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The 1970’s Dermot Looney @dlooney
Mid Table Mediocrity Statistically, the seventies are perhaps the weakest in Pat’s history. The Saints’ League finishing positions starting in 1970-71 and ending in 1979-80 are stark in their mediocrity; 12th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 6th, 10th, 14th and 12th. Even though the League of Ireland expanded during the decade to 16 teams, only three Pat’s players broke into double digits in League goals during the decade: Kevin Murray (13 in 1972-73), Peter Conway (13 in 1975-76) and Derek Carthy (12 in 1978-79). But amidst the struggles there were flashes of intrigue and moments of magic to entertain the Richmond Park faithful. John Colrain was replaced as manager in 1971 by Londoner Jack Burkett, who had played for West Ham for 10 years until 1968. He took on a playermanager role at Richmond Park, winning the LFA Presidents’ Cup in 1971-72 and leading the Saints to an FAI Cup Final in 1974. That final saw Pat’s lose out by 3 goals to 1 against a strong Finn Harps side. Burkett was replaced by George Richardson, who lasted less than a season, 1975-76, although the Saints did win another minor trophy, the Dublin City Cup. Richardson was replaced in turn by another player with significant English League experience, Barry Bridges. Most associated with Chelsea, where he scored 80 goals in 176 games from 1958-66, Bridges had 4 caps for England and arrived, similar to Burkett, at the twilight of his playing career. He had only intended on staying for a few games but found himself living in a house owned by the club in Newland’s Cross and with the job of player-manager.
Bridges certainly brought a level of glamour to Richer which it had rarely seen. The ‘guest player’ phenomenon was at its height in the League of Ireland at the time, when clubs brought in star names to boost their coffers. Using his contacts in England, Bridges brought in Terry Venables for three games. Venables famously arrived early on Emmet Road and couldn’t find the ground, nestled as it is in behind the redbrick houses, and reputedly had to knock on several doors before being told where to go. Bridges’ most famous acquisition played just one game – World Cup winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who lined out at a home game against Shamrock Rovers in 1977. By all accounts Banks had a quiet game before pulling off a spectacular save from an Eamon Dunphy shot in the second half. The Scottish international, Neil Martin, hung about longer – he stayed for two seasons. The late seventies saw more home-grown stars in the red and white, amongst them tough-as-teak centre-half Dermot Keely and centre-forwards Jackie Jameson and Derek Carthy. When he left the club amidst financial difficulties in 1978, Bridges took the unusual route of nominating a successor – his assistant Ralph O’Flaherty. O’Flaherty’s reign lasted barely a year with Charlie Walker coming in to manage the Saints for the 197980 season – a season in which Pat’s again qualified for the FAI Cup Final, and again lost – this time a narrow 1-0 defeat to Waterford.
Honours LFA President’s Cup (1971-72) Dublin City Cup (1975-76)
2020 Season • Vol. 32 • No. 6 • St Patrick’s Athletic v Shelbourne
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