Tag: athlone town

1927-28 Free State League season

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With their Dalymount Park home continuing to act as the benchmark for all other Free State League grounds (it would soon become the home stadium for the Free State national side), 23 points from the first 24 saw Bohemians establish a strong position in the 1927-28 championship race. Despite a strong showing from Shelbourne in the closing stages, the title was destined to go to Dalymount for a second time, with Shamrock Rovers and Fordsons making up the rest of the top four.

Bohemians’ superiority for this season was emphasised by a 2-1 defeat of Drumcondra in the Free State Cup final (Bohs’ Jimmy White scored a goal in every round, and Drums’ semi-final with Fordsons was the first soccer match to be broadcast live on Irish radio), and also victory in the Free State Shield (Dundalk G.N.R.’s Eddie Carroll amassed 16 goals in just nine shield games; his club were fined £100 when the referee was assaulted following a key shield fixture against Bohemians), emulating Shamrock Rovers’ “treble” of 1925. Indeed, by adding the Leinster Senior Cup, the Gypsies actually eclipsed the achievement of their Dublin rivals (it should be noted, however, that the Free State League clubs had not competed in the Leinster cup that season), and also brought the Hoops’ 30-match league unbeaten run to an end with a 3-1 win at Dalymount in November. It was a truly remarkable achievement for the amateur club, with so many of their domestic opponents being drawn from the semi-professional and professional ranks. Despite their unbeaten sequence being ended, Shamrock Rovers could still take a lot of heart from the fact that, throughout two full seasons in league, shield and cup, they had yet to be defeated at their new home of Glenmalure Park.

Having lost out to Dundalk G.N.R. (who this year replaced their existing black and amber club colours with a kit of white shirt and navy shorts) for election to the league in 1926, Drumcondra (who played their home games at Tolka Park, the ground formerly known simply as “Richmond Road”) finally did gain admission in 1928, with bottom club Athlone Town this time making way. The cost of fulfilling their away games (the club had moved into a new home at the Ranelagh Grounds in 1926) was a key factor in the Co. Westmeath club’s resignation, and their last three shield matches had been left unfulfilled (in previous seasons, Athlone had occasionally conceded victory in shield matches rather than incur the cost of travel). Their place at the highest level of Irish football gone, the midlanders (outside of some involvement in the reserve league) would not return to League of Ireland action for another 40 years.

Free State League 1927-28

PWDLFAPts
Bohemians181512532031
Shelbourne181323672428
Shamrock Rovers18972411825
Fordsons18945463422
Dundalk G.N.R.18936443621
Brideville18756373319
St. James’s Gate18549284214
Jacobs18251120469
Bray Unknowns18141329706
Athlone Town18211519615

League top scorers : Charlie Heinemann Fordsons, 24 Sammy McIlvenny Shelbourne, 22 Jock McMillan Shelbourne, 17

Representative matches : Welsh League 5-1 Free State League, Free State League 3-1 Irish League

1923-24 Free State League season

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The fact that there were now only ten clubs allowed the league race to again take place between September and December, and following their second and third-placed finishes in the previous two seasons, Bohemians captured their first league championship this time around. They won each of their first 15 games to all but assure themselves of the title, with nearest challengers Shelbourne six points adrift with just three matches remaining. Shels then defeated their title rivals 5-2 to keep the race alive for at least one more week (they also ended the Bohemians winning streak; that run of 15 consecutive victories has yet to be equalled in the League of Ireland), but a 4-1 win for Bohs over St. James’s Gate in the next round of matches finally confirmed the Dalymount Park (they finished with maximum points from their home games, and went unbeaten at home in all three competitions) club as champions.

Bohemians defeat Shelbourne 2-0 at Dalymount Park in October 1923

It was a little harder to separate Bohemians and Shelbourne (who also went unbeaten at home, bar a 2-0 Free State Cup quarter-final defeat to Athlone Town) in the subsequent Free State Shield competition, competed for this year (from January to May) on a “round robin” basis, with each league side facing each other once. After both Bohs and Shels had remained unbeaten in their nine games, the Gypsies won through in a Dalymount Park play-off, with an extra-time winner from Ned Brooks (against his former club) preventing the Reds from performing a shield “three-in-a-row”.

Athlone Town combined a fourth place finish in the league with victory in the Free State Cup, defeating non-league Fordsons of Cork 1-0 in the decider. Dinny Hannon’s (who had previously won an I.F.A. Cup medal with Bohemians) goal was the only one that either of the clubs had conceded during the entire cup campaign. The Cork side, formed in 1922, had strong links to the Ford Motor Factory in the city, and took their name from the Fordson tractor that many of the club’s members had a hand in producing. The Ballinlough-based outfit, along with Bray Unknowns, would be incorporated into the Free State League for 1924-25, at the expense of Midland Athletic and Shelbourne United.

December of 1923 saw the first signs of reconciliation between football clubs from north and south of the border, with Bohemians traveling to Belfast to play Linfield, and Shelbourne hosting Glentoran at Shelbourne Park. Although relations between the two football associations remained frosty, one-off “friendly” matches between Dublin and Belfast clubs continued for the rest of the 1920s, with Bohemians and Linfield deciding to meet every year to contest the ‘Condor Cup’ (north-south matches were always well-attended and were a welcome boost to clubs’ finances). Meanwhile, February 1924 saw the first ever “inter-league” match involving a Free State League representative side (the team had made its unofficial debut against French club Gallia in Dublin in April 1923), with Welsh football relaxing its previously held stance by sending a team to Dalymount Park. 15,000 people turned out to watch the two sides play out an entertaining 3-3 draw, with the home goals coming from St. James’s Gate’s Ernie McKay, and Bohemians’ in-form English centre-forward, Dave Roberts (who scored twice).

A newsreel from early 1924 shows Bohemians in action against Linfield at Windsor Park

Then, a couple of months later, a squad of 20 home-based players travelled to Paris to represent the Irish Free State at the 1924 Olympic Games. While the competition (the most prestigious in the world at the time, in the absence of World Cups, European Championships etc.) was limited to amateur players, it would serve as an international swansong for I.F.A. international veteran Dinny Hannon, and an early introduction to international football for the likes of Tommy Muldoon (Athlone Town, and later Aston Villa), Jack McCarthy (Bohemians), and Joe Kendrick (Brooklyn, and later Everton and Dolphin). A goal from St. James’s Gate’s Paddy Duncan against Bulgaria set up a quarter-final tie against Holland, but a 2-1 extra-time defeat in this match ended the Irish involvement in the competition.

Free State League 1923-24

PWDLFAPts
Bohemians181602562032
Shelbourne181323552128
Jacobs181125362124
Athlone Town18855342421
St. James’s Gate18927382720
Shelbourne United18837303119
Shamrock Rovers18738353217
Brooklyn184212233710
Pioneers18211515605
Midland Athletic18201613624

League top scorers : Dave Roberts Bohemians, 20 Christy Robinson Bohemians, 12 Frank Rushe Shelbourne, 12

Representative match : Free State League 3-3 Welsh League

(Note: Representative matches refer only to games against other league selections, or international sides – fixtures against clubs etc. are not included)

1921-22 League of Ireland season

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The first League of Ireland season, kicking off in September of 1921, saw St. James’s Gate capturing a league and cup double. The competitions, originally the Football League of Ireland (with, like the British leagues, two points for a win and one for a draw) and the F.A.I. Cup, were renamed the Free State League and Free State Cup in the aftermath of the opening league campaign. This was done in anticipation of the foundation of the new, 26-county southern Irish “Free State”, which, in accordance with the terms of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, was due to come into existence in December of 1922. The F.A.I. itself was to undergo a similar change, becoming the “Football Association of the Irish Free State” (F.A.I.F.S.) upon its successful entry to F.I.F.A. in 1923.

St. James’s Gate had secured both national trophies in rather dramatic circumstances. The league championship race had boiled down to a last-day (December 17th) showdown with second-placed Bohemians at St. James’s Park, a 1-0 “Gate” victory enough to clinch the title by two points, with Shelbourne a further three points back in third. The Free State Cup final (held at Bohemians’ Dalymount Park), meanwhile, almost descended into complete pandemonium. With non-league Shamrock Rovers having forced a replay following an initial 1-1 draw on St. Patrick’s Day (a game that had attracted a very satisfactory crowd of 15,000), a first-half goal from Jack Kelly was enough to see off their spirited challenge in the second match, or so it appeared. An on-field dispute between Rovers’ Bob Fullam and St. James’s Gate’s Charlie Dowdall escalated into full-blown fisticuffs after the final whistle, and with Rovers players and fans taking the opportunity to assault members of the winning team (the incident was typical of the general lawlessness that was prevalent during the aftermath of the Irish Civil War), the fracas continued all the way into the St. James’s Gate dressing room. It was only when Dowdall’s brother Jack (who had seen active military service) fired a gunshot into the ceiling that order was restored. (The format of the Free State Cup was similar to that of the F.A. Cup in Britain, with non-league sides competing in a number of preliminary rounds, before joining up with the Free State League sides for the first round “proper”. The winners of the first round ties then proceeded to the quarter-final stage.)

With the league season having been wrapped up by December, it was decided to provide for the creation of a Free State Shield, which would come to be seen as the third most important competition in Irish Free State football. The tournament initially ran from December to April, and took the form of a full league programme for the inaugural season, with each Free State League club facing each other twice. The inaugural Free State Shield was won by Shelbourne, who, bar two defeats by second-placed Bohemians (who collected full points from their Dalymount Park outings, and conceded just seven goals in their entire shield programme), recouped maximum points from their 14 shield fixtures.

It had perhaps been no surprise that only Bohemians and Shelbourne had mounted realistic challenges to St. James’s for that first league title. The campaign would prove to be the first and only season for Frankfort (they resigned with three of their shield games still unplayed) and Y.M.C.A., the latter having failed to record a single league victory, taking just three draws from their 14 league games. Shamrock Rovers, who had been formed in the Ringsend / Irishtown (they took their name from nearby Shamrock Avenue) area of Dublin as far back as 1901, would be one of six new league recruits for 1922-23. Of the others, Shelbourne United (with no links to Shelbourne F.C., this club played at Angelsea Road, Ballsbridge for their first season), Pioneers (who drew from membership of the alcoholic abstinence organisation of the same name, and played out of Strand Road, Clontarf for their first season), Midland Athletic (a railway works team based at “The Thatch” in Whitehall; they would share the venue with Pioneers from 1923 onwards) and Rathmines Athletic (based at Rathmines Park) were also from Dublin, while Athlone Town (one of the oldest clubs in the Free State, having been established in 1887; their first home was the Sports Ground) had the distinction of being the first Free State League side from outside the capital city.

League of Ireland 1921-22

PWDLFAPts
St. James’s Gate14111231823
Bohemians141013351321
Shelbourne14824312118
Olympia14545202114
Jacobs14446232712
Frankfort14356223211
Dublin United14509253910
Y.M.C.A.14031117433

League top scorers : Jack Kelly St. James’s Gate, 11 Paddy Smith Jacobs, 10 E. Pollock Bohemians, 9

Bohemians play a pre-season friendly against a Falls League selection