LOI Memorabilia – Donaldson Gold Cups from the 1950s

Posted on by seidodge

In the 1940s & 1950s the Scottish company A. & J. Donaldson released plenty of football collectibles including the ubiquitous cigarette cards. In the 50s they released their “Gold Cup” range which featured depictions of dozens of clubs in their colours. For the first time, Irish clubs were included. Here’s who made the cut

Bohs card Cork Athletic card Dundalk card Limerick card Shamrock Rovers card Shelbourne cardSligo card St Patrick's cardWaterford card

St Patrick’s Athletic entered the league in 1951 and Cork Athletic left after the 1956/57 season so the cards were issued somewhere in that time frame. The League of Ireland clubs to miss out were Drumcondra, Evergreen and Transport.

Some Irish League clubs were also issued including Derry City

Derry City

Oh and this was issued for the national team. Both the Republic and Northern Ireland called themselves Ireland at the time.

Ireland card

In total 145 cards were issued. You can see a full list here

The only all Cork FAI Cup Final

Posted on by seidodge

In 1953 there were 2 LOI clubs playing out of Cork; Cork Athletic and Evergreen. They didn’t make much impacy on that league that year, finishing 8th and 10th (of 12), but both reach the FAI Cup final. There’s been 76 FAI Cup finals and the 1954 final remains the only all-Cork affair.

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Road to the Final

First Round

  • Drumcondra 0-1 Cork Athletic
  • Evergreen 1-1  Shamrock Rovers

First Round Replay

  • Shamrock Rovers 2-4 Evergreen

Second Round

  • Waterford 2-3 Cork Athletic
  • Evergreen 1-1  Jacobs

Second Round Replay

  • Jacobs 0-1 Evergreen

Semi Finals (both at Dalymount Park)

  • Limerick 1-2 Cork Athletic
  • Evergreen 1-0  St Patrick’s Athletic

Final (Dalymount Park)

  • Cork Athletic 2-2 Evergreen

Final Replay (Dalymount Park)

  • Cork Athletic 2-1 Evergreen

A crowd of 17,396 watched the final on the Sunday. That had reduced to “6.000” for the replay on the following Wednesday.

It was one of 6 FAI Cups won by the Cork Athletic club which changed it’s name several times throughout it’s history; (Fordsons/Cork FC /Cork City (1938)/Cork United (1940)/Cork Athletic).

Evergreen would go on to play as Cork Celtic but never won the FAI Cup

Ever wanted to consume your favourite player as a cocktail?

Posted on by seidodge

New this week that Shelbourne were offering fans a cocktail and cake evening in Tolka Park. It isn’t the first LOI dalliance with cocktails. In 2010 when St Pats reached the Setanta Cup final, the de facto club pub McDowells offered 11 specials based on the expected team line up.

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If you’re interested; here’s the ingredients for each drink

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Pats lost the final 0-1 to Bohs. Drink wasn’t used as an excuse.

George Foreman backs Limerick FC

Posted on by seidodge

With news that Limerick’s 2015 budget will be scaled back, they might consider contacting one of their most famous backers.

George Foreman Limerick

I’m sure the $20,000 from grillmaster/boxer George Foreman was very welcome but it didn’t help Limerick too much on the field. They finished bottom of the First Division in 1999/2000.

Article from Limerick Leader in April 1999. Thanks to Karl Reilly for the scan!

Dundalk laughing at Bohs travel troubles

Posted on by seidodge

At the end of the 1992/93 season leaders Bohemians traveled to Dundalk on the last day only needing a point to secure the title (their first since 1978). On the way their bus broke down causing kick off to be delayed 45 minutes.  Dundalk won 1-0 and three teams ended the season level on points; Cork City, Shelbourne and Bohs. Cork eventually won the league title after two round-robin play offs.

When Bohs next visited Oriel Park, this ‘ad’ appeared in the official match programme.

Bohs Bus Breakdown

Somewhat ironically Turlough O’Connor resigned as manager of Dundalk shortly after this to take up the managers role at Bohs.

Thanks to Jim Murphy for the scan!

Millenium stand, Richmond Park, St Patrick's Athletic

Millennium Stand for Richmond Park

Posted on by seidodge

In 1997 St Pats extended their main stand. To celebrate they hosted a pre-season friendly with Celtic. The design for the next phase of development, The Millennium Stand, was in the programme.

Millenium stand, Richmond Park, St Patrick's Athletic

In 2007 a more modest uncovered stand was opened in that area of the ground.