Month: November 2024

Finn margins in World Cup qualifying 1950

Posted on by gerrytastic

The 1950 World Cup would enter popular memory for the wonder of the Maracanã, the vast and noisy crowds that turned up to follow their Brazilian heroes, and of course the shock result in the “final” which saw Uruguay win their second World Cup by defeating the hosts in what became known as the Maracanzo – A result which seemed to traumatise the Brazilian nation like few others.

It was also the first World Cup to be held in twelve years due to the savagery of the Second World War, and slowly a decimated Europe returned to the football fields and to World Cup qualifying groups. Most groups were two team affairs, simple home and away fixtures with the winner progressing, however Ireland were drawn in a group of three, alongside Sweden and Finland. It was to be Ireland’s first meeting with both nations.

The Swedes would have been strong favourites for the group, they had triumphed in the football tournament at the 1948 Olympics in London and featured stars like Nils Liedholm and Gunnar Gren who would find greater fame in Italy with AC Milan. The Finns, however, were something of an unknown quantity with Irish newspaper previews detailing the struggle faced by Finish football due to the harshness of the climate and the ongoing recovery from the ravages of the Second World War.

For the visit of Finland to Dublin in September of 1949, the Republic of Ireland opted for experimentation. Having been well-beaten by a strong Spanish side in a recent friendly, there was a more youthful look to the Irish team against Finland with several debutants, especially in the attack. A brand-new front five was named, with Johnny Gavin, Arthur Fitzsimons, Jim Higgins, Peter Desmond and Tommy O’Connor all listed to start. Higgins had enjoyed a blistering start to the season with Dundalk, scoring six times before August was out but had to cry off with an injury, his place being taken by Shelbourne’s Brendan Carroll.

It was to be a further changed front line as Carroll had to go off injured after 25 minutes and Paddy Daly being the only outfield player (the 12th man) available as his replacement. This prompted another reshuffle, with the ever-versatile Con Martin moving from centre-half to the centre forward role and Daly taking Martin’s place. Despite the disruption to the team there seemed to be no ill-effects on the pitch. Johnny Gavin opened proceedings with a goal direct from a corner, 21-year-old Gavin was just beginning to make his name at Norwich but he would go on to become the Norfolk club’s record goal-scorer, a distinction still held to this day.

Two more goals followed, Peter Desmond was fouled which drew a penalty and was dispatched by Con Martin before victory was sealed, this time Martin again proving his worth as a striker flicking in a header in the 68th minute from an Ireland corner. A relatively comfortable 3-0 win in front of 23,000 in Dalymount.

The return leg in October was to be a different affair, Finland’s football season was coming to a close and the harsher winter weather was already in force, Ireland were playing in a biting wind with temperatures hovering just above freezing. The FAI had spared no expense, paying over £1,000 to fly an Aer Lingus charter flight to Helsinki and despite the conditions the Irish team must have been optimistic, they had just beaten England in Goodison Park a month earlier and regular centre forward Davy Walsh was back in the starting XI.

Walsh looked to have scored early on but Dutch referee Jan Bronkhorst disallowed it for a supposed foul on the Finish keeper. Ireland did however take the lead through Everton’s Peter Farrell, slipped in by Drums’ Tim Coffey, Farrell beat his man before unleashing a fierce shot into the Finnish net on 65 minutes. Ireland remained in the lead until the last minute when Jorma Vaihela managed to bundle the ball, and a number of Irish players, into the net. The Irish team quickly protested to the referee that the Finns had fouled in the lead up to the equaliser but their laments fell on deaf ears.

Finland decided to withdraw from qualifying after the game and never faced Sweden in the group. Ireland knew they would have to beat the Swedes to force a play-off but these narrow hopes were dashed by a Calle Palmér hat-trick in Dalymount. The Swedes would go to Brazil where they would finish third behind Uruguay and the hosts while it would be another 40 years before Ireland would grace World football’s greatest stage.

This article originally featured in the match programme for Ireland v Finland in November 2024. Banner photo from the Irish Press showing Con Martin bearing down on Finnish keeper Thure Sarnola in the September 1949 game.

Keep the green flag flying – 50 years on from defeating the Soviet Union

Posted on by gerrytastic

John Giles was enthusiastic that the aligning of Ireland’s European Championship qualifying fixtures with that of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would have a beneficial effect on securing the release of players from their clubs for the upcoming match against Turkey. He made this point just after his Ireland side, playing in their first competitive game under his management had shocked European football by defeating the Soviet Union 3-0 on October 30th 1974.

Giles waxed lyrical about wanting the opportunity to work with the international team players on a weekly, even daily basis and hoped to have extra days for another opportunity for additional training ahead of the game against Turkey. Even things like the release of players and a day or two to work through set pieces wasn’t guaranteed in 1974.

The hero in that game, Don Givens, who celebrated his 25th cap with a hat-trick recalled being unable to get back to the team bus such were the crowds and didn’t know how to get to the team hotel in Booterstown so he hailed down a car in his muddy kit with a match ball under his arm. He was greeted with the inquiry as to whether he’d been “at the match?” by the driver.

Liam Brady, then an 18-year-old debutant remembered the flaking panelling in the Dalymount dressing room and the smell of liniment mixed with a waft of beer from the nearby club bar. The anxiety, and perhaps the odour meant that he recalled getting sick in the dressing room toilet prior to kick-off.

All of this perhaps sounds a far cry from modern international football but it was something of a dawning of a new era for Ireland. Giles had taken charge mere months earlier, had impressed in a series of friendlies, and was now player-manager leading the bid for Euro 76 qualification in a group featuring the Soviet Union, Switzerland and Turkey. Almost exactly 15 years earlier a teenaged Giles had scored on his debut in a victory over Sweden, now he was in charge on and off the pitch as Ireland took on the world’s largest nation featuring such stars as Oleg Blokhin who would win the Ballon D’Or just months later.

One of the Irish centre-backs that day, Terry Mancini, had praised Giles for his training techniques and the “tremendously professional atmosphere and attitude – as good as any team in the world”. As chance would have it, the Arsenal defender wouldn’t get to experience much more of the Ireland dressing room, a sending off for retaliating against Soviet defender Volodymyr Kaplychnyi saw his international career ended by a four-match ban.

During the game itself the 35,000 spectators were treated to scintillating, confident football by the Irish, with one commentator describing the interplay between Giles and Brady, master and student, as almost arrogant! It was claimed in reports that this was the game that brought Irish football in from the cold and gave Dalymount back its roar.

The crowd had just 23 minutes to wait for the first goal, a delightful ball in from Joe Kinnear, who excelled in marshalling Blokhin as well as joining the attack, which found the head of Givens who powered it home. Five quick passes cutting open the Soviets to give Ireland the lead. The second arrived on the half hour courtesy of the indefatigable Ray Treacy, who’s cross was flicked on by Steve Heighway to present Givens with a simple finish.

However, there was some concern two minutes later when Mancini and Kaplychnyi were sent off. Could Ireland’s 4-3-3 formation adapt to being down a centre half? Mick Martin, filled in ably, switching from midfield to defence, and Ireland managed to weather a Soviet storm in the first period of the second-half and any fears of a comeback were allayed on 70 minutes as Giles’s precise and quickly taken free found the Soviet defence asleep and Don Givens secured his hat-trick.

Through the late 60s and early 70s Irish fans had little reason to be cheerful, 50 years ago a new manager, and a shock result helped the Green army to find their voice and hope again.

This article originally appeared in the Ireland v Finland match programme in November 2024