It was a privilege to be around Jack
The night soldiers of Irish football met to honour a great general
SEPTEMBER 2018: As the dancer delivered a slick routine which revived echoes of ‘Riverdance’, Jack Charlton’s hand drummed lightly against the dinner table, and he smiled. Once again, he was in tune to the Irish vibe. Charlton is not as robust as he once was, and conversation can be a struggle, but his back remains as straight as a grenadier guardsman.
Crucially, the Geordie continues to command the loyalty and respect of those players he managed over nine and a half extraordinary years as Republic of Ireland manager.
That allegiance was evident in the great numbers who travelled to Kildare this week for a unique celebration of Charlton at The K Club.
Some, like Niall Quinn, who pulled the gathering together at short notice, only had to walk across the road. Others, like Terry Phelan made a 16,000-kilometre return pilgrimage from India to be part of the celebration for his former manager. ‘I’m here for Jack,’ he said.
Phelan doesn’t play golf but walked the
Palmer Course on a sunny Monday afternoon, while Charlton, driven by his son John in a buggy, scooted around to say hi to his former soldiers in green.
Between Sunday night’s social gathering and Monday’s golf and dinner, many players capped during the 94-game Charlton reign came to salute their old boss.
They included those who only got a wee lookin, such as Gerry Daly, who scored the first goal of the Charlton era against Uruguay in 1986, and Mark Lawrenson, who helped Ireland qualify for Euro ’88 only to be cruelly denied the stage he deserved through injury.
And there were those who never seemed to miss a game, such as Packie Bonner, Paul McGrath and Ray Houghton.
There were former captains too, from Andy Townsend and Frank Stapleton to Mick McCarthy and Kevin Moran, while Chris Hughton took a break from Brighton managerial duties to pop over.
Steve Staunton, like McCarthy a Charlton stalwart and a former Irish captain and manager, was there, as was Kevin Sheedy, scorer of Ireland’s first goal in the World Cup finals, and Ronnie Whelan too, who finally admitted there was ‘some shin’ on his wonder strike against the USSR in Hannover. All were drawn by the opportunity to acknowledge Charlton and reflect on a golden period for Irish football when the national team had a grip on the nation’s pulse like never before.
The story of the nine years was retold with panache by RTÉ’s George Hamilton, as master of ceremonies.
The peerless Belfast broadcaster dipped in and out of Euro ’88, Italia ’90 and USA ’94, with wee vignettes of his own as he recalled the unfolding story of ‘Jackie’s Army’.
After replays from the finals in Germany and the USA, Hamilton adroitly steered the climax to the Luigi Farraris Stadium in Genoa where he had arrived for work with a bottle of prosecco, ‘just in case’.
Hamilton somehow smuggled the bottle into his commentary booth and again into the flash zone for the post-match interviews with Bonner and David O’Leary, where he uncorked it, and offered the heroes a glass apiece. At one point in the interview, Hamilton bent down and was promptly doused by the grinning lads. The clip on YouTube is worth a look.
After watching a replay on screen of the Irish penalties, and Bonner’s save, the former
‘keeper made a point of acknowledging the contribution of the four lads who scored before O’Leary’s decisive spot kick.
Three of them were in the room, the exception being Tony Cascarino who is recovering from a health scare.
Charlton didn’t get involved in the penalty shoot-out, and left it to the players to sort things out.
O’Leary, who replaced Staunton during extratime, assumed responsibility for the running order and told Sportsmail: ‘I decided to take the fifth one as no one else wanted to.’
After Bonner made THAT save, O’Leary revealed Sheedy had advised him to ‘pick your spot and don’t change your mind’.
As ‘a nation held its breath’ , O’Leary admirably stuck to his guns.
Stuttgart, Genoa, Giants Stadium.
Three stand-out moments on Irish football’s unprecedented journey under Charlton, a
World Cup winner for England, who is arguably held in even higher esteem on this side of Irish Sea.
Jack didn’t say much on Monday but he perked up when a video of himself popped up on the screen, recalling the final moments in Genoa before the penalties where he bummed a fag off an Irish fan to calm down.
And when presented by the K Club with an oil painting depicting a fishing scene, he nodded and smiled.
Irish football can be grateful this fisher of football men cast his net our way.