Old friends and foes still finding well of support in each other in Galway
It was like taking a step back in time – to an era when the pitch at Terryland faced in a different direction – as you bumped into the footballing heroes of your younger days.
This was the third annual Irish Professional Footballers Benevolent Association’s Golf Classic held last Friday week at a sun-kissed Castleknock Golf Club, and everywhere you looked was a familiar face from the past, albeit with less hair than they had in their heyday.
But Johnny Giles has lost no hair – and no wit either – and Niall Quinn still looks like he’d do a job for Ireland. The IPFBA’s patrons were in fine form, once again only too happy to support their old League of Ireland colleagues.
The Association is both a social gathering and a fundraiser for those players who had hit a bump in the road, whether that’s in terms of money or their health, or just a small hand to get them out of a hole.
The Irish Professional Footballers Benevolent Association was founded three years ago with a mission to enhance the lives of former players.
First came the fundraising which is why this was the third Golf Classic after the inaugural event in Limerick and the Galway event last year in Renville, on either side of a spectacular night in Vicar Street where John Giles, Niall Quinn and Liam Brady relived the old days – and they did it for free.
Recently the IPFBA carried out medical assessments on 100 former players at a special day in Athlone, checking them for signs of dementia but also for those injuries that afflict players after a lifetime on playing surfaces that were more muck than magnificent.
So this latest Golf Classic was a who’s who of the League of Ireland over the past half century with a big Galway contingent among them.
Gerry Daly has been one of the drivers of this organisation from the start, with his old team-mate John Mannion – who couldn’t make it this time because of a medical appointment – but he was joined by Denis Bonner, Mickey Sheehan, Mike O’Toole, Ronan Killeen, Derek Rodgers, Keith Lambert, Jimmy Nolan, Tony Mannion, Richie Blackmore, Martin Lawlor, Gordon Brett, Brian Duff.
Not a bad team altogether in their heyday.
There were familiar faces from the sides they faced too; Pat Byrne, celebrating his 70th birthday, Harry McCue, Mick Neville, Harry Kenny, Paul Osam, Gino Lawless, Dermot O’Neill, Alan O’Neill, Pat Nolan, Joe Hanrahan, the Bakers brothers – Richie and Dessie – Fred Davis and the great Mick Lawlor, who defies the sands of time.
As it turned out, the Bakers, with teammates Michael Murphy and Peter Gray, won first prize with a net score of 53.3.
Forty teams competed in the hugely successful event – with the organisation boosting its coffers to the tune of €18,000. And IPFBA chairman Harry McCue was delighted
“Once again, the football community in this country has given the Irish Professional Footballers’ Benevolent Association tremendous support that will see valuable resources provided for ex-players, male and female, in the coming months,” he said.
“We are truly grateful for the generous involvement of each team, our sponsors and other benefactors and all associated with Castleknock Hotel and Golf Club for making this event one to remember.
“In just over two years in existence, the IPFBA has helped more than 50 former professionals, and our aim is to break through the century mark within a year.”
And they’re reuniting old friends with every gathering as well.