland Shield: Shamrock Rovers – 1962–63, 1963–64
Top Four Cup: Bohemians – 1972
Dublin City Cup: Shamrock Rovers – 1963–64

SEÁN THOMAS’ IRELAND RECORD:

Total number of games in charge: 1
Total number of wins: 0 (ratio 0.00%)
Total number of draws: 1 (ratio 100.00%)
Total number of losses: 0 (ratio 0.00%)
Biggest win: no victories
Biggest defeat: no defeats
Longest run without defeat: 1 game

Johnny Giles is an Irish footballing version of Carlsberg: he is probably one of Ireland’s greatest ever footballers, probably one of Ireland’s greatest-ever player-managers and now probably one of Ireland’s greatest-ever football pundits. If there was ever a man who understood how the game is to be played, it is Johnny Giles. A player of the highest order, he is respected for his achievements with Ireland and for the part he played in an all-conquering Leeds United team of the 1960s under Don Revie.

Almost four decades on from his days on the pitch, Johnny is still as famous as ever, having become renowned in Ireland for his punditry work. He has formed a dream team on TV with Eamon Dunphy and Bill O’Herlihy, and his intelligent and insightful commentary makes him a firm favourite with viewers. Many people will be too young to recall his impact on the pitch, but to fans who are old enough Johnny Giles will always be remembered as being part of the great Leeds team of the 1960s and 1970s in which he formed a central-midfield partnership
with Billy Bremner and won both domestic and European trophies. Giles was a fantastic player with Leeds and Ireland, and he is one of the undoubted stars of Irish football.