IN AROUND THE HOUSE | OneFootball

Formative Years

“Formative is a word that describes something that made you who/what you are. You might call your adolescence your formative years because that had such a strong influence on the rest of your life”.

The Early Years

In my contribution to the match day programme on Friday 12 May 2017 v Athlone Town (which Shels won 2-1), I wrote of my early days as a football supporter and I am returning to that subject for tonight’s programme. My father took myself and my late Brother Brendan to League of Ireland matches from the time we were very young age, maybe 4/5 years old. Support in the family for Shelbourne stretches back almost to the formation of our club in 1895, in the south inner city area. I was born a Shelbourne supporter. The connection with the club was strengthened when Brendan turned out for the Reds at minor and reserve team levels in the mid-sixties. I went to school at the CBS Westland Row where any involvement or support with what the brothers termed “the Garrison Game” was discouraged and belittled. Needless to say they failed.

When Sunday Comes

A pattern was set of going to watch League of Ireland every Sunday. If Shelbourne were playing outside of Dublin, we’d watch another team in the capital city. The League consisted of as many as six Dublin teams (Shels, Rovers, Drums, Pats, Bohs and Transport) so we had plenty of choice. There was a real buzz of excitement going to matches played before huge crowds. The eleven players starting a game, numbered 1 to 11, would be the same that finished the game unless a player was sent off or carried off injured. Injured players invariably finished the game in the outside left position. Substitutes for injured players weren’t allowed in the game of Association-Football until the mid-sixties. For that reason, League of Ireland supporters were very familiar with every team and every player in the League. They could watch every team in the league several times in the season if they so wished. The routine on Sunday was to get to the ground early, be lifted over the turnstiles, and take up our position at the perimeter wall on the half way line. It was fascinating and very exciting stuff for two very young boys and a very special part of our childhood. My father would make his way up the terraces and stand behind a barrier.

Colourful Characters and Industrial Language

Every team in the league had some good players and very colourful characters who loved nothing better than playing to the gallery. There was a repartee between the players and the fans. The language, while sometimes coarse and vulgar, was nothing like the bile and vitriol you hear nowadays. A dirty or rough player on the opposing team would be called a Muck Bird, a Bowsie, a Blackguard or a sly dirty bas…d with the F word thrown for good measure. A player going down feigning injury was told to get off your knees, “you’re not at Mass now”. A player about to be tackled from behind was told to, ”Mind your house” or just “housey-housey”.

Crowds

The support for football in the country in general was huge and most games were very well attended. However, when it came to top of the table clashes, Dublin Derbies, European competitions, Inter-League and International matches were truly massive. In 1962, in the space of three days a combined crowd of more than 50,000 watched Shels v Rovers in the FAI Cup final on a Sunday and Shels v Cork Celtic in a League Title Play-off on the following Wednesday. In 1963, a League of Ireland XI attracted an attendance in excess of 30,000 for a mid-week fixture. However, those figures were dwarfed compared to the 48,000 jammed into Dalymount Park for a full international fixture with England in May 1964. Our own Freddie Strahan scored our only goal in a 1-3 defeat. The English never heard of him and my guess is that neither did half of his compatriots.

The Hail Mary Ball

Very often with time running out and you team is awarded a late free kick or a corner kick, all the players were urged on by the crowd to, “Get in the Box”, ” Hang it at the far post”. This would continue until all players were in the box, except the free taker and the goal keeper, who was told to stay at home and mind the shop. The roar from the crowd would go up a few notches with shouts of,” In Around the house, in around the house” witch the excitement reaching fever pitch until the kick was taken. In variably, nothing ever came of it and the whole thing would be a huge anti-climax. The free-taker or the forward who failed to get a good connection with the ball would be called a useless tosser. It was all done in desperation with only a small chance of success with time on the clock ticking down. It was often called the “Hail Mary Ball”. Hope and pray. Another amusing chant came with the match over and the crowd pouring down the terraces and heading out towards the exits, it all became one big crush. Once in the crush you couldn’t move backwards, the shouts would go up “Mind the Kids, Mind the Kids”. Nobody ever heeded the calls and you just hoped to reach the front intact.

Media

Next day, morning and evening, the broadsheets gave excellent full back coverage of all games played the previous day. The results of the day were read out on the radio on Sunday evening immediately after the 6.30pm news with reports from all around the country.

Nostalgia

The reality is that nostalgia takes you back to your favourite moments plus experiences, and scrubs out all the rubbish. As a result it brings the feel good factor. So, when somebody tells you that something was so much better, well, was it really? Maybe not. However, tell the kids of today about the atmosphere generated at games or the huge numbers attending, it is something they cannot possibly comprehend. The fact is football in this country did exist long before the Jack Charlton era and Sky Sports.