Galway United stalwarts play their part in new Footballers Benevolent Association
By Dave O’Connell, Connacht Tribune
THEY were the sporting heroes of our younger days; the men who brought League of Ireland football to Galway and played an integral role in the evolution of the club over almost half a century – and now they’re back on a different kind of team to offer support to some of their own.
Because a trio of Galway United players from the past are heading the local branch of the new Irish Professional Footballers Benevolent Association – helping their former team-mates and colleagues who are finding life tough.
John Mannion, Gerry Daly and Kevin Cassidy are behind the Galway United branch of this fledgling organisation that has two other League of Ireland legends – former Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers and Athlone Town centre-half Harry McCue and his Dundalk team-mate, and then Galway United defender, Martin Lawlor – as chairman and secretary respectively. The ambition is to look after former players – from the recent and distant past – who may be struggling with health and/or financial challenges, by offering them access to services, funded by the players themselves.
Already the Galway branch looks set to have more than 60 members – all seasoned players who graced Terryland since the club arrived onto the national stage in the mid-Seventies.
Nationally the IPFBA has just announced details of its inaugural annual Golf Classic at Limerick Golf Club on Friday, September 27 – and Galway United legends who will be playing with the small ball include Denis Bonner, Richie Blackmore, Martin McDonnell, Derek Rodgers, Mickey McLaughlin, Terry O’Regan and Ronan Killeen.
The genesis of the Association came from the growing realisation that so many former players were trying to cope with adversity in all of its guises, without a whole lot of support.
“The Association has been set up to try and get some funds together to help ex-League of Ireland players – male and female – if they have any difficulties. We talking about isolation, alcoholism, depression, mental health, dementia,” explains John Mannion.
All three players were there at, or close to, the beginning of League of Ireland football coming to Galway – and for all of them, John Herrick played a key role in their careers.
“I was there at the very start with Galway Rovers for the League Cup of 75/76 – to see if it would work – and then I spent a year or two in England, but when I came back in 1978, I was passing the Swamp and John Herrick came over to me and said ‘I heard you used to play’ and that’s how it start up again,” recalls Kevin Cassidy.
He had a ‘small break’, as he puts it, after Galway United won the FAI Cup in 1991 when Joey Malone told him he was signing someone else.
He ended up in Longford Town for four months – winning the Player of the Month for three of those months – before Tony Mannion rang him to tell him he was taking over the manager’s job … and, by the time he eventually finished up, he’d played for over 17 seasons.
John Mannion’s first season was 79/80. “John Herrick signed me when I jumped the wall down the Swamp and asked could I play,” he recalls.
He joined Shamrock Rovers before the 1986/87 season and spent two seasons there before going to Derry City for a year and then rejoining for another four or so seasons.
Gerry Daly started in 1977 until serious injury in 1985 curtailed his stellar career. “When John Herrick resigned as manager in 1988, he attempted to get me back – but I knew I was gone really,” he says.
Now they’re back involved in a different way – and delighted to do it – because they see the clear need for such an organisation. And it’s not just an issue for their own sport.
“One of the things we did as an Association already was to meet with the GPA – and one of the things that came from that was the issue of isolation, when people retire … when the noise of the crowd stops,” says John.
The difference between soccer and GAA is that Gaelic players play for their parish and county; League of Ireland players can lead a peripatetic life, devoting many years of service to a club that is a long way from their home base – and then the post-playing support doesn’t necessarily exist.
“We’re lucky in Galway that we’ve had that support because we were playing in our home place, but by the same token, we had a lot of players who came down from Dublin; Brian Duff, for example, and possibly his best contribution in League of Ireland terms was when he was with Galway. But then he goes away from it,” says Kevin.
Part of the problem is how difficult it is to identify those who need support – because, after a lifetime in the sporting spotlight, they are too proud or too private to reach out.
“You find that players prefer to suffer in silence – and we need to open that door and show them the support,” says Kevin.
“You don’t even necessarily see these problems at the time. It’s only as you’re getting older and you look back that you realise what happened,” adds Gerry Daly.
“I was talking to one player at the launch of the golf classic in Limerick and he was telling me he was with a club 17 years. He went up to play a match one Sunday and he was told he wasn’t playing and when he turned up for training on Tuesday night with his gear bag, he was told that unfortunately his contract was gone.
“Seventeen years to be doing the same thing every Sunday – and then to be told ‘we don’t need you anymore,” he says.
“Harry McCue did a straw poll, a very unscientific phone-around-the-country, and he came across up to 20 players who were dealing with the effects of early onset dementia – and I know there are more,” adds John.
The question of funding is a nettle to be grasped, because ultimately there is a hope that the FAI, the League of Ireland and even the clubs themselves will show financial support – but the first port of call is the players themselves.
So it helps that John Giles, Eoin Hand and Niall Quinn were unveiled recently as the Association’s three patrons.
The Association’s first ever golf classic at Limerick Golf Club has been undertaken by local former League of Ireland stars Pat Nolan, Brendan Storan, Ray O’Halloran, Mick O’Donnell, Johnny Walsh and Mike O’Brien with 41 teams competing and an aim of raising €10,000 from entry fees, sponsorship, an auction of memorabilia donated by its three patrons, and individual donations.
And while the IPFBA still in its infancy, the FAI has shown a willingness to play some part, because fundamental to the success of the Association is to have an annual, steady income rather than relying on fundraisers for everything – and then the Government will be asked to play its part as well.
“Our intention is to meet with Galway United, the Galway FA – just to bring them on board with us – and all we’re really looking for is their support,” says Gerry.
Already there are sub-committee in Waterford, Limerick and Cork as well as Dublin and Galway, and Sligo are looking at establishing a group as well.
All three are actively recruiting their old team-mates now to get involved – not just to spread the work of fundraising but also to offer a social outlet to a group united by the rare achievement of having played in the League of Ireland for Galway.
And they will reach out to as many as they can find contact details for – but if you were one of those who donned the maroon of United or Rovers and you’d like to get involved, you can email john.mannion33@gmail.com.
Published in the Connacht Tribune, September 6, 2024