When Georgie joined in the football fever at a Castleblayney hotel
THE setting was a new one, even for a man as immersed in life as George Best. The smile remained unchanged, however, the familiar, bright expression that stole all the way up to his eyes.
There must be very few Irish people who have had their photograph taken as often as Best, and once he knew a camera was fixed on him and he was fit to react, the smile would emerge.
It is there in the remarkable photographs taken in a Castleblayney hotel in late summer 1988, one of the less familiar occasions even a man as exposed to life as Best would have encountered. The image surfaced on social media after Monaghan’s win over Galway returned them to the All-Ireland semi-finals.
Best was in the Glencarn in Castleblayney as the guest of Tony Loughman, a distinguished player with the county in the 1960s, and a music promoter.
Loughman engaged Best to visit as part of a promotion for a sports shop opened by his son, Declan.
Declan Loughman also happened to be one of the stars of the Monaghan team that had defeated Tyrone in the Ulster final, pushing the county through to what was their second All-Ireland semi-final in four seasons.
And there he stands in one of the images, holding his young cousin Anthony. To his right is Stefan White, and to White’s right is Jack O’Shea and then Best.
On a high table before them, fringed with a cloth declaring ‘Monaghan Champions’ and with a team photograph adorning it, is set the Anglo Celt Cup. A row of enthusiastic punters are ranked behind them.
‘The thing about it at the time was that he was expected not to show because he was known for that. But he did show, in fairness,’ laughs Declan Loughman.
On a midweek afternoon in August, Castleblayney is fervid once again. The only point in the conversation at which Loughman’s gentle disposition changes is on the subject of jerseys. He can’t keep them stocked.
‘Keeping them stocked is always a problem but especially now. But we have plenty of other Monaghan tops that they can wear,’ says Loughman.
He was 23 years of age when Best visited Blayney, one of the kings of Ulster.
‘He [Best] was dead on and he was in great form at that time, anyhow. There was great hype around the place but he didn’t know much about the Ulster Championship or an All-Ireland semi-final,’ says Loughman.
No matter. There were enough there that did. One of them was Jack O’Shea, another of the celebrity attendees in the Glencarn Hotel that night.
If Monaghan football people were stirred by the arrival of a soccer superstar, that feeling would not have touched the joy of beating Tyrone in the Ulster final in mid-July by two points. The excitement lasted until August 14, when Cork beat them by 11 points.
Thus ended a high time for the county. Loughman soldiered on for a few years. Now he is one more faithful conscript in the Farney Army, clock-watching until 3.30 this afternoon.
‘I’d go down today if I could,’ he laughs and it still Wednesday morning. ‘It’s crazy. The county is on a high. People know this team is good enough to be in an All-Ireland semi-final.
‘They’ve been a top-six county over the last five years at least. This isn’t an accident.’
Monaghan beat Tyrone in an Ulster quarter-final in Clones in May, a victory that was met with wild celebrations by their fans. But on the two occasions the sides have met in Croke Park, the win has gone to Mickey Harte’s team.
An opinion gathering strength is that Tyrone have the smarts to win a semi-final, finding some way, somehow to get to the final.
‘Beating them in Ulster this year was important,’ counters Loughman. ‘Once upon a time we might have had an inferiority complex coming down to Dublin, but not now.’
Monaghan are entitled to walk with their chests out around Croke Park this afternoon. This is only their sixth All-Ireland semifinal in 80 years (counting the replay in 1985), but their great servant Loughman is correct; they are an established top-tier side now.
The place blazes with excitement. Half their population will stream towards Dublin 3 today. But nothing in the build-up will match for strangeness or giddiness the happenings in a Castleblayney hotel 30 years ago.