DUNDALK v ARSENAL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10TH 2020 KICK-OFF 5.55PM | DUBLIN ARENA
OFFICIAL DUNDALK FC MAGAZINE | ISSUE 13 | €6
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FROM THE STANDS
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FILIPPO GIOVAGNOLI
onight’s game with Arsenal is an unbelievable way to finish the year. We worked really hard to get to the UEFA Europa League group stages and this is the best way to celebrate the end of the season. We are looking forward to the challenge. Arsenal have already qualified so maybe they will be a little bit distracted and it will leave some room for us to get a result. We enjoyed the experience of playing against them in London on MD2. We managed the game so well until the end of the first half. We deserved to go back to the locker room at 0-0 but it wasn’t the case. We had five or six minutes of blackout but, overall, the players competed well and they were composed, disciplined and organised. I was happy with their performance. I know that Arsenal have a lot of Irish supporters and when I think of Arsenal and Ireland I think of Liam Brady. He was one of my idols when he played with Juventus in the 1980s. I have had the pleasure of being able to talk to him a few times through a mutual friend. He was really nice to me. We spoke about English football and his time in Italy and I hope to speak to him again because it’s good to get advice from somebody like him When he played with Juventus, the fans said he had a ‘left foot from God’. He won the Serie A title with Juventus on the final day of the season in 1982. He scored the goal with a penalty kick against Catanzaro. He took on the responsibility of that. He was a really good player.
Another player I watched when I was growing up was Diego Maradona, who sadly died recently. All of the emotions he transferred to us is now a part of Italian culture. He is an icon. He played for Napoli, a team in the south who fight against the power in the north and he was unbelievable. I had the pleasure of playing with, and also be coached by one of his Napoli teammates, Marco Baroni. Marco told me a lot of stories about Maradona. He said that Maradona would not turn up for practice for weeks but would still dominate games. When you think about it, how can a professional player who stays at home, parties and maybe does nothing still come and control games? It means you are from a different planet! One of my big memories of Maradona is from Italia 90 when Argentina played Italy in the semi-final of the World Cup. Unfortunately, the game was played in Napoli - and Napoli is Maradona! Instead of cheering for Italy, the crowd were cheering for him! We lost the game on penalty kicks. If that game had been played in Rome, Italy would have won but Naples was magic for Maradona. He was the perfect player for that city. The way he played, along with his mentality and personality was unbelievable for Naples. He might have won more titles, he might have had a better life off the field and he might have been protected more if he went to Juventus or AC Milan but it was his destiny to go to Naples and he made generations of people happy. Nobody will forget what he did. 9
He is the best player I have ever seen by far, just untouchable. After tonight’s game, I will go back to Italy for Christmas. I am really looking forward to it because I have really missed my family. As I have said before, taking this job was a mission for me and Giuseppe Rossi and we did what we had to do. I struggled not to have a life but I am strong and my family are strong and we have got through it and now we will finally reunite for Christmas. When I am back in Italy I will also be working on our preparations for pre-season. This is the best time for a coach because it gives you time to prepare a plan, organise a style of play and decide what way you want your players to play. It’s really exciting because you can build exactly what you want. We really missed this when we arrived in the summer because we came into a situation that was already built by somebody else. We have found many good things but we have also found things we will need to change. As we go into 2021, there is lots of positive news about a vaccine for COVID-19. I think it’s crucial that we get fans back to games as soon as possible. Without them, it’s really not as enjoyable. Yes, we go, we play and have to do a job but football is football because of the fans and without them, it’s really sad. Let’s hope that when it gets to the spring we are able to have our life back and we can enjoy football at Oriel Park with fans, kids and families again. Buon Natale, Filippo Giovagnoli
CLUB ROUND-UP
DFC IN THE COMMUNITY
After raising over €55,000 since 2017, the family and friends of Robert ‘Foods’ McLoughlin have come together yet again to raise funds for the local community. Held in memory of the wellknown Dundalk FC supporter (right) who was tragically killed just hours after he attended the Lilywhites’ final game of the 2017 season against Bohemians at Oriel Park, this year’s event will raise funds for the Maria Goretti Foundation. The Maria Goretti Foundation is a registered charity and is committed to the support of children with disabilities. The centre at Lordship, Co Louth
is a purpose-built six-bedroom facility that operates under the auspices of the HSE and is managed by Rehab Care. The foundation seeks to further the cause of children with 14
disabilities and is interested in research in this field. With a pandemic in place, the cup has been replaced by The Foods Run. The event will take place over a week-long period from December 17th to the 23rd. Simply pick your team, hit the roads and the team with the most distance covered wins! Everyone is welcome to take part, whether it’s walking, running, crawling or donating! With everyone’s help, the group can raise funds for an incredible cause in memory of an incredible man! You can follow the Foods Cup on Instagram at ‘Foods.Cup’ or on Facebook at ‘The Foods McLoughlin Cup’.
Dundalk centre-back Brian Gartland, pictured with Des Weir who recently celebrated his 90th birthday
DES CELEBRATES HIS 90TH BIRTHDAY Volunteers are the backbone of every League of Ireland club and one of Dundalk’s unsung heroes, Des Weir, recently celebrated his 90th birthday. Matchday regulars will be familiar with the midlands man who by his own admission was “coaxed to the club” by Enda McGuill in 1994 and has gone on to become part of the furniture at Oriel Park. Over the past quarter of a century, Des has carried out many roles at the club. He was heavily involved in the youth set-up and was best known for his role in distributing tickets on a Friday night, a job he described as a “labour of love”. Des retired from “active service” in 2013 but is still very much part of the fabric of the club and speaking to dundalkfc.com, Lilywhites chief operating officer Martin Connolly paid tribute to the Longford native.
“On behalf of Dundalk FC, I would like to thank Des for everything he has done for the club,” said Connolly. “He has worked tirelessly behind the scenes for many years and is a hugely popular figure. “I remember when I was involved with the youth team about 12 years ago we were sitting on the bus home from a match and Des said he wouldn’t be there the following week because he was going over to visit his mother. “Des was in his late seventies at that stage so I looked at him funny but he told me he was going over to get the ‘big cheque’ from President Mary McAleese because his mother had reached her 100th birthday! “Des’ family have a history of living a long and healthy life so we are all looking forward to being at Oriel Park again in a few years to celebrate another milestone. Happy birthday, Des!”
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PLAYER PROFILES 2020
ARSENAL
Meet The Coach:
MIKEL ARTETA (DOB: March 26, 1982). Born in the Basque Country, Mikel Arteta played in the youth ranks of Barcelona before making it to the United Kingdom with Rangers via a loan spell at Paris SaintGermain. He would return closer to his roots with Real Sociedad but it didn’t prove a happy homecoming as he failed to establish himself in the team and ended up starting a six-year alliance with Everton after midfield stablemate Xabi Alonso had opted for a career on the red side of Liverpool’s Stanley Park. Arteta started by helping David Moyes’ side into the UEFA Champions League qualifiers after a fourth-placed finish and he would also help them to an FA Cup Final as well, which the Toffees lost to Chelsea in 2009. He finished his playing career with five years at Arsenal that included two FA Cup wins but his misfortune came on the international stage where his best years were matched by the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Marcos Senna, Cesc Fabregas and many more who helped Spain to two EURO crowns and a World Cup between 2008 and 2012. Having started coaching under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, Arteta moved up to lead the Gunners’ set-up, replacing Unai Emery almost a year ago.
1 BERND LENO
2 HECTOR BELLERIN
Bio: Goalkeeper, GER, 28 ................................... Former VfB Stuttgart youngster joined Arsenal in the summer of 2018 after a seven-year association with Bayer Leverkusen. Leno’s senior international career with Germany has been limited to bit part appearances given the excellence of Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer but he does boast an under-17 European Championship winners’ medal from 2009. Mikel Arteta has installed him as the undisputed number one at the club after Emiliano Martinez joined Aston Villa. ..........................................
Bio: Defender, ESP, 25 ................................... Right-back with attacking flair signed for Arsenal nine years ago after progressing through the youth ranks at Barcelona, only interrupting that spell with one loan period at Watford. A regular with Spain at age-group football, he was part of a UEFA European Championship team of the tournament in 2013 and won the silver medal at the Under-21s in 2017. However, he had only won 3 senior caps before the recent international break when he was rewarded for good form after a serious knee injury with a call-up after Jesus Navas dropped out of the squad with injury. ..........................................
3 KIERAN TIERNEY
6 GABRIEL
Bio: Defender, SCO, 23 ................................... Left-sided player in his second season with the club after leaving Celtic in the summer of 2019 for a fee reportedly in the region of €30m. Scotland international won the FA Cup with the Gunners in his first season south of the border. ...........................................
Bio: Defender, BRZ, 22 .................................. Would have been in the Brazil squad for the defence of their Olympic Men’s Football title iun Tokyo earlier this year had COVID-19 not seen the Games postponed to 2021. Central defender in his first season with the club after joining from Lille with whom he had been a regular feature in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2019/20. .........................................
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PLAYER PROFILES 2020
ARSENAL
8 DANI CEBALLOS
9 ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE
12 WILLIAN
Bio: Midfielder, ESP, 24 ................................... Attacking midfielder joined Arsenal for a second successive loan spell in the summer from Real Madrid after impressing Mikel Arteta on his debut campaign in north London. Andalucia-born, Ceballos started his career at Real Betis and has targeted a return to Zinedine Zidane’s long-term plans in Madrid through his stint with the Gunners. .........................................
Bio: Forward, FRA, 29 ................................... France international joined Arsenal in 2017 from Olympique Lyonnais, where he had enjoyed a fruitful seven-year spell. Has struggled of late to find his perfect position in the Arsenal set-up, which has contributed to a relatively goal-shy period. ..........................................
Bio: Midfielder, BRZ, 32 ................................... Signed for Arsenal on a three-year deal from Chelsea in the summer and suggested that Mikel Arteta and Edu did enough to persuade the flamboyant Brazilian to turn down the advances of Barcelona. Made his name in Europe with Shakhtar Donetsk after leaving Corinthians in his homeland in 2007. His six-year spell in eastern Ukraine saw a big-money move to Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia but once the financial support for the Dagestan-based club ran dry, he took his talents to Chelsea where he won the UEFA Europa League against Arsenal in 2019 as well as two Premier League titles and an FA Cup. ..........................................
13 RUNAR RUNARSSON
14 PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG 15 AINSLEY MAITLAND-NILES
Bio: Goalkeeper, ISL, 25 .................................. 25 year-old Icelandic goalkeeper joined in the summer of 2020 from Dijon having previously played in Denmark with Nordsjaelland. Made his second appearance for the Gunners in the away win over Molde on Matchday 4 and impressed despite being relatively underutilised in Norway. ..........................................
Bio: Forward, GAB, 31 .................................. France-born striker joined AC Milan as a teenager and came through the ranks there via a number of loan spells back in France, with Dijon, Lille, Monaco and Saint-Etienne, joining the latter permanently in 2011. The Gabon international netted an extraordinary rate of almost two goals in three matches during a five-year stay with Borussia Dortmund and has almost maintained that ratio with Arsenal. African Footballer of the Year in 2015. ..........................................
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Bio: Midfielder, ENG, 23 ................................... Has represented the club since the age of six (except for a brief loan spell with Ipswich Town) and now plays either as a right-back or a central midfielder. Has started just two Premier League matches this season at the time of writing. Man of the Match as Arsenal started the season by winning the Community Shield. ..........................................
FROM THE ARCHIVES
GET WITH THE PROGRAMME Sports, Slipped Disc, National Aluminium, Ballymascanlon Hotel and Telstar Radio. Famous names: Martin Lawlor, Richie Blackmore, Barry Kehoe, Mick Fairclough and co line up against Ray Clemence, Ossie Ardiles, Ricky Villa, Chris Hughton and Glenn Hoddle. The match: Jim McLaughlin’s Dundalk proved a match for their illustrious opponents, with Tommy McConville starring as the Lilywhites went toe-to-toe with the Lilywhites! Garth Crooks gave Spurs the lead just after the hour but Mick Fairclough equalised late on. Spurs scraped through 2-1 on aggregate.
Dundalk v Tottenham Hotspur, 1981-82 European Cup Winners Cup The relevance: The last time Dundalk hosted a major North London club in European competition was almost 40 years ago when Spurs rolled into Oriel Park. The facts: You get 28 pages of programme for 50p. The content: There’s a twopage focus on Barry Kehoe and no lack of Dundalk in Europe nostalgia. Spurs are well covered, with pictures, detailed pen pics and history over eight pages. A word from our sponsors: The great and good of Dundalk businesses are present and correct including Murphy’s Jewellers, Emerald
line-ups and a reminder of the forthcoming ShelbourneDerry match on the reverse. A word from our sponsors: There’s a brief nod to HGW Paints, JW Hire, JVC Ireland and The Star. Famous names: Arsenal included a galaxy of stars such as David Seaman, Ian Wright, Tony Adams, Paul Merson, Lee Dixon and Anders Limpar. Shels include
Shelbourne v Arsenal, 1991-92 friendly The relevance: The last time Arsenal played an Irish side was in 1992, back in the day when an English top flight team would take their first team to the Emerald Isle rather than China or Dubai for a quick friendly! Within a couple of weeks Shelbourne lured Celtic, Chelsea and Arsenal to Tolka Park for lucrative friendlies. The facts: The match was organised at short notice so there’s just a free double sided team sheet. The content: ‘Content’ is probably pushing it. Match details and a squad photo from Arsenal’s previous trip to Dublin three years earlier adorn the cover, with the 32
Jody Byrne, Anto Whelan, Mick Neville, Dessie Gorman, Mark Rutherford and Greg Costello. The match: Having slipped out of the FA Cup at the hands of lowly Wrexham, Arsenal had a free weekend around fifth round day. They played their first team, with just one change made for their league game against Oldham five days later. Alan Smith and Garry Haylock exchanged first half goals as the sides drew 1-1 in front of a near capacity crowd of 8,500.
shootout.
Arsenal v Dundalk, 2020-21 UEFA Europa League
Arsenal v Valencia, 1979-80 European Cup Winners Cup final The relevance: Arsenal have played in seven European finals, this match was their first singleleg final, and the first European final to be decided on penalties. The facts: 30 Belgian francs bought 28 multilingual pages. The content: When an English and a Spanish club meet in diligently bilingual Belgium, any official publication is going to be busy! There are welcomes, programmes of events and ground regulations in English, Spanish, French and Flemish, and articles on the clubs in French and Flemish. A word from our sponsors:
The early days of commercialisation are in evidence with advertising dominated by massive multinationals such as Canon, Mercedes, JVC, Coca Cola and Seiko. Famous names: Valencia were managed by the legendary Alfredo di Stefano and included Mario Kempes and Rainer Bonhof in their ranks. Arsenal included plenty of Irish players: Liam Brady, Frank Stapleton, David O’Leary and Pat Jennings. The match: Just four days after losing the FA Cup final, a leggy looking Arsenal laboured through 120 scoreless minutes, before losing the
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The relevance: Well we might as well check out the opposition and the programme from last month’s clash at the Emirates! The facts: £3.50 buys a slick, colourful 84-page tome. The content: There are seven pages on Dundalk and features on Irish Arsenal players among an impressive range and depth of features and interviews. The only disappointment is the relative lack of historic content at a club as steeped in history as the venerable Arsenal. A word from our sponsors: Advertising is restrained and is the exclusive domain of Arsenal’s official partners, including Emirates, GKFX Foreign Exchange, Acronis Cybersecurity. Famous names: Though it was primarily a second string XI, Arsenal side included £72m signing Nicolas Pepe, Granit Xhaka, Ainsley MaitlandNiles, Cedric Soares and Sead Kolasinac. You know the Dundak lads! The match: Dundalk drew the first 40 minutes 0-0 and drew the last 44 minutes 0-0!
THUMPING WINS
DOUBLE DIGITS Much was made at the time of Dundalk’s remarkable 11-0 win over Athlone Town in the FAI Cup semi-final recently. It was, of course, a new club record win, eclipsing a pair of 9-0 league victories over Shelbourne and Sligo Rovers. It was widely reported as the biggest win in FAI Cup history, but a little research suggests that it’s a record not just in the cup, but in domestic football as a whole. There have been ‘16ish’ occasions when clubs have hit double figures in Irish football with Dundalk’s 11-0 win equalling Shamrock Rovers’ record win, an 11-0 thumping of Bray Unknowns back in 1928. The only other sides to have hit more than 10 in a game were Waterford and Derry against non-league opposition in the FAI Cup. Non-league Rialto ceded home advantage to the famous Waterford side of the early 70s, a team that won six league titles in eight years, and suffered an 11-1 thrashing. Derry City went one better recently, sticking 12 past hapless Munster Senior League side Blarney just two years ago.
Blarney were barely back in training ahead of their winter cycle league season when they ran into the Candystripes. It could have been worse, Derry were 8-0 up at the break and hit 10 before the hour. In the end, Blarney grabbed two in two minutes to keep the margin at 10, though there was little comfort in a 12-2 defeat. In addition to their 11-0 win over Bray Unknowns, Shamrock Rovers also stuck 10 past Pioneers in a league game in 1925 - as it transpired, the amateur Dublin side made way for Dundalk at the end of the season - along with Cork Hibs in the league and Finn Harps in the City Cup. That was Harps’ first senior game, an eye-opening 10-2 home defeat
that underlined the magnitude of the task facing the Donegal newbies. Dundalk were one of four clubs to suffer 10-goal hammerings during the 50s, the golden age for double digit wins. The Lilywhites had a torrid time in the middle of the decade, struggling near the foot of the table, and were hammered 10-3 by a fine St Pat’s side in 1955. The most recent ten-goal haul came last season, when Bohemians destroyed a struggling UCD side missing a handful of key players to injury 10-1. There had been some needle between the clubs when they met at the UCD Bowl earlier in the season and the Gypsies were in no mood to show mercy when the
TOP TROUNCINGS OVER THE YEARS... 1925 | League | Shamrock Rovers 10-2 Pioneers 1928 | Shield | Fordsons 10-1 Athlone Town 1928 | League | Shamrock Rovs 11-0 Bray 1932 | FAI Cup | St James’s Gate 0-10 Dolphin 1935 | Shield | Cork 10-3 Dolphin 1938 | City Cup | St James’s Gate 10-2 Limerick 1947 | Inter City Cup | Linfield 10-0 Shelbourne 1953 | League | Shamrock Rovs 10-2 Cork Athletic 1955 | League | St Patrick’s Athletic 10-3 Dundalk 1956 | League | Waterford 10-2 Limerick 1960 | League | Cork Hibernians 10-1 Transport 1969 | City Cup | Finn Harps 2-10 Shamrock Rovs 1971 | FAI Cup | Rialto 1-11 Waterford 2018 | FAI Cup | Blarney 2-12 Derry City 2019 | League | Bohemians 10-0 UCD 2020 | FAI Cup | Athlone Town 0-11 Dundalk
game turned into a mismatch. League of Ireland clubs have no lack of tales of woe in European competition, so perhaps it’s surprising that in almost 600 games against the cream of Europe, Irish clubs have only conceded more than eight goals twice, and those two defeats came in England. Liam Tuohy’s Dundalk proved no match for Bill Shankly’s Liverpool in the 1969-70 Fairs Cup, struggling to a sobering 10-0 defeat at Anfield while Finn Harps also suffered a 12-0 reverse to a then mighty Derby County in 1976. Derby were nine-up at half time. One other double digits scoreline that didn’t quite make the list goes way back to the 19th century. Back in the days when the IFA was, in theory at least, an allIreland body, a young Bohemians side were surprise qualifiers for the 1895 Irish Cup final where they suffered a chastening 10-1 defeat to Linfield. Bohs, however, did gain some sort of double-digits cup final solace half a century later when they hammered non-league Grangegorman 11-0 in the 1946-47 Leinster Senior Cup final!
29 November 2020; Michael Duffy rifles home Dundalk’s first goal during the Extra. ie FAI Cup semi-final with Athlone Town
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his Thursday night thing is catching on. OK, so next week we won’t have any UEFA Europa League to feast on, but Dundalk will be parachuted from the continental stage to the global on when Jordan Flores appears as part of the FIFA BEST Awards, writes Martyn Hindley. Flores’ sensational strike in the 1-1 draw against Shamrock Rovers was announced as one of 11 goals nominated for the world’s best in 2020 based on significance and the artistic merit of the execution. A panel of distinguished football experts compiled the initial list with votes through FIFA.com then whittling that down to
a final trio. The winner will then be announced at next Thursday’s “virtual” BEST Awards ceremony from Zurich, Switzerland, with a fan vote merged with the opinions of the panel to determine the outcome. The accolade is named after Hungarian great Ferenc Puskas, who scored four times in the most celebrated European Cup Final of all time 60 years ago at Hampden Park. His feat for Real Madrid then in front of over 127,000 fans – including a young Sir Alex Ferguson – helped the club win their 5th straight European Cup with a 7-3 whipping of Eintracht Frankfurt but it wasn’t enough to get him, or his partnerin-crime Alfredo di Stefano, the Ballon D’Or!
Flores is keeping some stellar company with Barcelona’s Luis Suarez, Tottenham Hotspur’s Son HeungMin and Caroline Weir of Manchester City Women also nominated, the latter for a belter of a strike against rivals United. The award is one of eleven that will be announced at the ceremony, which will start by naming the pick of the goalkeepers in both women’s and men’s categories. The best coach of the year will also be crowned along with a FIFA Fan Award which had gone to groups of supporters before the 2019 awards, when Brazil’s Silvia Grecco was the first individual to be honoured. The Palmeiras fan describes every single piece of action of their favourite
28 February 2020; Jordan Flores, celebrates after scoring his side’s first goal during the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division match between Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk at Tallaght Stadium 52
club to her blind and autistic son Nickollas, their story being one of the most emotional moments of that ceremony in Milan. The Best men’s and women’s players will be supplemented by the two FIFPro World XIs in an event that celebrates all that is good about the beautiful game – all the more important in such an attritional calendar year. The Puskas Award was given for the first time in 2009 when Cristiano Ronaldo’s rocket for Manchester United against FC Porto in the UEFA Champions League was good enough to scoop the gong. Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and James Rodriguez are among the other previous winners with the Colombian’s strike against Uruguay at the FIFA World Cup Finals narrowly edging out Stephanie Roche’s classy effort for Peamount United against Wexford. So that’s tonight and next Thursday sorted and with Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve on the following two weeks, then we can say that this night of the week is all arranged for December. If anyone has an idea what to do on Thursdays in January, please let us all know…
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could do and the only thing I expected them to do. “In fact, I would sooner they had scored 10 than toyed with us for the game. We are really looking forward to the return leg and I only hope that the fans will turn out in force and give them a great reception.” The Dundalk side that played in the game at Anfield was as follows: Maurice Swan, Fran Brennan, Des O’Reilly, Kevin Murray, Tommy McConville,
Charlie Hendricks, Larry Gilmore, Paddy Turner, Turlough O’Connor, Tony Bartley and Eamonn Carroll. Derek Stokes replaced Larry Gilmore for the second half! It was a night to forget for Dundalk but the Anfield game had some novel subplots. Amongst the crowd that night was a French school teacher on secondment in Liverpool by the name of Gerard Houllier who attended the game with a friend 58
who was visiting from France. His fascination and admiration for Liverpool was born that night and, 29 years later in 1998, he became their manager. It is said that during the game Turlough O’Connor asked the Welsh referee, John Lewis, to have some sympathy and give the beleaguered Lilywhites a penalty. Lewis reportedly replied: “If you can get the ball in the penalty area, I’ll give you a penalty!” Whether we got the
ball into the Liverpool penalty area after that or not I don’t know, but Dundalk certainly received no penalty! The board’s worst fears were realised in the return game at Oriel Park two weeks later. After missing out on hosting what would have been a lucrative first leg, a disappointing attendance of 5,000 - reflecting Liverpool’s status in Ireland at the time turned up for the second leg at on September 30th, 1969. For Dundalk, Mick Millington and Tommy Kinsella replaced Hendricks and Gilmore and the Lilywhites defence fared much better. Dundalk started well and put some pressure on the visitors but it took just 13 minutes for Liverpool to go ahead with a goal from Thompson that Swan should have saved. Thompson scored again on 32 minutes when his shot was deflected past Swan by Murray
and Shankly’s side wrapped it up with goals from Graham and Callaghan. A 14-0 aggregate defeat was an extremely sobering experience for Dundalk, but there was no shame in falling to such a loss against an exceptional team who went on to dominate in England and 59
abroad in the seventies and eighties under a succession of home grown managers. Five years later, Liverpool recorded their biggest home victory in European competition, beating Stromsgodset of Norway 11-0 in a European Cup Winners Cup tie at Anfield to spare Dundalk the ignominy of holding that unwanted honour! Thankfully, when we met Liverpool again in the 1982/83 European Cup we managed to keep the score to a relatively respectable 5-1 aggregate defeat! It was a surprise when Liverpool made their exit from the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup competition in the next round, losing on the away goals rule to Vitoria de Setubal of Portugal. Ironically, it was our opponents tonight, Arsenal, who went on to win the competition by beating Anderlecht 4-3 on aggregate in a two-legged final.
2020 SEASON
EUROPEAN SPONSORS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPONSOR AN AVAILABLE PLAYER, PLEASE CONTACT US AT ORIEL PARK. EMAIL office@dundalkfc.com CALL 042 93 35894
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17 NATHAN ODUWA
Born: 11 Oct 93 Ex-clubs: Watford, Wigan Athletic, Swindon Town, Colchester United, Vejle BK
Born: 9 Mar 96 Ex-clubs: Liverpool, Birmingham City, Solihull Motors (loan)
Home Sponsor Gavin Kerley
Away Sponsor L’Isle De France
27 DANIEL KELLY Born: 21 May 96 Ex-clubs: Bohemian FC, Bray Wanderers, St Pats CY, Crumlin United
Born: 2 Jun 96 Ex-clubs: Burnley, Oldham Athletic, Crusaders (loan)
Away Sponsor Sean McParland
Home Sponsor LMFM
Home Sponsor Nicky McCourt
24 JAMIE WYNNE
44 ANDY BOYLE Born: 7 Mar 91 Ex-clubs: Crumlin Utd, UCD, Shelbourne, Preston North End, Doncaster Rovers, Dundee, Ross County
Home Sponsor Highbury Concrete
Away Sponsor Chris Malone
Away Sponsor Niall MacClancy
FILIPPO GIOVAGNOLI
Born: 13 Jul 01 Ex-clubs: St Malachy’s FC, Malahide Malachy’s
Home Sponsor Fyffes
Away Sponsor DFC Patreon
NOEL WALSH
Born: 01 Feb 02 Ex-clubs: Kells Blackwater, Cherry Orchard, Preston North End
Home Sponsor LMFM
Away Sponsor Available
Home Sponsor Dermot Hanratty
Away Sponsor Dermot Hanratty
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Home Sponsor Smiley Faces
Away Sponsor Smiley Faces