Over the years, some very famous footballers have played for a spell in the League of Ireland with clubs enticing major stars of international football to spend brief periods of their later careers entertaining League of Ireland supporters.
In this series, Colm Murphy gives a rundown of some of the top “superstars” who “graced” the League of Ireland over the years.
Dixie Dean
William Ralph “Dixie” Dean was one of the most prolific strikers in the history of the English league. He started his career in 1923 with Tranmere Rovers before moving to Everton in 1925.
In twelve years at Goodison Park, Dean scored an amazing 349 goals in 399 games. After a spell at Notts County, Dean made the very unlikely move to Sligo Rovers in 1939 at the age of 32.
He arrived in Sligo on Saturday 27th January and was met by 2,000 fans at Sligo train station. He made his debut one day later in a 3-2 win over Shelbourne at the Showgrounds.
Dean led the attack and scored a fine goal before half-time. He made an even bigger impact on the 19th March when he scored five goals in a 7-1 demolition of Waterford United.
Dean made a huge impact at Sligo and helped them to the FAI Cup Final where he scored in a 1-1 draw with Shelbourne before Sligo lost the replay. Sligo also recorded a healthy profit from the season.
Geoff Hurst
The rent-a-team era in League of Ireland football continued when a scramble emerged to sign the hero of England’s 1966 World Cup winning team.
Hurst’s contract with West Brom had been cancelled in January 1976 and he was approached by several League of Ireland teams to sign before the deadline for registering players for the FAI Cup.
A constant theme of clubs dealing with these superstars was the fear that they just wouldn’t bother turning up. Hurst signed a one-month deal with Cork Celtic but it was then reported he was in negotiations with Hull City and Crewe Alexandra.
“I don’t expect that he will let us down,” said Celtic secretary Donie Forde. Donie need not have worried as Hurst made an immediate impression against Shamrock Rovers on 8th February when he scored his side’s second goal, a header from Brooks’ cross, in a 3-1 win.
“I was happy with my performance. I scored one of the goals in a good win which is satisfactory when you consider how difficult it is to step into a strange team”.
Next up for Hurst was Dundalk in the FAI Cup. The match was moved to Flower’s Lodge as Turner’s Cross was unplayable after recent bad weather.
Dundalk were riding high in the league and were set to win their first league championship in nine years.
It took 13 minutes for Celtic to break the deadlock. Bobby Tambling struck a powerful shot that Richie Blackmore did very well to save but the rebound fell kindly for Hurst who shot towards the empty net.
Jimmy Dainty diverted Hurst’s effort over the crossbar with his hand. Not a red card offence in those days but McCarthy slotted away the spot-kick.
Dundalk nearly equalised when Sean Sheehy headed wide from Jackie McManus’ cross before Heery hit the post.
McSweeney made it 2-0 after 58 minutes after Sean McLaughlin lost possession. Seamus McDowell hit the crossbar before Myers scored a third.
The teams that day were:
Cork Celtic: McCarthy, Tobin, J McCarthy, Edwards, Brooks, Carroll, Heery, Shortt, Tambling, Hurst, McSweeney.
Dundalk: Blackmore, McManus, S McLaughlin, T McConville, B McConville, J McLoughlin, McDowell, Dainty, Sheehy, Flanagan. Sub: Connellan for McLaughlin.
Hurst scored his first goal for Celtic when he cancelled out Rodney Marsh’s opening goal in the Cork derby on February 22nd and he scored again in the 3-0 win over Sligo one week later.
Jimmy Johnstone
The Celtic legend Jimmy Johnstone signed for Shelbourne in November 1977. Johnstone had left Celtic in 1975 after 308 appearances and 82 goals since his debut in 1962.
He moved to San Jose Earthquakes before spells with Sheffield United and Dundee. Both Athlone Town and Finn Harps were keen to sign the 23-time capped international but he made his debut for Shelbourne in a 2-1 defeat to Bohemians on 20th November.
Johnstone showed that he still had a lot of pace and played quite well. Shelbourne manager Tommy Rowe stated afterwards that “Johnston certainly helped to swell the gate (£970) and I think he will do something for us” .
Johnstone was running the show against Thurles Town in his second game and set up their opener in a 5-1 win. However, he was withdrawn with a hamstring injury.
He scored his first goal for the club in a 1-0 League Cup win over Shamrock Rovers.
“It was a delight to watch the little man win almost every duel of wits in which he engaged,” said the Irish Times reporter at the game.
Johnstone scored the winner in the 64th minute when he slotted past Alan O’Neill.
