INTO THE LYONS DEN
Former Dundalk star looks back on club’s initial bow on European stage
AS HE strolled down Dundalk’s Clanbrassil Street on Friday, Champions League match tickets for Aviva Stadium to hand, Timmy Lyons marvelled at the survival instincts of his former club.
‘The town is buzzing, there’s a sense of being part of something special. The flags and bunting are out. It’s great to see as they haven’t had things easy here,’ said Lyons, a League winner with Dundalk in 1962-63.
The Dubliner was only 20 when Dundalk took their first steps into European competition against FC Zurich, the Swiss champions. It wasn’t so much a step, but a leap into the unknown for the callow centre-half and his teammates.
‘We played them at Dalymount and as it was all new to us, we gave them the home dressing room,’ he recalled. It wasn’t the only act of generosity afforded by Dundalk to their visitors.
When the Dundalk players got to the ground, Lyons was struck by a couple of things. ‘It was the first time we’d seen a Continental side and they looked the part in all-white strip,’ he said.
‘But what stood out most was the fact they were out on the pitch 45 minutes before the game, and every player had a ball. This was unheard of at the time,’ said Lyons.
Zurich were about to embark on the most successful period of their history, winning six domestic titles, and five domestic cups between 1963 and 1976. Their team against Dundalk included Köbi Kuhn, later the coach of the national team.
Early on, in front of a crowd of 17,052, the Swiss ran rings around Dundalk. ‘Back then, defenders played a high line. We were almost on halfway and they just knocked the ball over us and ran in behind. We were being over-run,’ said Lyons.
‘We went a goal down early on and when we went two down, I said to the other defenders, ‘lads, we have to drop back here’. Which we did, to our penalty area, which steadied things.’
Even so, Zurich added a third goal and had the tie in their pockets leaving Dublin, but not before they availed of further Dundalk hospitality.
‘We all sat down for a banquet at the Gresham Hotel, both teams and officials,’ said Lyons. ‘But when we went over there, there wasn’t so much as a cup of tea offered to us after the match, which was miserable on their part.’
Lyons didn’t play in the second leg after breaking his wrist at Richmond Park in between the European games but he travelled to Zurich, his first time on a ‘plane. ‘In fairness to the Dundalk officials, they invited me on the trip even though I was injured.’
With Lyons (broken wrist), joining one-armed striker Jimmy Hasty on the flight, there was levity on landing as someone cracked ‘Are we in Zurich or Lourdes?’
The return leg was a belter as Dundalk scored twice through Dermot Cross and Hasty to threaten the mother of all comebacks but Zurich sealed the deal with a goal 11 minutes from time and went on to reach the semi-finals where they lost to Real Madrid.
‘We lost 4-2 on aggregate but we were the first League of Ireland team to win away in Europe, which gave us great satisfaction,’ said Lyons, who wore the number five jersey until the end of the 1965-66 season, the year before Dundalk won the League and returned to European competition again.
Since then, Dundalk have travelled to Hungary, Holland, Scotland, England, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), Malta, Portugal, Iceland, Sweden, Croatia, Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Belarus, totting up 52 ties in Europe.
Along the way, there have been many stand-out moments, the ‘Battle of Oriel’ with Linfield fans in 1979, the same year they came within the width of Tommy McConville’s bootlaces of beating Celtic.
There were also draws with PSV, Porto, Spurs and a narrow loss to Liverpool, which led to strong ties with the Anfield club that still stand today. Curiously, Dundalk have never played Polish opposition in Europe, until now.
Legia Warsaw, the team of Deyna, Gadocha and Tomaszewski bring a strong domestic pedigree which includes 11 league titles and 18 Polish cups. In Europe, they reached the last four of the European Cup in 1970 and the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991, losing to Manchester United.
Since 2000, they have played in UEFA competitions 14 seasons out of 17 and beat St Patrick’s Athletic 6-1 on aggregate in the Champions League preliminaries two year ago.
They are a seasoned unit and, like FC Zurich all those years ago, will probably bring a ball for every player, too. Dundalk won’t be light in that regard either, which Timmy Lyons will approve of when he takes his seat in the Aviva.
‘The key for Dundalk is to keep the tie alive and if they perform like they did in the last round at home, that’s well within their grasp,’ he said.
Dundalk dropped their standards in their last two domestic games but European combat has brought the best out of them, especially their goalscoring hero David McMillan.
At Aviva Stadium, where they won the Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup last November, it’s time for the League of Ireland champions to rise again.
‘WE WERE THE FIRST LEAGUE OF IRELAND SIDE TO WIN AWAY FROM HOME’