Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MAXIE SWAIN ta Standout memory of last-gasp 1994 title win one of many that persuaded Pat to make a Windsor Park return
PAT FENLON occupies a special place in the hearts of Linfield fans.
The 49-year-old former Hibernian boss, who recently returned to Windsor Park in a corporate capacity as general manager, remains a cult hero on the terraces more than two decades after he last pulled on the shirt.
In the grand scheme of things, his reign as the club’s midfield maestro was fleeting, a mere two-and-a-half seasons, and some of that spent laid up with injury.
Yet the esteem with which he is still regarded is testament to the mark he made at the Blues in such a short space of time, and the memories he left behind.
And for Bluemen of a certain vintage, he will always be synonymous with one day in particular.
It was a blazing late April afternoon in 1994 and Windsor – the old Spion Kop and South Stand packed to the rafters for the derby against Glentoran – would be treated to one of the most pulsating and enthralling climaxes to any Irish League campaign.
It was the last day of the season and the destination of the title was poised on a knife-edge – or in a car parked at the Moira roundabout to be precise, as the powers-that-be hedged their bets.
At Mourneview Park, first-placed Portadown and second-placed Glenavon were embroiled in their own winner-takes-all derby, and with the Lurgan Blues 2-0 up with 14 minutes to go, and then 2-1 with four, the title was slipping away.
For their part Linfield – locked on 67 points with their rivals at the start of the day but with an inferior goal difference – had to win and hope for a draw, with Fenlon’s strike taking care of their side of the bargain.
Back then, in the benighted, preinternet, pre-satellite days, the airwaves were the only heralds of breaking news, and agitated fans, glued to their portable radios, were immersed in the commentary from Mourneview, with the game up the M1 running a few minutes over.
But finally, after what seemed like an eternity, and with Trevor Anderson and his players still on the pitch and as clueless as anyone, the result came filtering through. Sandy Fraser’s late, late equaliser had broken Glenavon hearts and handed the Blues the title.
“I didn’t realise it at the time, but beating the Glens on the last day of the season, when you look back on it now… it still sticks in my head, standing on the pitch for a period of time before the final whistle blew at Mourneview,” recalled Fenlon.
“I don’t think anybody really gave us a real chance to win it that day. I think we were third going into it if I’m not mistaken, they were first and second. Then obviously to score on the last day against the Glens, and then for the news to come through that we had won the league, it was a fabulous feeling.
“And then to score as we won the Irish Cup final the following Saturday… I have loads of great memories to be honest and very few bad memories of playing for Linfield and it’s great to be back. It’s a place where I loved playing.
“There are a lot of changes, a hell of
a lot of changes. It will take me time to get used to it, but I’m delighted to be back.”
Fenlon arrived at Linfield in January 1994 already boasting a big reputation. A League of Ireland champion with St Pat’s, he was named the FAI’S players’ player of the season in 1992, so his capture was quite a coup for Jim Emery, Linfield’s chief scout.
Of course, a Catholic playing for Linfield in those incendiary days of the Troubles raised eyebrows, but Fenlon says he was welcomed with open arms from day one.
“It was a big challenge for me, obviously coming from southern Ireland to play for Linfield, but I knew it was a challenge that I would relish and I knew that I would be in a position to go and win some trophies,” Fenlon told Match On Tuesday.
“I knew it was a big club from down south back in those days but probably just how big it was in the first week of being up there probably took me by surprise a little bit, with relation to how big it was and how much interest there was in it, and how professional it was too. They are the things that stand out for me.
“Coming from the outside, I obviously knew the history of the club and the background of the club, but I think most players will tell you, I was going up to play football. I wasn’t interested in any of the other stuff to be honest.
“It was a big club and it was an opportunity to try and win some things. For me it was about football, it wasn’t about anything else.
“I was always made to feel really welcome by people at the club and the supporters at the club so it was never an issue.”
Comfortable in tight spaces and with a cultured left foot, Fenlon was a classy operator, one of those players who always seemed to have time on the ball.
He was the brains to Gary Peebles’ brawn, with the two forming one of the best central midfield partnerships of the era. Despite romping to a clean sweep in the 1993/94 season – title, Irish Cup, League Cup and Budweiser Cup – there remains a lingering suspicion that they underachieved.
The greatest teams are serial winners and dominate over a period of time, yet by 1995 Linfield’s powers were already on the wane, with Roy Walker’s Crusaders, the so-called God Squad, overthrowing the Blues in the race for the championship.
It would be another five years before the red, white and blue tassels adorned the Gibson Cup, by which time Anderson and the vast majority of his squad were long gone.
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