THE STORY BEGINS

It was a ball that started it.

Not any old ball, but a bright new glossy football with black insert panels- a present from an uncle of mine who had just returned from a holiday in Spain. What made this ball so special was that it was leather. A new leather multi-coloured soccer ball from Spain was, in those days, something special.

At the time leather balls were generally only available to established teams and schools. Normal kick-around games, many of which took place on streets or local greens, generally used a plastic ball (the best at the time being a Mayco, made I think in Mayo, and later being followed by the classic must-have Wembley ball from Clery’s basement). Having a nice new leather ball was no use unless one could use it by playing matches on grass and hence the dream was born.

It was September 1965.

GETTING STARTED

At the time I had just entered secondary school in Synge St. where we played Gaelic football once a week. On occasions a group from a couple of classes would play soccer in the school yard after school and thus a number of potential soccer players were identified for a “real” game.

As I had the ball and the driving desire to get a game started, I assumed the role of organiser and set about arranging regular games in Bushy Park on a Saturday afternoon.

Bushy Park was chosen because I knew it well and the location suited the potential players. In these early days the games were generally confined to people from Synge St and their friends and in that first season took place initially every three to four weeks but, as the season progressed, eventually became a weekly event.

Attendances varied, but I have vivid recollections of turn-outs of five.

Many a day we waited with three or four players hoping others would show, but the game always went on, even at two – a – side. Just imagine the selection difficulties!

Games generally started at 2.30- 3.00 but finishing time was a variable feast.

I recall one particular game that started around 2.30 and finished at 6.45.

With the emphasis on attacking play, scorelines in the high 20s were not uncommon.

EXPANDING THE BASE

The World Cup was held in England in 1966 and being widely televised, gave the first real exposure to tv soccer to many. This brought a new enthusiasm to playing and attendances increased significantly when school re-opened after the summer holidays in September 1966. The Game had established a group of regulars in those early years, mainly from Synge St and included Philip Ward, Vincent Flynn, and Tony Hynes (the first of the Hynes dynasty).

It was around this time that we started to see the beginning of the feeder system which has continued to deliver new players to the Game over the years.

Two of the early year players were Paddy Sullivan (a fit young man in those days before discovering other of life’s pleasures) and Eamon Manning (a goal keeper when nobody wanted to play in goal). Each became a source of new talent. I still remember the day that Paddy arrived with a number of new players in tow, and following ten steps behind, that included Tom Magee and John “ Doc “ Connolly. These had played together on a boys team called the ‘Manor Minnies’ in their local area. This area proved to be a good source of new players with Paul Homan and later John Mc Loughlin, both of whom became regulars joining from the same youth academy.

Eamon Manning lived in Rathfarnham, which turned out to be another great area for sourcing players over the years. We already had one Rathfarnham star in John Kerins (the trickiest of wingers in his day and an ever-present on Saturdays) but through these Rathfarnham contacts we got Peter Stanley, the tough-tackling Tom Rowan, his even tougher tackling brother Mick, and Eamon’s brother Donal.

A number of us later played league football for Rathfarnham Youth Club.

In much later years this Rathfarnham link was to bring George Hanley and Norman Ridgeway to join the Game

THE LONE RANGER

No history of the Game would be complete without a reference to that Lonliest of Lone Rangers called George (although his real name was Jim) who patrolled his patch over most of our early years.

The decision as to whether or not games were playable was determined to a large extent by the degree of moisture in George rather than the degree of moisture on the ground. In those days, before the practice of putting notices on the gate re playability of pitches, it was not uncommon to find George arrive on creaking bike and clad in navy overcoat and obligatory cap when a game was only 15 or 20 mins old -- to tell us that the ground was not playable. On his better days a bit of sweet-talk worked.

On other days nothing worked.

I still have a clear memory of a Tuesday afternoon in mid-winter when Paddy, Tom and myself were engaged in extra-curricular activities in the park. Despite the fact that we were literally the only people in the park, George arrived to put us out because we were ruining the grass.

The arrival of George presented real difficulties in terms of keeping a game going as we had, at that stage, not acquired an away pitch.

Our fall-back position when evicted, was to take our chances in the corner of Terenure College grounds which we managed to get away with on many occasions.

THE EMERGENCE OF A SECOND GAME

The home pitch for all of those early years was parallel to Templeogue Road, with extensive changing facilities available in the trees. This was before the Corporation’s “ improvements” to the boundary of the park.

Around 1967/68 another group started to play at the Gaelic pitch just inside the side gate. When this group started they seemed to concentrate on messing around with a rugby ball but also played some soccer.

When numbers were small we occasionally brought the two groups together but generally speaking the two groups kept apart. This group also developed over the years and eventually became incorporated in our original Game.

This group had two very fine players in their early years, one by the name of Gerry (?) and the other called, I think, John Dunne -- who thought he was Ireland’s answer to George Best.

Although John was a Manchester United supporter he interestingly wore an Everton jersey.

In those early years it was not at all common to have a Team jersey from an English football team.

They were not as readily available as today and when available were quite expensive. I was the proud owner of a Manchester United 1968 European Cup jersey which was great but it had faded a little by 1980.

Popular boots of the day were Blackthorn or Donaghies Banthams.

I remember with pride my first Adidas and my first screw-in stud and John Dunne’s wrap-around George Best boots with side lacing.

Ah Dem wus the daze.

THE REGULARS

Over those early years many players came and went but we developed a hard-core of regulars and games generally had 14-20 players. In addition to the many mentioned above we also got new players from independent souces.

Two regulars who came were Hughie (O’ Donoghue?) and Peter O’Reilly who had amazing dribbling skills.

We were also joined by two talented brothers Kevin and Brendan Lyons who became core members and also by players like Tony Reddy from Synge St.

THE “INTERNATIONALS”

We had a strong core of regular players, some with very good ability and had some really high-quality games. I got the idea that it might be fun to organise ourselves in to a Team and play some “International“ matches against other Teams.

These started in 1969.

In all we played, I think, five or six matches and lost only one.

The opposition was generally sourced through my contacts in school.

Although I did not realise it at the time, one of these Internationals had particular significance to the future of the Game. We played one game which we comfortably won, and promptly forgot about, against a Rathgar selection assembled by my classmate John Morrissy.

This game,however, resulted in linkages which over the years provided an ongoing source of new players to include John’s brother Dermot, Gary O’Sullivan, Gary O’Dea (and later brother Ronan, and cousins Pascal and Eamon), Derek Wall, Joe D’Arcy, Gerry Traynor and many more.

Little did we know at the time the significance this game would have in the longer term future of the Game.

THE AWAY PITCH

Not alone did this International result in new players but it also led us to a new alternative set of pitches in Dodder Park (Upr. and Lr.). In bad winters when Bushy was not available these always provided an alternative source of football—and occasionally a swimming opportunity to retrieve the ball after some over-enthusiastic shooting efforts.

These areas were generally ranger-free.

The combination of these and Bushy effectively meant that games could take place almost every week. The pitches also brought some new local players- most notably Tony Murphy and the one-and-only Everton (Evo).

THE STORY CONTINUES

Over the years the Game had become a solid fixture with a regular group of core players and regular attendances to provide good games every week. We continued to attract new players from our various sources and from casual passers-by.

It was in this next period that a whole new group of players started to join.

We got Eddie Bourke, big brother (and I mean Big brother) of younger brother Mick. Gerry “Trigger” Wade and his “Tonto “ Frank Hollingsworth, Brian Geoghegan, John Hunt, Paul and Tony Whistler, Shay Healy and Dennis O’ Hare, Graham (?) and Greg Murphy.

Team picking and general organising was generally done by John and myself, although I seemed to have the unfortunate knack of picking the wrong hand on a regular basis. Not that it mattered, games were lively affairs, well attended, and generally enjoyed by all.

OLYMPUS

As we approached the end of the seventies, a number of our players were playing competitive league football on Sundays and the Game on Saturdays. The idea of a league team being formed from Bushy Park players started to emerge from those not already involved in league football.

To discuss same a meeting was called in Gary O’Sullivan’s house at which Paddy Sullivan and myself attended to advise (as we had already played for a number of league teams over the years).

John and Gary generally led the initiative and tried to take the necessary steps to obtain league membership, registration, a ground, gear etc.

They were successful in their efforts and Olympus F.C. was formed. (Interestingly enough, at the first meeting names for a possible team were discussed and I suggested Oylmpic, which later was remembered as Olympus—probably having regard to Gary’s expertise in Patent legislation to avoid paying royalties to me!).

Olympus got up-and-running and provided league football to the Bushy regulars in addition to the Game which continued every Saturday. I have a strong personal memory of Olympus which I would rather not have.

I still remember the Thursday night when I got a call to the house to “Guest” for Olympus in a league game (a “Banger” in other words). I did my duty to help and in my one and only game for Olympus damaged a medial knee ligament which was to keep me out of football for three years.

BROTHERLY LOVE

A feature of the game over the years has been the involvement of brothers and I attempt to list them

(but apologies to those I might have missed)

Eamonn and Donal Manning; Tom and Mick Rowan; Kevin and Brendan Lyons; Tony and Paul Whistler; Eddie and Mick; Tony, John and Brendan Hynes; Gary and Ronan; John and Dermot Morrissy; Eugene, Brendan and Frank Monahan; Norman, Peter and Sean Ridgeway; Peter and Michael Crosbie.

As time has moved on we have seen the emergence of Father-Son combinations.

Will we ever see the Father-Son- Grandson combination I wonder?

THE FUTURE

The history from Olympus on should be written at a later date.

The Game will, incredibly, be forty years in existence in September of this year.

Through those forty years many players have got endless hours of enjoyment from something that started as a simple idea to have a game of football. Many lasting friendships have been made and many memories and fond recollections formed.

I have set out my preliminary recollections of those early years, which I can hopefully add to at a later date.

I have no doubt forgotten some players who made particularly strong contributions.

To these I owe my apologies

Derek Brady (10/01/2005)






				THE STORY BEGINS It was a ball that started it. Not any old ball, but a bright new glossy football with black insert panels- a present from an uncle of mine who had just returned from a holiday in Spain. What made this ball so special was that it was leather. A new leather multi-coloured soccer ball from Spain was, in those days, something special. At the time leather balls were generally only available to established teams and schools. Normal kick-around games, many of which took place on streets or local greens, generally used a plastic ball (the best at the time being a Mayco, made I think in Mayo, and later being followed by the classic must-have Wembley ball from Clery’s basement). Having a nice new leather ball was no use unless one could use it by playing matches on grass and hence the dream was born. It was September 1965. GETTING STARTED At the time I had just entered secondary school in Synge St. where we played Gaelic football once a week. On occasions a group from a couple of classes would play soccer in the school yard after school and thus a number of potential soccer players were identified for a “real” game. As I had the ball and the driving desire to get a game started, I assumed the role of organiser and set about arranging regular games in Bushy Park on a Saturday afternoon. Bushy Park was chosen because I knew it well and the location suited the potential players. In these early days the games were generally confined to people from Synge St and their friends and in that first season took place initially every three to four weeks but, as the season progressed, eventually became a weekly event. Attendances varied, but I have vivid recollections of turn-outs of five. Many a day we waited with three or four players hoping others would show, but the game always went on, even at two – a – side. Just imagine the selection difficulties! Games generally started at 2.30- 3.00 but finishing time was a variable feast. I recall one particular game that started around 2.30 and finished at 6.45. With the emphasis on attacking play, scorelines in the high 20s were not uncommon. EXPANDING THE BASE The World Cup was held in England in 1966 and being widely televised, gave the first real exposure to tv soccer to many. This brought a new enthusiasm to playing and attendances increased significantly when school re-opened after the summer holidays in September 1966. The Game had established a group of regulars in those early years, mainly from Synge St and included Philip Ward, Vincent Flynn, and Tony Hynes (the first of the Hynes dynasty). It was around this time that we started to see the beginning of the feeder system which has continued to deliver new players to the Game over the years. Two of the early year players were Paddy Sullivan (a fit young man in those days before discovering other of life’s pleasures) and Eamon Manning (a goal keeper when nobody wanted to play in goal). Each became a source of new talent. I still remember the day that Paddy arrived with a number of new players in tow, and following ten steps behind, that included Tom Magee and John “ Doc “ Connolly. These had played together on a boys team called the ‘Manor Minnies’ in their local area. This area proved to be a good source of new players with Paul Homan and later John Mc Loughlin, both of whom became regulars joining from the same youth academy. Eamon Manning lived in Rathfarnham, which turned out to be another great area for sourcing players over the years. We already had one Rathfarnham star in John Kerins (the trickiest of wingers in his day and an ever-present on Saturdays) but through these Rathfarnham contacts we got Peter Stanley, the tough-tackling Tom Rowan, his even tougher tackling brother Mick, and Eamon’s brother Donal. A number of us later played league football for Rathfarnham Youth Club. In much later years this Rathfarnham link was to bring George Hanley and Norman Ridgeway to join the Game THE LONE RANGER No history of the Game would be complete without a reference to that Lonliest of Lone Rangers called George (although his real name was Jim) who patrolled his patch over most of our early years. The decision as to whether or not games were playable was determined to a large extent by the degree of moisture in George rather than the degree of moisture on the ground. In those days, before the practice of putting notices on the gate re playability of pitches, it was not uncommon to find George arrive on creaking bike and clad in navy overcoat and obligatory cap when a game was only 15 or 20 mins old -- to tell us that the ground was not playable. On his better days a bit of sweet-talk worked. On other days nothing worked. I still have a clear memory of a Tuesday afternoon in mid-winter when Paddy, Tom and myself were engaged in extra-curricular activities in the park. Despite the fact that we were literally the only people in the park, George arrived to put us out because we were ruining the grass. The arrival of George presented real difficulties in terms of keeping a game going as we had, at that stage, not acquired an away pitch. Our fall-back position when evicted, was to take our chances in the corner of Terenure College grounds which we managed to get away with on many occasions. THE EMERGENCE OF A SECOND GAME The home pitch for all of those early years was parallel to Templeogue Road, with extensive changing facilities available in the trees. This was before the Corporation’s “ improvements” to the boundary of the park. Around 1967/68 another group started to play at the Gaelic pitch just inside the side gate. When this group started they seemed to concentrate on messing around with a rugby ball but also played some soccer. When numbers were small we occasionally brought the two groups together but generally speaking the two groups kept apart. This group also developed over the years and eventually became incorporated in our original Game. This group had two very fine players in their early years, one by the name of Gerry (?) and the other called, I think, John Dunne -- who thought he was Ireland’s answer to George Best. Although John was a Manchester United supporter he interestingly wore an Everton jersey. In those early years it was not at all common to have a Team jersey from an English football team. They were not as readily available as today and when available were quite expensive. I was the proud owner of a Manchester United 1968 European Cup jersey which was great but it had faded a little by 1980. Popular boots of the day were Blackthorn or Donaghies Banthams. I remember with pride my first Adidas and my first screw-in stud and John Dunne’s wrap-around George Best boots with side lacing. Ah Dem wus the daze. THE REGULARS Over those early years many players came and went but we developed a hard-core of regulars and games generally had 14-20 players. In addition to the many mentioned above we also got new players from independent souces. Two regulars who came were Hughie (O’ Donoghue?) and Peter O’Reilly who had amazing dribbling skills. We were also joined by two talented brothers Kevin and Brendan Lyons who became core members and also by players like Tony Reddy from Synge St. THE “INTERNATIONALS” We had a strong core of regular players, some with very good ability and had some really high-quality games. I got the idea that it might be fun to organise ourselves in to a Team and play some “International“ matches against other Teams. These started in 1969. In all we played, I think, five or six matches and lost only one. The opposition was generally sourced through my contacts in school. Although I did not realise it at the time, one of these Internationals had particular significance to the future of the Game. We played one game which we comfortably won, and promptly forgot about, against a Rathgar selection assembled by my classmate John Morrissy. This game,however, resulted in linkages which over the years provided an ongoing source of new players to include John’s brother Dermot, Gary O’Sullivan, Gary O’Dea (and later brother Ronan, and cousins Pascal and Eamon), Derek Wall, Joe D’Arcy, Gerry Traynor and many more. Little did we know at the time the significance this game would have in the longer term future of the Game. THE AWAY PITCH Not alone did this International result in new players but it also led us to a new alternative set of pitches in Dodder Park (Upr. and Lr.). In bad winters when Bushy was not available these always provided an alternative source of football—and occasionally a swimming opportunity to retrieve the ball after some over-enthusiastic shooting efforts. These areas were generally ranger-free. The combination of these and Bushy effectively meant that games could take place almost every week. The pitches also brought some new local players- most notably Tony Murphy and the one-and-only Everton (Evo). THE STORY CONTINUES Over the years the Game had become a solid fixture with a regular group of core players and regular attendances to provide good games every week. We continued to attract new players from our various sources and from casual passers-by. It was in this next period that a whole new group of players started to join. We got Eddie Bourke, big brother (and I mean Big brother) of younger brother Mick. Gerry “Trigger” Wade and his “Tonto “ Frank Hollingsworth, Brian Geoghegan, John Hunt, Paul and Tony Whistler, Shay Healy and Dennis O’ Hare, Graham (?) and Greg Murphy. Team picking and general organising was generally done by John and myself, although I seemed to have the unfortunate knack of picking the wrong hand on a regular basis. Not that it mattered, games were lively affairs, well attended, and generally enjoyed by all. OLYMPUS As we approached the end of the seventies, a number of our players were playing competitive league football on Sundays and the Game on Saturdays. The idea of a league team being formed from Bushy Park players started to emerge from those not already involved in league football. To discuss same a meeting was called in Gary O’Sullivan’s house at which Paddy Sullivan and myself attended to advise (as we had already played for a number of league teams over the years). John and Gary generally led the initiative and tried to take the necessary steps to obtain league membership, registration, a ground, gear etc. They were successful in their efforts and Olympus F.C. was formed. (Interestingly enough, at the first meeting names for a possible team were discussed and I suggested Oylmpic, which later was remembered as Olympus—probably having regard to Gary’s expertise in Patent legislation to avoid paying royalties to me!). Olympus got up-and-running and provided league football to the Bushy regulars in addition to the Game which continued every Saturday. I have a strong personal memory of Olympus which I would rather not have. I still remember the Thursday night when I got a call to the house to “Guest” for Olympus in a league game (a “Banger” in other words). I did my duty to help and in my one and only game for Olympus damaged a medial knee ligament which was to keep me out of football for three years. BROTHERLY LOVE A feature of the game over the years has been the involvement of brothers and I attempt to list them (but apologies to those I might have missed) Eamonn and Donal Manning; Tom and Mick Rowan; Kevin and Brendan Lyons; Tony and Paul Whistler; Eddie and Mick; Tony, John and Brendan Hynes; Gary and Ronan; John and Dermot Morrissy; Eugene, Brendan and Frank Monahan; Norman, Peter and Sean Ridgeway; Peter and Michael Crosbie. As time has moved on we have seen the emergence of Father-Son combinations. Will we ever see the Father-Son- Grandson combination I wonder? THE FUTURE The history from Olympus on should be written at a later date. The Game will, incredibly, be forty years in existence in September of this year. Through those forty years many players have got endless hours of enjoyment from something that started as a simple idea to have a game of football. Many lasting friendships have been made and many memories and fond recollections formed. I have set out my preliminary recollections of those early years, which I can hopefully add to at a later date. I have no doubt forgotten some players who made particularly strong contributions. To these I owe my apologies Derek Brady (10/01/2005)