Students are living up to Doc’s legacy
THE summer of 1979 wasn’t just about the imminent visit of the Pope, it also marked the introduction of the first soccer scholarship at UCD, which was a big deal back in the day.
The chance to sit for a degree while playing football at the highest level drew a decent crew to Belfield for trials, including a curly-haired 17-year-old from Malahide.
To the credit of Dr Tony O’Neill and Theo Dunne, who ran the show at UCD, they recognised a ringer when they saw one and my first trial was also the last.
Keith Dignam, a very fine player, got the nod for the scholarship and would go on to win the FAI Cup with UCD in 1984 and later serve as club chairman.
Even so, it was a privilege to be a bit-part player ahead of UCD’s first tentative steps into League of Ireland waters.
Almost 40 years on, UCD are still going strong.
Unlike other clubs who got caught up in the property bubble, such as Shelbourne, Bohemians, Cork City, Drogheda United and Sporting Fingal, there has never been a financial crisis at Belfield.
While UCD may not have a huge support, and have never finished higher than fourth in the Premier Division, they haven’t made headlines for the wrong reasons either and each season get their licence stamped without any queries.
As a plus, the ‘Estudiantes’ have always upheld the principles of ‘The Doc’ in terms of playing the ball to feet, rather than lumping it. On campus, it’s been more route 46A than route one.
As a reporter, winter Sundays at ‘The Alamo’, as Belfield Park was known, were always worth going too, even if the attendances were low.
Dermot Morgan followed UCD back in the day, explaining ‘because I hate crowds.’
The Doc and Theo always had a warm welcome, there was apple pie and hot tea at half-time and the press box, perched on stilts at halfway, afforded a terrific view.
Players tended to stay longer at UCD than most clubs, including stalwarts Ciaran Kavanagh, Tony McDonnell, Robbie Griffin and Mick O’Byrne, a very underrated forward.
Right now, these are exciting times for UCD, under head coach Collie O’Neill.
With three games to go in the First Division, they have a five-point advantage and could win promotion tonight at Drogheda if Finn Harps drop points at home to Galway.
More likely, UCD will be crowned champions on their current patch, The Bowl, against Harps on September 14.
By then, they will have played Waterford at home in the quarterfinals of the Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup and could be 90 minutes away from the Aviva Stadium. Of the six senior Dublin clubs, only UCD and Cabinteely, who are still wet behind the ears, have yet to grace the FAI Cup final at the Aviva. UCD did play at the old Lansdowne Road, however.
In May ’95, to mark the club’s centenary, a crowd of 22,616 saw UCD lose 3-1 to a stellar Liverpool side which included Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Jamie Redknapp, Phil Babb and Mark Kennedy.
Were UCD to reach their first FAI Cup final since 1984 when they stunned Shamrock Rovers, after a replay, it’s unlikely they’d draw a huge support to the Aviva.
But former graduates like Dignam, the Hanrahans, Joe and Peter, Jason Colwell, Jason Sherlock, Clive Delaney and Paul Corry would get a huge buzz out of it.
As would club stalwarts, Dick Shakespeare, Diarmuid McNally, Gerry Horkan, Brendan Dillon and the remarkable Joe Veselsky — 100 in October — who have helped keep the UCD show on the road, quietly and diligently, all these years.
Among the Fourth Estate too, there would be one or two old-timers privately rooting for the team ‘The Doc’ built.