Dundalk Schoolboy’s League stalwart Larry Gorham chats to about a liftime dedicated to underage soccer

LARRY Gorham was no more than 16 when he joined the Dundalk Schoolboys League Committee. He has been the quiet man in the background ever since, a vital cog in the running of the league for virtually 56 years.

He was centrally involved in the organisation acquiring a ground and making a home of its own in Bellew Park on which €1m has been spent to develop the facilities.

Few if any official across the country has retained the motivation, dedication and energy to voluntarily give his time to the all important and thankless roles of registrar, secretary and the utterly necessary task of drawing up, arranging and co-ordinating fixtures for such a length of time.

During this period he also devoted 12 years to helping pull Dundalk out of bankruptcy when Oriel Park was threatened with closure. A period he describes as the ‘bad times, where I lived seven nights a week at the ground.’

Larry worked alongside nine different chairmen over his long stint with the League, including the present incumbent Michael Dillon, Pat Reynolds, Paddy Bellew, John Doran, Brian Murphy, Michael O’Connor and Cronan McCabe.

First at the helm in his time was Matt McArdle who he was friendly with through the men working in the CRV works on the Ardee Road. Gerry Gover was there and he went on to serve three terms in the post and by far the longest time of all.

‘It was about trying to get more teams, building it up and seeing the Dundalk Schoolboys League is thriving, which it is compared to when I started,’ Larry reveals. ‘There are 11 leagues compared with two leagues in which you had five or six teams when I started. That’s not counting under-10 and 11 which are non competitive, which would add another four or five because they have the biggest number of teams at that age. We have teams from Monaghan, Blayney, Drogheda, Ardee, Walshestown, Dromin, Grove and Termonfeckin.’

He says it is a pity that Coved 19 has thrown up another spell of uncertainty, following so quickly after the change of season to the summer months.

When the sport gets the green light to re-start, he surmises some clubs will opt to join other leagues and others affiliate with the local league due to their preference for either summer or a winter season.

One development in schoolboy soccer on which he holds a definite view is the creation of the new League of Ireland under-age structure. ‘The under-17, 15 and now under-13 leagues have done an awful lot of damage, let alone the fact most of the League of Ireland clubs are nearly bankrupt without running these teams.’

He was especially against the formation of the U-13 league. ‘I thought under-13 was far too young and it’s causing players to miss out on going to play in the Kennedy Cup (the annual inter-league tournament staged in Limerick university that has been the dream over the years for players under-14 to go to represent their league and exhibit their talents.’

Larry feels young players are being caught in a state of limbo. ‘They sign up with clubs and then are not getting into teams and not getting football. They can’t play with their local clubs. They have to wait until the transfer window opens to re-sign for their local club.’

More harmful is that the departure of a bunch of three or four players is leading to their schoolboys teams to fold, with others becoming discouraged and stopping playing and there aren’t sufficient players to maintain a team, he pointed out.

The feedback he is hearing is that around the country teams are well down at this age group, compared to when it used to be the top and one of the better age groups.

Players are missing out on the dream going to the Kennedy cup. Leagues are going to the tournament with totally different teams on account of players signing with League of Ireland clubs.

In some cases players might not play again. He gleaned from talking with national schoolboy officials that their feeling was that the under-13 national league would have to stop because of the ‘detrimental affect it is having on schoolboy leagues throughout the country.’ Larry feels that would be good for schoolboy leagues and the young players.

Larry himself was a player, referee and then helped run a team. It was from the latter pursuit that he moved into league administration in 1964, being by his own modest admission ‘a very poor right back with the Bank’ in the time of the great rivalry between the latter and Rangers. The leading lights with Bank were Thomas Kelledy and Stephen Maguire, and the likes of Jim ‘Cutta’ Smith and Tommy Connolly who gave so much to local soccer coaching and management subsequently, turning out for Rangers.

‘I was helping Jim Martin and Paddy Carroll who ran a Bank under-14 team. The whole thing was coming to an end – no pitches, no Joes (St Joseph’s Park) and Joe McEntee was bailing out.’

A treasured early photograph of Larry’s was of him with Johnny Carey presenting the ‘Player of the Year’ trophies to John Flynn and also Paddy Muckian when Carey brought over Nottingham Forest to play Dundalk in a pre-season friendly in August 1966.

The same year the chairman Matt McArdle managed to obtain use of St Joseph’s Park when it looked like there would be no league. Michael Callan was for a long time the secretary of the league and Larry was the registrar.

Larry started to referee which he enjoyed, although the role is one in which you invariably don’t please someone and can take a toll as Larry amusingly recalled in a couple of instances and became familiar with some ‘characters that I don’t think you ever will replace.’

There was a title deciding match he took charge of between Southend who needed a draw and Rangers who required a win to become champions. Rangers opened up a three nil lead but in the late stages the game took a dramatic twist with Southend reducing the deficit to the minimum and then a Southend player was taken down in the box.

Larry pointed to the spot and Southend duly equalised to clinch the title. The decision didn’t go down well with Rangers. ‘For years after I’d be walking down Clanbrassil Street with Rangers players on the other side (simulating) blowing the whistle and pointing to the spot.’

On another occasion Larry ended up in hospital after one day ‘refereeing four matches in Joe’s Park. I went home and took cramp in one leg and then the other and ended up in the Louth County Hospital until the next day.’

He fondly remembers the shenanigans that took place on the sideline, one incident between his long time colleague and great friend Gerry Gover and the legendary and late Jimmy Clancy who were over their respective clubs Rangers and Quay Celtic.

He was officiating and club officials doing the line (acting as linesmen), and the pair had towels swinging at each other.

‘But the next day it was all over and forgotten about. They were seen walking down the street. Nowadays they wouldn’t be talking for life. There were a lot of characters and a lot of hassle — good hassle. It would last a day - the next day it would be all over.’

Annual general meetings were interesting and attracted packed houses, one where Gerry Gover was to retire as chairman. Enda McGuill, a great stalwart of Dundalk and the League of Ireland, presented him with a trophy before the meeting starting at 8pm ‘At 12.15 after going on for hours Gerry was still chairman.’

Another it was necessary to hold in the AOH Hall where delegates couldn’t get in with rumblings of a heave beforehand. Nowadays the attendances would be moderate.

With Bellew Park the league can conduct all affairs there with a fine pitch, dressing rooms, incorporating all ancillary facilities and meeting room, along