Gaffers (4 page)

‘I was a workhorse of a player. I won the tackle and passed the ball to the more creative players. It was the donkey work, as you might call it. But I grabbed the opportunity and never looked back.’

Like many Irish footballers, Mick Leech started his career as a fan of the team that Ireland had under Carey: ‘I started supporting Ireland when the likes of Peter Farrell and Tommy Eglington were in the team. They were at Everton, who were a big club at that time. I remember going over with my dad to see them play. We wanted to be back for the St Patrick’s Athletic game on the Sunday, so we would watch the game on the Saturday in Liverpool, then come back on the mail boat. I
remember seeing both Peter and Tommy on those mail boats when they were coming back for internationals. It was the same for my generation of footballers in England and Scotland. There were no private jets or planes to get you around the country, but you did it because you loved playing for your country. These were great footballers and big names at the time. They were involved in the Ireland set-up at the start of Johnny’s reign.’

Johnny Carey was a great player, but, sadly, he was only a name as a manager. Alfie Hale recalls: ‘He was handed the team sheet on the day and told to sort out the positions, and even then that was sorted for him. His role was not befitting for such a great man. All he had to do was give a pep talk to the players.

‘Looking back, it was hard to understand the selection committee’s teams at times. I remember that two of the best players never to get capped by Ireland were my own brother, Dixie Hale, and John O’Neill, and I think both players suffered because they did not go to England. Dixie had been chased by Arsenal but was a bit misadvised by my father, I think, as he stayed in Ireland and played for Shamrock Rovers. He was capped at youth level and also at inter-League level, as was John, but neither got full caps. It was a travesty, and for me it shows that the system had its flaws.

‘If you played in England, it seemed to guarantee you a cap. Before I went over to England, I had played amateur football in the League of Ireland and had made it to inter-League level but had never got a call-up. Then I was at Villa and struggling to establish myself in the first team, yet I won my first international cap for the Republic of Ireland. I hadn’t even been there twelve months, but I had received some good write-ups, so I was called up to the Ireland team.

‘The committee in those days picked the squad, and you could say they were made up of a dozen wise men. You were either a victim or you were lucky. I got fourteen caps, and I can tell you I didn’t deserve half of them, but there are ones I missed out on that I should have got. You were at the whim of the selectors.’

A lot of people will not be over-familiar with some of the players that Ireland had in the 1950s and 1960s. Johnny Carey is the obvious name that springs to mind when you think about that era, but as you delve into the history books you realise that Irish players were having a big impact in England at the time. Arthur Fitzsimons was one such player. An old-school inside-right, he had a magnificent career, playing for Middlesbrough, Lincoln City and Mansfield, as well as coaching in Libya during what were difficult times in the Middle East.

Arthur also played for ten years for the Republic of Ireland, six of them under the guidance of Johnny Carey. He is a living legend of the Irish game, an FAI hall of famer whose career in English football began when he signed for Middlesbrough in 1949. But Arthur’s life as a footballer began down in the Ringsend area of Dublin when he played in the minor league with Johnsville, who were managed by the legendary Jim Kennedy. After progressing to League of Ireland football with Shelbourne, Arthur was soon spotted by David Jack, who was Middlesbrough manager and also the first man ever to score at Wembley. Following the mandatory couple of years that most young players require to settle in, he finally made the breakthrough into the first team and then got the call-up to the Ireland squad.

‘In those days the FAI contacted the club and told them that you had been called into the squad and that the details would follow. I was based in the north-east at that stage and
had the furthest to travel of any of the players in the squad. I remember playing a game on the Saturday and then getting a train to Darlington, where I changed for Liverpool and then, finally, I had to get the B&I ferry home to Ireland.

‘Peter Farrell and Tommy Eglington were based in Liverpool in those days, and they would often get the earlier ferry. On the odd occasion, they would say to the head man that I was on the way and ask him to keep a cabin for me because we had a big game the next day and I needed the sleep. It was lovely to get a cabin, and I felt a lot better for the game.

‘I would arrive in Dublin at 7 a.m., and then I would pop home to see my mother, get a half an hours sleep and head to Mass before the team all met up in the Gresham at 12 noon for lunch. Johnny Carey would give his talk to the players and tell us what position he wanted us to play in. He was a great ambassador for Ireland and Irish football, and there was a lot of respect for him amongst the players and the FAI.

‘Even though Johnny would give you direction, it was often very difficult to carry out. You see, sometimes you had to follow the way a game was going and get on the ball and dictate the tempo. At the end of the day, it was about winning matches.

‘I think one of the finest collective performances ever by an Irish team came in the 1–1 draw with England in 1957. England had beaten us 5–1 in London two weeks earlier and only needed a point to secure their place in the 1958 World Cup finals, while if we won, we would have had to beat Denmark to force a play-off [Ireland beat Denmark 2–0 the following October]. Everyone gave it their all that day, and we were 1–0 up through Alf Ringstead. The crowd were unbelievable and really got behind the team, the noise in the stands was unreal. We thought we had won when deep in stoppage time England scored.

‘We were so disappointed. We had given it everything. We were all blaming each other in the changing-room, but Johnny just told us he was very proud of us. It was a super bunch of players in the team that day. There was great team spirit, and we all used to have great craic together.

‘I had played at inside-right in the game we’d lost in London, with the late Liam Whelan at inside-left. Johnny was concerned that Duncan Edwards might get too much respect from Liam in the second match, so he moved me to inside-left and Liam to the right. It worked a treat, and Duncan barely got a look in. This showed how aware of the game Johnny was. He had great football knowledge, although he was very relaxed. It was the finest game I ever played in. Sadly, both Liam and Duncan later died in the Munich air disaster. It was such a shame, as they were two fine players and two fine men.

‘I was a constant member of the panel and played twenty-six games for Ireland. However, it was not like nowadays, when there are a lot of games in a season. In those days you really had to work hard to accumulate your caps.’

Al Finucane played in Johnny Carey’s last match in charge, a 2–1 defeat to Turkey: ‘He said nothing to us at the end of the game, and it was not until we read it in the papers a couple of weeks later that we found out that he had resigned from the role.

‘I had been called into the squad at the last minute. Manchester United’s Tony Dunne had pulled out because of injury, so Mick Twomey, who was the Limerick FC chairman in those days, got a call from the FAI, and he in turn rang me
and told me to make my way up to Dublin. I had played well in an Ireland Under-23 match against France, and this is what must have impressed the selectors.

‘When we got over to Turkey, I was under the impression that I would be on the bench, but then I found out that I was starting. Johnny just told me that I would start. He said nothing more to me, no bit of advice or anything. We just had a team meeting, and he named the starting XI, and I was to play at the back.’

When his life in football ended, Johnny went on to work for a textile company and then in the treasurer’s office of Trafford Borough Council. The influence he had on the game still prevails today, and the fact remains that Johnny Carey is one of Ireland’s greatest-ever players and will forever be remembered as a legend for Manchester United and for Ireland. Carey passed away in August 1996 at the age of seventy-six.

JOHNNY CAREY’S CLUB MANAGERIAL HONOURS RECORD:

No management honours

JOHNNY CAREY’S IRELAND RECORD:

Total number of games in charge: 45
Total number of wins: 17 (ratio 37.78%)
Total number of draws: 7 (ratio 15.55%)
Total number of losses: 21 (ratio 46.67%)
Biggest win: 4–1
v
. Holland, 4–1
v
. Norway
Biggest defeat: 1–7
v
. Czechoslovakia
Longest run without defeat: 5 games

Over the years, Cork has produced some of Ireland’s best soccer players, with Roy Keane and Denis Irwin as two who stand out. However, long before my time watching football, the names of Charlie Hurley and Noel Cantwell were the cherries on top of the cake that was Irish football. Noel and Charlie were fantastic players and played at the highest level, while they were obviously proud of their Irish heritage and played their hearts out when they put on the green shirt of Ireland. Both men were natural leaders, and it was no surprise that they had such a standing in the game. When Johnny Carey stood down from his managerial role with Ireland in 1967, the FAI, lacking any clear direction in which to turn, approached Noel and Charlie to become the figureheads of the national team and co-manage the side for a double-header against Czechoslovakia. Whether either man wanted this or not is not clear; however, when the FAI asked them to be player–coaches, such was their love of the national team that they could not say no. The FAI eventually opted to appoint Noel as sole manager in October 1967.

As former Ireland international Alfie Hale put it: ‘After Johnny Carey, Noel Cantwell and Charlie Hurley had come in and taken control of the team, but they had no real power. They did their best with what they were given, but the power was still with the selectors. Not much had changed. All they did was marshal the team on the day, but they lobbied the FAI for change. Both Noel and Charlie tried to make a big impact on the FAI.’

Noel Cantwell was a true leader and a natural sportsman, who was respected by his fellow footballers, managers and fans alike. Along with Roy Keane and Johnny Carey, he is one of the legendary Irish captains of Manchester United and Ireland. However, Noel was not content with just enjoying success with one of the biggest clubs in world football or with captaining his country, he was also an all-rounder and could have played any number of sports to a high level. While in Cork, he played for Cork Bohemians Cricket Club, making it to the Ireland team as a left-handed batsman and a right-arm, medium-pace bowler. He played five times for his country, making his debut in what was his only first-class match, against Scotland in Edinburgh in 1956, scoring 31 and 17 not out in a game that ended in a draw. In 1958 he was the top scorer for Ireland in a game against New Zealand. His last match for his country was against Lancashire in July 1959.

However, football was his first calling, and such was his knowledge of the game that Cantwell was a rare breed of footballer, a man who believed in tactics and strategy. He wanted to play good football based on the way the game was played in Europe and Brazil. While a member of the Ireland team, he championed the rights of the players and wanted better conditions for his fellow teammates. His time with United earned him respect, while
his role with the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) in England gave him the clout and political diplomacy that were needed to push the boundaries of the committees operating within Ireland.