Full story of Dubs as they zone in on fifth title on the trot

DUBLIN’S QUEST for a record-breaking fifth All-Ireland Senior football title on the trot will be one of the key sporting narratives of the summer. As it stands, Wexford and Kerry are the only two counties who have matched their feat in claiming four titles in succession, so there will be a particular interest around these parts in how they fare.

And if you want to arm yourself with all the knowledge required to become an expert on the boys in blue, then ‘Dubs To The Four - The Complete Record of Dublin Football 1887-2018’ is the book for you.

I realise that this is quite a specialist area and not the type of publication that will be picked up by a reader browsing for something of a general nature to entertain them.

However, if you are like me and have a penchant for statistics, facts and figures, then this is the type of dream publication that is sadly lacking in the G.A.A. world for the most part.

Author Gerry Callan is best known for his work as a boxing journalist, but the Dubs are his other big sporting passion and he has done the county some considerable service here.

As he correctly points out, every soccer club in England has published a book listing their complete results record, appearances and goalscorers.

He often wondered why the same couldn’t be applied to the G.A.A., so he set about rectifying it for Dublin football in this impressive tome.

Every single team line-out - from

Senior to Minor - is listed from 1887 all the way up to last year’s All-Ireland final, making it a marvellous resource for anyone with even a passing interest in how the sport has evolved in the capital.

It’s not all names and numbers, though, because Callan also writes extensively on the various achievements and disappointments over the years, while the club championships are also covered in considerable detail.

There is a very impressive collection of player profiles in the middle of the book - 162 in total - and among that number is Jack Dempsey who was born in Wexford in 1878 and captained the Dubs to the All-Ireland title of 1902 before adding two more medals in 1906 and 1907. He died from tuberculosis on December 10, 1913, at the age of 35.

Another interesting figure is Jack Kirwan who was just 16 years and 226 days old when he made his debut, scoring two points, in the Leinster semi-final win over Wexford in September, 1894.

He switched to professional soccer, initially with Everton before helping Tottenham Hotspur to become the first and still only nonleague team to win the FA Cup in 1901.

The profiles also feature Toddy Pierse, another Wexfordman who was born on July 21, 1898, and won All-Ireland Senior titles with his native county and the Dubs.

Interestingly, in 1916 - the second of our four-in-a-row years - Wexford were due to meet Dublin in the Leinster quarter-final in Wexford Park on September 3, but the game didn’t go ahead because serveral members of the visiting team missed the train!

Sportingly, Wexford didn’t want to take a walkover and offered a re-fixture in New Ross the following week, but they did proceed to the semi-final without a contest as Dublin couldn’t oblige.

The book isn’t error-free as, for example, there’s references to Dublin playing games in St. Patrick’s Park, Enniscorthy, long before that venue was opened in 1961. Any matches beforehand took place in Bellefield, but it seems churlish to pick out mistakes when it’s such a welcome addition to G.A.A. literature and a wonderful reference work, not alone for fans of Dublin football.

ALAN AHERNE

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