Seven sons join father for last game of rugby
56-year-old amateur player made up a full scrum with children, as he made his final Heaton Moor outing
WHEN the teamsheets were released for Heaton Moor RFC third team’s match against local rivals Wythenshawe, it didn’t take long to realise there was something peculiar about the hosts’ line-up.
The entire set of forwards, it turned out, all have the same surname.
It wasn’t just a coincidence, but the “perfect” ending to a 15-year career for Mike Ireland, who was surrounded in the pack by his sons when he scrummed down for the final time on Saturday.
Mr Ireland, a chartered engineer from Reddish, close to Stockport, started playing at the age of 41 after being encouraged to join the 3rd XV while helping to coach his son, Tom, in the junior section.
“Most people have retired by then,” he said. “I quit smoking, started playing and got 15 years out of it.”
Now 56, a father to 15 and a grandfather to 15 more, he bowed out in style on Saturday with a 65-7 win over Wythenshawe RFC. Mr Ireland started at loosehead prop, with the rest of the pack made up of Dan, 35, Sam, 27, Joel, 18, Matt, 33, Luke, 23, Steve, 21 and Tom, 31 – all seven of them his sons.
“Three of our girls have played rugby here but I think that rugby addresses a need in boys to have a legitimate outlet for aggression,” he said.
“We don’t have pitch battles with neighbouring tribes these days, but that aggression is still in men and it needs an outlet. I know this sounds cheesy, but the core values of rugby – discipline, respect, teamwork, enjoyment – are a real benefit in bringing up boys to try to be good citizens and all-round people.
“They know how to take knocks and setbacks – maybe a punch in the face – and it’s not the end of the world. You learn so much about yourself playing rugby.”
Tom, Sam and Matt were among Heaton Moor’s try-scorers and Mr Ireland saluted Wythenshawe for their part in a “fantastic” occasion that amounted to “a dream come true”.
“To be fair to Wythenshawe, some of my boys are in the first-team and second-team,” he said. “They were ringers, really.”
Mr Ireland and his sons are actually outnumbered by the women of the family. He and wife Donna are also the parents of eight daughters: Rebekah, Abigail, Hannah, Mary, Donna, Ruth, Lucy and Eva.
“It goes without saying that we love kids,” Mr Ireland said yesterday morning, feeling a “little sore” in the wake of his send-off.
“It has been an incredible amount of work and, looking back, it’s felt like someone else did it. Our youngest, Eva, is 14, so it feels that hard work is behind us!”
Joining the front-row union as a quadragenarian reinforced how Mr Ireland has not been afraid of a challenge. “I found that I could push and I enjoyed the dark arts of the front row,” he said.
A dream holiday to Thailand with his wife is on the agenda. But, with grandchildren already attending Heaton Moor’s mini section, one senses that Mr Ireland will not be a stranger to his beloved sport.
“Fitness-wise, I’m absolutely fine and I’ll keep going to the gym or whatever,” Mr Ireland said.
“I always thought I’d know the right time to retire and I can’t make a lot of tackles I used to be able to make.
“I’ve never been an outstanding player – ‘average’ is kind – and it’s time that my place was taken by someone younger and able to make those tackles.
“It coincided with Joel becoming 18 and being on the senior squad, so it was perfect.”