14Aug20-Shamrock Rovers-FINAL_A5 14/08/2020 13:41 Page 23
The 1950’s Dermot Looney @dlooney
The Golden Era Pat’s almost replicated the treble of three years previously in the 1950-51 season. They completed the LSL Division One four-in-arow, regained the FAI Intermediate Cup, and came runners-up in the Leinster Senior Cup. By this stage the League of Ireland could no longer ignore the most successful club from outside their ranks and Pat’s were admitted to the single-division, twelve-team LOI for the 1951-52 season alongside Transport, who shared similar roots in the old GSR club. What happened next was nothing short of remarkable. There are few examples anywhere in world football of a team entering an established top-flight professional league from the nonleague ranks and winning it at the first attempt, but that’s exactly what the Saints did. Using much the same team as had dominated the Leinster Senior League in the four years previous, St Patrick’s Athletic began their maiden season inauspiciously, with just four wins in their first twelve games in the Shield and various cups. Indeed, the Saints lost their first League game proper, but went on to secure the title with a free-scoring approach led by the great Shay Gibbons who netted 26 goals in 22 League games.
This was no flash in the pan. Pat’s became the dominant force in Irish football in the 1950’s. League wins followed in 1954-55 and 1955-56. The Saints reached their first FAI Senior Cup final in 1954, losing out to Drumcondra. They eventually won the Cup for the first time in 1959, in a replay against Waterford. Pat’s also enjoyed considerable success in minor competitions such as the LFA President’s Cup (won three times in the fifties), the Dublin City Cup (won in 1953-54) and the League of Ireland Shield (won in 1959-60). Even the reserves got in on the act, winning the Leinster Senior League League Division One twice, two Metropolitan Cups, and one FAI Intermediate Cup.
their home and hearth in Richmond Park. The club’s offices stayed on Emmet Road and the pitch was still used for reserve team games and occasional matches, but League requirements meant that Pat’s had to base themselves elsewhere, beginning with Glenmalure Park, then Chapelizod, and finally Dalymount Park. Of these, the speedway and greyhound stadium at Chapelizod was perhaps handiest, but Pat’s huge fanbase travelled extensively on foot, by bike and by bus to ‘home games,’ while hundreds availed of CIE’s free travel for employees by taking the train to away matches in Cork, Limerick and Sligo.
Players from this era have gone down in Pat’s history, folklore and mythology. Even the nicknames seemed top class. Timber Cummins, Barreller Cassidy, Longo White and Ginger O’Rourke lined up with other club legends like Shay Gibbons, Harry Boland, Fergie Crawford, Jimmy Collins, Dinny Lowry, Tommy Desay, Dano Donnelly and Willie Peyton, to mention just a few. Names which trip off the tongue to this day.
Plans for the renovation of Richmond Park were initially ambitious but tempered somewhat in a difficult economic climate. A Main Stand was constructed, as legend would have it using steel acquired from the CIE Works, and other improvements meant that the ground was ready for League football on a permanent basis from early 1960. The Saints were brought back home, but after the dizzying heights of League and Cup success in the fifties, they were also soon brought back to earth.
Perhaps the only thing which marred this remarkable era was that Pat’s had to play away from
Honours League of Ireland Champions: 3 (1951-52, 1954-55, 1955-56) FAI (Senior) Cup: 1958-59 Other Cups: LFA President’s Cup (1952-53, 1953-54, 1955-56), Dublin City Cup (1953-54), League of Ireland Shield (1959-60) Leinster Senior League Division One champions: 3 (1950-51, 1955-56 [reserve team], 1956-57 [reserve team]) Other Cups: FAI Intermediate Cup 2 (1950-51, 1952-53 [reserve team]), Metropolitan Cup 2 (1956-57 [reserve team], 1958-59 [reserve team])
2020 Season • Vol. 32 • No. 4 • St Patrick’s Athletic v Shamrock Rovers
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