All to play for Ireland vs. France in Croke Park

Cathal Dervan

Published Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 12:40 PM

Updated Thursday, November 12, 2009, 4:12 PM

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Irish manager Giovanni Trapattoni

It was a classic Jimmy Magee line at the start of a week he described as momentous as Irish soccer folk gathered in Dublin’s oldest pub on Monday night.

The venue was the Brazen Head, the quaint and very old boozer on the side of the Liffey and in close proximity to St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

The occasion was the launch of a charity CD for the Christmas market featuring the singing talents of the former Irish soccer manager Eoin Hand.

And the emcee for the night was the one and only Mr. Magee, the most knowledgeable man in Irish sport and definitely one of the most charming.

As he prepared to officially cut the ribbon on the disc recorded live at the legendary John B. Keane bar in Listowel, Co. Kerry Jimmy remarked that it was a pleasure to see Eoin Hand launch his new CD on the same day Michael Jackson’s This Is It was unveiled this side of the world.

Quite what the late Michael would make of Eoin Hand singing the likes of “After the Ball,” “The Voyage” and “Danny Farrell” with help from the likes of Mickey McConnell is anyone’s guess.

But Eoin makes a good job of it on this album, released to raise funds for the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, and Jimmy made a great job of emcee for the night.

He knows his football does our Jimmy, so he was able to speak with authority on great Ireland-France clashes of the past.

And not surprisingly, he did remind us that Eoin Hand was the last Irish manager to beat France when Michel Platini, et al, were on the wrong end of a 3-2 scoreline at Lansdowne Road all of 28 years ago.

Eoin, as he admitted on Monday night, wasn’t to know it then, but that was the highlight of his managerial career as far as the boys in green were concerned.

Even with beating France on that memorable day -- I was there with many other starry eyed teenagers -- Ireland missed out on the 1982 World Cup finals on goal difference to the French in a group topped by Belgium.

It was a tragedy for a team of all the talents that included the likes of Liam Brady, David O’Leary, Davy Langan, Mark Lawrenson and Frank Stapleton.

O’Leary and Stapleton did get to travel to Italia with Jack Charlton some nine years later, but by then they were both bit players in the Jack scheme of things.

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Irish sport is popular and widespread. Levels of participation and spectating are high on the island of Ireland. Throughout the country a wide variety of Irish sports are played, the most popular being Gaelic games (such as Gaelic football, hurling and camogie), soccer, rugby union and boxing. By attendance figures Gaelic football and hurling are by far the most popular sports in Ireland, (34% of total attendances at sports events being to football and 23% to hurling), while golf and soccer (including 5-a-side) are the most played at 17% of the population each. Many Irish sports, such as boxing, cricket, rugby union, Gaelic football and hurling, are organized in an all-island basis, with a single team representing Ireland in international competitions. Other Irish sports, such as Association Football, have separate organizing bodies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. At the Olympics, a person from Northern Ireland can choose to represent either Ireland or Great Britain. The various GAA discipline finals are easily the largest sporting events regularly held in Ireland, in both terms of attendance and media coverage. The biggest national sporting event in Ireland is the final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, held annually in Croke Park in September. It usually attracts a sell out crowd of 82,500 to Croke Park. Many of the matches in the championship attract crowds of 50,000, depending on who is playing. Aside from the GAA, the biggest multi-sport event held in Ireland regularly is the Community Games. The games are organized every year from a local level, where hundreds of thousands of young people compete in different disciplines such as athletics, swimming, cycling etc., in the first half of the year. Winners progress to county level, and then to the Community Games finals. One of the biggest international Irish sport events is international Association Football. The Republic's national team has punched above its weight in recent years, qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, and performed well against such teams as Brazil and Portugal. In rugby union, Ireland's national team has been ranked in the top five teams regularly over the last few years, and has produced major stars such as Keith Wood and Brian O'Driscoll. In golf, Ireland is home to several top golfers such as Padraig Harrington.

All to play for Ireland vs. France in Croke Park

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