Gaffers (9 page)

‘The team was picked, so the role of the manager was just to give the team talk and tell us we were going to play 4–4–2, or whatever formation they’d decided on. There was no training sessions beforehand, and there was no preparation. It was a different world. There was no bench made up of substitutes, and certainly any substitutes that did come on were purely due to injury. Tactical substitutions did not really exist then.

‘It was 1972 before we saw the UEFA rules that we have today, at which point players were released by their clubs after the Saturday game and played with Ireland midweek, giving the manager two days of build-up to work and prepare with the players. UEFA knew they had to create a level playing field, and that if they wanted to take the game forward, they had to introduce the rules, but it changed the emphasis and preparation for games.’

Turlough O’Connor was in awe when he was called into the squad: ‘I made my debut under Charlie Hurley. At that time I was with Fulham. I never got a call-up when I was playing League of Ireland football, and then when I actually was called up I had been out for three weeks with a small injury, so I was not one of the form players, you could say. Vic Buckingham was Fulham manager at the time, and I remember the FAI contacted him and told him I had been called into the squad. Charlie had very little influence on who was picked, but it was still a massive honour for me.

‘I was a young lad, only twenty-one, and had played for Athlone and Bohemians. While growing up, I watched players such as Mick Meagan, Alan Kelly and Terry Conroy. These were the guys we all read about in the papers, and they were all heroes to me, so to pull on the Ireland shirt and to be suddenly surrounded by them was a massive privilege.

‘I was not 100 per cent fit, so Vic said he would leave the decision up to me. I decided I could not turn the opportunity down, so I flew over from London. Charlie was player-manager at the time, and I remember he started himself in the game. There was not a lot of input from Charlie beforehand, but he would tell us what position he wanted us to play in, getting the shape of the team right. He would tell us to put our hearts into it and that we were playing for our country. Those were difficult times for Ireland, but we still had some great players.

‘I remember we played against Czechoslovakia, as they were known at the time. They only needed a draw to qualify for the 1968 European Championship. They went a goal ahead before Ray Treacy scored to equalise. Then, with four minutes to go, I netted the winner. It was a great feeling to score on your debut for your country. Afterwards we were sitting with Charlie, and he said to us, “A lot of you lads are only starting out in the game, but I don’t care how long you are in football, you will never be involved in a better win for Ireland.” It was another thirteen years before Ireland actually won another competitive away match [3–2 against Cyprus in March 1980], so it puts everything into context as to how hard it was at that time.

‘We had John Dempsey, who was with Chelsea, Mick
Meagan and Eamon Dunphy, who was a good passer of the ball and a fine player. We also had Ray Treacy up front, so we did have some really good players in the team in those days.

‘But it was great to play and put on an Ireland shirt. I was very proud. I flew back to London after the game and discovered I had developed a groin problem, which ended up being operated on a week later and meant I was out of action for a while, but it was worth it.’

The time for change was coming, and although there were some impressive performances under Hurley, the highlight being the win over Czechoslovakia, the suggestion was that he did not do enough to make the role his own. He could always hold his head high, though. Even in defeat Ireland were always in the game and not being his own man in terms of choosing the team was a definite handicap.

It is interesting to note that before the appointment of Mick Meagan, an article appeared in the
Irish Independent
in May 1969 that suggested that it was perhaps time to move Ireland forward and appoint Hurley as team manager, allowing him to pick the squad. The article went on to mention that Hurley had discovered on the eve of a game with Denmark that a player had been called into the team without his knowledge and had to be included in the side. This lack of input and control made conditions hard for him, and he could never develop the side or his own career as a manager under such a regime.

MODERN-DAY HERO

Following his retirement from the game Charlie Hurley was
part of the after-dinner circuit of ex-players. In October 2006, on his seventieth birthday, Sunderland renamed the Chairman’s Suite the Charlie Hurley Suite in honour of their king.

CHARLIE HURLEY’S CLUB MANAGERIAL HONOURS RECORD:

No management honours

CHARLIE HURLEY’S IRELAND RECORD:

Total number of games in charge: 8
Total number of wins: 1 (ratio 12.50%)
Total number of draws: 2 (ratio 25.00%)
Total number of losses: 5 (ratio 62.50%)
Biggest win: 2–1
v
. Czechoslovakia
Biggest defeat: 2–0
v
. Czechoslovakia and Hungary
Longest run without defeat: 2 games

If you are ever at a quiz and the following question comes up, ‘Who was the first manager of the Republic of Ireland senior soccer team with control over the team?’ jot down the name Mick Meagan. Not only will you impress those around you, but you will also get a point. For although the big names of Johnny Carey, Charlie Hurley and Noel Cantwell all sat in the dugout from 1951 to 1969, Meagan was the first man actually to manage the team, taking charge from September 1969 to October 1971. However, it was not all sweetness and light for Meagan, as his reign was marred by a lack of victories, and despite being a history-maker, the Ireland team under his management failed to live up to its potential.

His reign as Ireland boss was a plethora of firsts besides his appointment as manager in sole charge of the team. Meagan oversaw the first ever dismissal of an Ireland player when John Dempsey was sent off in an international against Hungary. His period in office then saw Steve Heighway become Ireland’s youngest-ever international when Heighway played against
Poland at Dalymount Park, and less than a year later the record was broken again when Meagan handed the then seventeen-year-old Jimmy Holmes a cap as a substitute in a game against Austria.

So, while his results might not have been top mark, the changes that Ireland craved were slowly coming to the fore, and Meagan was the catalyst for that change. A quiet and laid-back man, he was popular with the players and seemed to be an excellent choice for manager.

EARLY YEARS

Born in Dublin, Mick started his career in football as a left-winger, signing for Everton in 1952; once on Merseyside he was soon converted to left-back, but he had to wait until the 1957– 58 season to make his League debut. Although not guaranteed a first-team place, he stayed with the club until 1964 when he was transferred to Huddersfield Town in a part exchange deal for Ray Wilson.

One of his longest runs in the team coincided with the return to Everton’s trophy-winning ways. The 1962–63 season saw Meagan play thirty-two times at left-back as the club won the League title for the first time since the Second World War. This was to be his last season with Everton, and after his spell with Huddersfield Town he joined Halifax Town, whom he helped to promotion from the Fourth Division.

Meagan’s international debut came in May 1961 when he was chosen to play at left-back during a World Cup qualifier against Scotland at Hampden Park. Although Ireland lost 4–1, Meagan
impressed enough to be selected to play in the return game the following week at Dalymount Park. By the end of his international career, Meagan had played for Ireland seventeen times.

After leaving Halifax Town in 1969, Mick returned to Ireland to become player-manager for Drogheda United, whom he led to their first FAI Cup final and he stayed there until 1974, when he moved to Shamrock Rovers. As well as playing for the Milltown-based team, he was also player-manager from 1974 to 1976, along with Theo Dunne. Although his return to the club was not the success many had hoped for, there are two games that stand out. The first one was when Rovers defeated Japan 3–2 in front of 60,000 spectators when touring that country, while the second saw history being made when Meagan played on the same team as his son Mark in the FAI Cup.

Mark Meagan grew up with a League winner for a father and always knew he wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps. He played League of Ireland football for Shamrock Rovers, Waterford United, Athlone Town and Kilkenny City, winning a League title with Athlone under Turlough O’Connor. But it was the club his father was managing at the time, Shamrock Rovers, that he signed for as a sixteen-year-old, making his way in the game for the first time: ‘I remember it well, actually. Mick and the team were over in Japan with Rovers, and Dinny Lowry was in charge of the second team. They invited me down to train with them. It was difficult and wonderful at the same time. Mick was a perfectionist on the pitch and a huge influence on me and my career. I think as a manager he still wanted to be one of the boys and found it hard to distance himself from the players. Mick just wanted to play football and leave the team selection to other people.

‘The game before we played together and made FAI history, I had played a stinker and was quite rightly substituted. Mick had not played in that game, and I was not expecting to be picked for the replay, but, luckily enough, I got in. We had drawn with St Patrick’s Athletic 1–1 in Richmond, but we lost the replay 4–1. I played midfield that day. It was a great feeling to share the pitch with Mick, although it would have been nicer to have won.’

HISTORY IS MADE

In 1969 Mick Meagan became the first manager of the Republic of Ireland to be able to pick his own team. The top players, including Johnny Giles, had become frustrated with the FAI’s approach and had battled for a team manager with real power to be appointed. The FAI eventually gave the players their wish, bringing in Meagan, although a compromise was made: the selectors would continue to select the panel from which Meagan would then choose a starting XI. The committee’s influence was still a major factor in the make-up of the team, as was the voice of the crowd, which had the power to sway the selectors’ choices.

Alfie Hale was one of the players who put the pressure on the FAI that would eventually lead to change: ‘I actually sat on the committee that put the strategy in place to change the structure of the way things were being managed. I was back in League of Ireland football then, and I remember Frank O’Neill and Johnny Giles were on the committee too. We had the full backing of the players. The likes of England had a full-time
manager, although Wales and Scotland only had part-time managers like us, but they had more say. I suppose one of the reasons it hadn’t happened sooner was down to money. I don’t think the FAI had a lot in those days.

‘So the players got together and put their opinions to the FAI on how the team should be run. Johnny Giles had become a big player in England, and his opinion carried weight. All the players wanted Mick Meagan as manager. He was definitely the popular choice, although I am not too sure that Mick himself wanted the job.’

Meagan was determined to be his own man and even seemed to have defied the committee, who had ordered him to leave himself out of the team, by picking himself. However, Meagan states this was not the case: ‘A lot of the team played in England in those days, and you always had lads who cried off, so the selectors asked me if I would play, and of course I said yes. After that game the players had a meeting with the selectors, and they agreed to take it a step further and the role of manager changed to allow him to pick the team, although the selectors retained control over the squad selection.’