Big honour for ‘Jacko’ to captain a fine side to Wicklow Cup glory
‘IT was a great honour to captain such a good side, and I’d like to thank Tony Jameson for selecting me as captain,’ was how the 1995 Hills of Arklow Wicklow Cup winning captain Alan ‘Jacko’ Newsome ended our call on Monday night last where we had enjoyed a quick trip down memory lane about that final and that era.
Distinct memories of the games or the festivities that followed are difficult for ‘Jacko’ to locate given that 25 years have flown by in the blink of an eye but the teak-tough Rathnew leader doesn’t sound like a man who cares for flowery reflections even if those recollections were crystal clear in his mind.
But you can sense a quiet pride sailing down the phone in the husky voice as he talks about watching the young players bursting through having been called up from the youths team to populate a squad that hadn’t been back in a Wicklow Cup final since their first win in 1990.
Names like Barry Mernagh, Tommy Gill, Robert Doyle and Clifford Doyle joined seasoned regulars such as Newsome, Pat ‘Bomber’ Murphy and Chris Duffy as they laid siege on the Wicklow Cup. ‘Jacko recalls falling foul of the referee in the first game and getting sent off after a disagreement with Alan Byrne of Gorey Rangers.
‘I remember the final, I got sent off in the first game. They didn’t suspend me, they let me play in the final. I got back. Me and Alan Byrne from Gorey got sent off,’ he explained.
‘Ye must have fallen out,’ we suggest.
‘For about five minutes,’ said ‘Jacko’ in the tone of a man who doesn’t hold grudges after the final whistle sounds.
‘We were underdogs for that game. Gorey would have had more seasoned players than we had. Tommy (Gill) and Barry (Mernagh) were good, they were fliers.
‘That would have been nearly my last (season). I was 33 then.
I was on my last breath, as the lad says,’ he recalls.
‘Jacko’ remembers a big crowd at the Carlisle, for both sides.
‘There was a big following for both sides. I don’t think we had played from 1990 in a final and then they took off after that. Tony Jameson was over that team, he was manager. He was the one who brought the young lads up from the youths. I was over Tommy and Barry when they were in the youths and they broke through then and the rest is history after that. They were good,’ he added.
Looking at the wider picture of Wicklow League soccer at the time, ‘Jacko’ looks back on that era with real fondness. He recalls a time of tough battles every week and coming up against quality sides such as Enniskerry, Little Bray, Glenview, Gorey Rangers and more.
‘Brilliant time. So many good sides in the league that time, and you had a tough game every week. Gorey pipped us to win the league (Premier) that year. You had Rovers, Enniskerry, Little Bray, Glenview, good sides then. There was nothing easy in those games back then,’ he said.
Being made captain was a big honour for ‘Jacko’ who had scored the winning goal in the 1990 decider against Glenview.
‘Big honour (to be captain). I was delighted, and such a good auld side, and with the young lads coming on at the start of their career,’ he said.
A few weeks back Joe Ronan described Newsome as one of the best he ever played with along with the likes of ‘Sting’ Kavanagh. We threw the question of who was the best he had ever played with at ‘Jacko’.
‘Sting would be up there in the top four or five, easy. Harry (Murphy) would be one of the top ones I ever played with. He was a good soccer player.
Chris Duffy was a very good footballer. Joe Ronan was dynamite. But for an all-round ball player I’d have to go for (Harry) Murphy. Heart and soul, skill, leadership, you name it, he had it,’ he added.