Thank you for the days

Often in times of difficulty we can think back to a time when things were a little bit rosier.

During this pandemic, we might think about the time you could walk into a pub and order a pint without having to buy food and keep an eye on the time. Or jumping on a plane without having to worry about putting the whole country at risk as a result.

In the case of Pats as we struggle through this Covid-inflicted half-season, many of us have gone back to moments like Christy Fagan's clincher in the 2014 FAI Cup final against Derry City.

What's not to like? The finish? The Pats crowd in rapturous celebration behind the goal? The sense of relief that the Cup was coming back to Inchicore after 53 years? The commentary?

It's a short clip of pure unadulterated joy and the warm glow surrounding clips like that pretty much sums up the second coming of Liam Buckley at the club.

Sure, all good things must come to an end. Football managers will know this better than anyone.

But the overriding feeling is that of a great era for St Patrick's Athletic under a manager who produced arguably the club's best brand of football.

I stand corrected on this one, as my memory of watching Pats starts from the early 1980s.

The League-winning teams of Brian Kerr and Pat Dolan were exceptional, and deservedly got their rewards to match the talent on show.

They are now household names and the amount of league titles - the club has won 6 league titles in 30 years - means there are too many to mention.

Bucko's team - in particular the side that won the 2013 Premier Division title and the FAI Cup in the following year - were something special.

I have my own personal reasons for having a particular grá for that 2014 team. My Da.

Having travelled the highways and byways supporting St Pat's over five decades, he lost his battle with Parkinson's dementia only a few weeks before that victory at the Aviva.