Martin expecting a few new recruits to his exclusive double club
FOR more than 30 years, Martin Lawlor has been part of an exclusive one-man club but come this Sunday night he’s hoping to welcome a few new members in at long last.
As things stand the 60-year-old is the only player to have won two doubles with Dundalk FC, having won the league and FAI Cup under Jim McLaughlin in 1978-79 and nine years later in 1987-88 under Turlough O’Connor.
Should Stephen Kenny’s side beat Cork City this weekend then as many as nine players who were part of the double winning squad in 2015 will join Martin in the ‘Double Double Club’. They include Gary Rogers, Brian Gartland, Gabriel Sava, Dane Massey, Chris Shields, Sean Gannon, John Mountney, Stephen O’Donnell and Georgie Poynton.
Lawlor, who played for the Lilywhites between his debut away to Thurles Town in October 1977 to his final title-winning season in 1995, said he would welcome the company.
When his status was put to him by The Argus this week, he backed Dundalk to win at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday.
‘That is going to come to an end on Sunday,’ he said of his record as the only double-double winner.
‘That would be wonderful. It would be a fantastic achievement for the club historically. That would be a great achievement to have so many fellas at a club who achieved two doubles. It has been long enough outstanding.
‘I wish the hell somebody would hurry up and jump onboard with me,’ he laughed.
While football has changed plenty since Lawlor was playing at left full under the likes of McLaughlin, Dempsey, Connolly, O’Connor and Keely, he sees many resemblances between the current panel and the teams that helped him to win five league titles, three FAI Cups and three League Cups at Oriel Park.
‘My doubles were so long apart,’ he said.
‘Mine was probably exceptional in that I think they were nine or 10 seasons apart. That in itself is a kind of strange scenario but I always associated the two doubles with the same type of calibre of player. Players who were loyal, players who spent good periods of time at the club. If you done two doubles over the space of three years you’d do it with a lot of the same players but the telling factor for me was the type of people we had with the same ambition.
‘If you take the first double that we did, the club had come through a relatively difficult period of time in the years before that but we got a crowd of players in and a lot of them stayed at the club for a reasonably good period of time.
‘For the second one you had a lot of players who were at the club at least four or five seasons and that’s one of the real telling factors for success for any team, where you’ve a hardcore of the panel who stick around for season after season. That is the bedrock and foundation of your success and you can see it at the club again now.’
Having played 570 times for the Lilywhites, there’s little doubt that Dundalk FC runs through his veins. He hasn’t been able to get to Oriel Park as much in recent years since the passing of his old pal Tommy McConville but says he’ll be back cheering the Lilywhites on this Sunday and next season.
‘I’ve every intention for the new Martin Lawlor lifts the league trophy in 1991. He also won doubles with the club in ‘78/’79 and ‘87/’88