Sportsfile snappers present a history of soccer’s glory days

‘ GREAT MOMENTS in Irish football’ is the latest addition to the bookshelves from the Sportsfile photographic team, and after some mediocre performances in the Euro qualifiers, it’s fair to ask if there will be any material forthcoming for a follow-up version in the short- to medium-term future.

That will all depend on what happens in the play-off series next March, but for the moment followers of football could do worse than pick up this publication if they want to be reminded of some of our finest days over the Christmas period.

The first image is an arresting one, part of the Connolly Collection which is now the property of Sportsfile after the death of Jim Connolly, who was one of the foremost sports photographers in the country in the 1960s and 1970s.

It shows four young men standing in a dilapidated-looking Dalymount Park in 1973 before heading off for a big adventure with Arsenal.

It easy to identify the era from the long hair, wide collars and bell-bottoms, and three of the four - Liam Brady, Frank Stapleton and David O’Leary - certainly made the grade.

Sportsfile founder Ray McManus provides the introduction to the book with a recall of

June 12, 1988, when Ray Houghton famously put the ball in the English net - a moment he remembers like it was yesterday.

He notes that his own team have followed the boys in green all over the world, capturing the highs and lows ranging from the thrills and spills of Italia ’90 to the humiliating draw against Liechtenstein, as well as moments of drama off the field.

The book begins with a section on the 1960s, and one of the most notable features of the action pictures taken by Jim Connolly from the League of Ireland is the packed stands in the background.

Whether Rovers versus Bohs, or Shels against Dundalk, the attendances would be the envy of those hard-pressed individuals trying hard to promote the domestic game nowadays.

One super image from 1977 depicts Johnny Giles, the late Ray Treacy and Eamon Dunphy at a photo call in Glenmalure Park, Milltown, the old home of Shamrock Rovers.

Treacy, sitting on a wall, has Giles standing directly in front of him, and also has Dunphy sitting on his shoulders.

Giles was player-manager of the hoops at the time, and the caption states that an interview with ‘Magill’ magazine noted that his ultimate aim was to win the European Cup with the club!

The nearly years of the early eighties are depicted chiefly with a series of action shots, and the first colour imagery comes from Euro ’88 and the scenes after the victory over England.

With over 200 pages in total, the memories come flooding back as the book takes us all the way up to the current campaign, ending with celebrations from fans’ favourite Shane Duffy, and a player who needs to win their affection all over again, Robbie Brady.

Arguably the most infamous incident in the country’s football history, the Thierry Henry handball from 2009, is preserved in a video grab, begging the question once again: how on earth did the officials not spot such a blatant act of foul play?

Our own Kevin Doyle put in a fair shift up front in the course of a long international career, and his trademark strength in getting his head to deliveries into the box is framed in a fine shot of his goal against Slovakia in Croke Park in 2007.

If you have a big follower of football in your family, who isn’t necessarily an avid reader, then this could be the book to choose if you’re considering something in that line for a Christmas present.

It’s a nicely-presented look back at our modern football history that includes all of the most important moments, and hopefully there will be material for a follow-up in the years to come.

Visit The Book Centre on Wexford’s Main Street for the very best selection of sports books.