YoG No. 34 – 2017: The Irish Football Year

Well it’s been a pretty bad year for Irish football. From the highs of 2016, with the decent showing in France, Dundalk’s epic performances on the continent, through to a phenomenal start to the World Cup campaign, 2017 was a massive let down. Only a few moments stood out and while there are glimmers of hope, we have a mountain to climb as a football nation. So by way of a review of sorts, let’s look back at the stand out characters, good and bad, and remember some we lost.

Seán Maguire

“Seán Maguire! Who else!” is how I recall George Hamilton’s commentary on Seánie’s late late extra-time winner in the 2016 FAI Cup Final. It capped off an incredible season in which he scored 28 goals in all competitions. He was the hottest property in Irish domestic football. But by the time the Cup Final rolled around again in 2017, he was a much lamented absence for the Irish national team through injury. A whirlwind year was, in its first half, totally dominated by Maguire and Cork City. They had, for all intents and purposes, wrapped up the title by July with an astonishing 22 game unbeaten run. He was snapped up by Preston North End in June and up to his injury had scored 4 goals in 12 games and had his first senior cap. He remains out with that hamstring injury but will return to play a part in the pre World Cup friendlies no doubt and help PNE push for promotion. The Nations League will provide the perfect environment for him from late 2018 but for 2017 he was the undoubted star of Irish Football.

Neil Taylor

Coming out of Lansdowne Road that evening, we had no idea that not only was Seamus Coleman in real trouble, but that that one tackle would have such a defining impact on our entire football year. Neil Taylor mad a bad challenge, he didn’t intentionally set out to deliver a potential career-ender, and he’s not to blame for how our campaign went. But the loss of Coleman was felt as we struggled towards the end for real quality and true leadership to compensate for Martin O’Neill’s dreadful tactics. Seamus will be back probably stronger than before, but this one tackle further darkened the shadow over Irish football for the last 9 months of 2017, a shadow which was created by another man from the north-west…

Martin O’Neill

Enough has been written and said about his approach to each game in 2017. His character and personality has dominated Irish football life this year. From his inexplicably hostile attitude to interviewers, to his arch-conservative anti-football tactics, O’Neill blew all of 2016’s goodwill to shite this year. Against Wales, it was a battle and a result we could live with. Against Austria we were woeful for 70 minutes and only woke up after we scored. Away to Georgia was an absolute disgrace, as was the home game to Serbia. That one point from 6 meant we had gone from top of the group to needing results IN OTHER GROUPS just to get to a play-off, which was incredible. We got those results and then squeezed past Wales. The less said about Denmark the better. O’Neill blew it. He blew it spectacularly with a mind-numbingly stupid double substitution at half-time at only 2-1 down. No excuses. He must learn or step aside.

Christian Eriksen

He has to be mentioned. Even though Martin O’Neill gifted him the amount of Dublin 4 real estate Seán Dunne would have killed for in the boom, it still took talent to take that space and lacerate Ireland almost single handedly. Relive it here with some dodgy shite for a soundtrack. Probably Danish…

James McClean

In a sign that it wasn’t only in football where the country struggled, James McClean was nominated for RTE Sports Personality of the Year for 2017. As I mentioned earlier, the absence of Séamus Coleman led to a dearth of leaders towards the end of the campaign, and it seemed a lot of people expected James to carry the team forward. But he’s not made like that. He is a national hero and a great lad in many ways, and the game against Wales elevated him. But it also came very, very close to telling us all we need to know about him, the good and the bad. As we neared the final whistle, seconds from the desperately needed victory, and one admittedly provided by McClean’s boot, he charged in to a Welsh player and gave away a stupid free kick close to the box on our left. Had they scored from that free, both sides were gone, and this man’s career would have been summed up in one evening. But nothing came of it, and McClean was lauded as our best player of the campaign. He was definitely that, with 2 monster away goals in Vienna and Cardiff winning matches for us. He represents a lot that is absolutely needed in football today and deserves all the plaudits he gets for his honesty and integrity. He has his faults and his limitations but he is probably the most loved Irish footballer of this generation. And you can’t achieve much more than that in this game… I’ll raise a toast to him this Christmas…

Jimmy Magee

This man was a genius. A total sports nerd in the best way imaginable. The sort of person that isn’t made anymore. His career was a phenomenal one. Every World Cup since 1966 and every Olympics since 1968. I’m sure you all read the tributes paid to him and are well aware of his most famous contributions to the Irish airwaves. His off-the-cuff rendition of every single Olympic medal won by an Irish athlete as John Treacy came down the home straight in to claim a silver medal in Los Angeles is among the best ever heard by an audience here. But I think his simple yet effective less is more approach to Diego Maradona’s waltz through the English defence two years later in Mexico might top it. To keep quiet and simply reiterate the one phrase – “different class” – at the right time is an all too increasingly under-rated skill in an era where silence from a commentator is almost feared as something that needs constant filling regardless of there being anything to say. Jimmy let the crowd do the talking and the viewers see for themselves.

Ryan McBride

Warrior. Leader. Gentleman. Some of the words used to describe the Derry captain on his tragic passing in March, aged just 27. Derry is a small city, which has put a massive stamp on football in the Republic since 1985 and you really felt how Ryan’s tragic death rocked the entire place. The tributes to him have painted a picture of a wonderful young man and I have no real place to say any more than those who knew him best already have. So I leave you with this one quote from Ryan, which sums up how much his local club meant to this child of the Brandywell, and shows us all that sometimes the elusive thing that you need, or you think you need, in any walk of life, may just have been on your doorstep all along:

“Other players have dreams of going across the water and playing for Man United and Celtic but my dream as a boy was to play for Derry City and that dream came true”

The aim of the Ryan McBride Foundation is to help young people to realise their full potential. The Foundation aims to support, assist and inspire young players to achieve what Ryan achieved and to assist groups that Ryan supported during his life. I wish it all the best. His death truly shocked Irish football this year, and I hope his family, friends and team-mates will get the support they need this Christmas from the close-knit soccer community in Derry and across Ireland.

 

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Thanks for reading, commenting, sharing and liking Yard of Grass throughout 2017. See you soon…