Stephen Finn looks at how Bohemians v Shelbourne in 1973 led to four League of Ireland stars moving to Manchester United... They say that in football your fortunes can change in the blink of an eye. In January 1973 one football match changed the liv
Stephen Finn looks at how Bohemians v Shelbourne in 1973 led to four League of Ireland stars moving to Manchester United...
They say that in football your fortunes can change in the blink of an eye. In January 1973 one football match changed the lives of four League of Ireland players.
The January 14,1973, capital city clash between Shelbourne and Bohemians at Tolka Park had no bearing on the title race that year but must go down as one of the most career-defining games in the history of the league.
While what happened on the pitch was entertaining enough - Bohemians beat the home side 4-1 - four players from the Dublin derby ended up earning moves to Manchester United on the back of that encounter - Gerry Daly, Mick Martin, Ray O’Brien and Paddy Roche.
Red Devils boss Tommy Docherty was in the stands at Tolka Park that afternoon to watch the neighbouring sides play out a high-scoring game on what may have been a dreary day weather-wise but proved to be a bright moment for all four players in time.
Contemporary reports said that Doherty was present with assistant manager Paddy Crerand to watch Bohs keeper Fred Davis in action while representatives of Leeds United and West Brom were also reportedly at the game.
While Davis went on to become one of the longest serving goalkeepers in the League of Ireland and his side won 4-1 on the day, Roche ended up making the bigger impression on the United management.
Daly had been been a hit at Bohs since making his debut in August 1972 in the President’s Cup against Shamrock Rovers. The dynamic midfielder scored against 1.FC Köln in the first leg of a UEFA Cup 1st round tie a month later and his career with the Dalymount Park club included ten goals in just 36 appearances in total.
While the young Dubliner would have been expected to be the obvious player to catch Docherty’s eye it was actually industrious midfielder Mick Martin who made the quickest move to Manchester after impressing against Shels as a central defender.
Martin proved to be a bargain at a reported £25,000. The son of Ireland legend Con Martin, Mick had already been capped by Ireland before United came calling but just 48 hours after seeing him take on Shels he was on his way to Old Trafford.
With the Red Devils fighting relegation from the top flight it was obvious that Docherty wanted a man with appetite for hard work and he got that in Martin, who made 16 appearances and scored twice in his first season with the club.
It really is extraordinary to think that Martin went from playing in front of modest crowds at home to lining up alongside the likes of world stars such as George Best, Bobby Charlton, Denis Law, Brian Kidd, Tony Dunne and Alex Stepney as quickly as he did.
Daly admits he was a little jealous of his colleague earning to move to United as he had hoped it would be him the Red Devils were watching - but in time he got his way!
“I wasn’t at Bohs long enough to say what influence they really had on my career but I was there for about six months and I thoroughly enjoyed it,” said Daly.
“You’re a young lad and maybe a bit cocky, strut your stuff, and the manager Sean Thomas was happy enough to let me just play.
“I remember Man United came across to watch us play against Shelbourne. The story was that they were after me. They signed Mick Martin instead and I was gutted but then the newspapers said they were coming back for me.”
Just like Martin, when Docherty moved for Daly in April the same year he didn’t take any amount of time before deciding to throw the youngster in at the deep end.
“I signed for United on the Tuesday then played in the Anglo Italian Cup against Bari the day after alongside Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and Ian Storey-Moore but then I played in the reserves again for a little while.
“To make your debut at Old Trafford so soon after joining was a dream come through. Tommy Docherty signed me and he’d watched me himself but Jimmy Murphy had been over before that and always said he’d signed me for Manchester United. He was a lovely man.”
Both players went on to enjoy tremendous careers in the game. Martin won 51 caps and Daly was capped 48 times, scoring 13 times.
While the 18-year-old Daly’s fee was a reported £10,000, at the time Bohs manager Sean Thomas raved about his potential and said: “I don’t think I’ve known a player to mature as quickly as young Daly. He is an absolute natural.
“Tommy Docherty has been onto to me several times recently to let the boy go. I’m positive he will make it. He is a player of tremendous potential. He is a greater reader of the game, has great positional sense and is a fine header and passer of the ball.”
While the 1973-74 season will be recalled as a horror campaign for the Red Devils - they were relegated to the Second Division - Daly made 16 appearances in that season and the following year starred with 11 goals as they won promotion at the first attempt.
Paddy Roche was also an international at the time of Docherty’s visit to Dublin and went on to play in the 1973 FAI Cup Final against Cork Hibs before United snapped him up for a reported fee of £15,000.
The goalkeeper remembers the time of his move from Tolka Park to Old Trafford vividly to this day and admits that financially it didn’t actually make sense to make the move - but he forgot to inform his wife before agreeing to join the Red Devils!
“I think they came over to watch Ray O’Brien when I was seen. I was working for my brother in Bray and we got a call from the Shels manager Gerry Doyle to go to the Gresham Hotel in the city centre because United wanted to sign me,” Roche recalls.
“I didn’t even hesitate. I got in the car and drove in very quickly and parked around the corner then walked in and there was Paddy Crerand with Gerry Doyle. Paddy was assistant to Tommy Docherty at the time. I just said where do I sign.
“My brother told me after I signed that I should have asked for more money and as it worked out it meant I took a drop in wages. I had a decent wage from the few bob I was getting at Shels added to the job driving around from garage to garage delivering car parts.
“It never dawned on me that a club in England would be interested in me. There was nothing in the air. We’d only got married in June. We bought a house but never got to move into it!”
While Roche may be modest about his own career, he was not surprised that Martin, Daly and his Shelbourne club-mate O’Brien would catch the attention of major clubs outside of Ireland.
“Mick Martin, Gerry Daly and Ray O’Brien were all very good players,” recalls Roche.
“Gerry was a cracking player and went on to do very well for United. He always had amazing energy and could run all day. Gerry was always going to make it because he was a strong personality and he was a great penalty taker too.
“Mick Martin could play anywhere. He had the football in him from his dad. He didn’t get the recognition he deserved. He could hold his nerve in the toughest games.
“Ray O’Brien was a class player and although he didn’t really make the breakthrough at United he went to Notts County afterwards and had a brilliant career with them.”
O’Brien spent a year at United before Notts County spent £45,000 too take him to Meadow Lane and he went on to win four Ireland caps.
Roche had to compete with veteran Stepney for the No 1 slot at the club and made two appearances for the first team in their promotion-winning season but he admits that the set-up at the club was a world away from what it is now.
“I was supposed to make my debut in the summer but my father passed away. I had a year in the reserves then played in the Second Division,” he recalls.
“United were training at the Cliff. The pitches were actually very poor but the big difference was training full-time from part-time. I had to work hard to build up my physical side of things.
“There was no goalkeeper coach. Myself and Alex Stepney would work together and if the Doc and Paddy Crerand wanted to do a bit of shooting we’d step in.
“I remember one time early on I was supposed to do a warm-up with Paddy but he worked me so hard I was knackered and could hardly move afterwards.
“The club has changed so much from those days in terms of number of staff but it was different times.”
Roche’s best season at United was 1977-78 when he made 23 appearances in all competitions under Dave Sexton. The emergence of Gary Bailey probably prevented him becoming No.1 in the long term and after a spell at Brentford he had five years with Halifax.
Having been part of a group of late developers to make the move to Old Trafford, Roche can see the benefits of making the move as an adult rather than a schoolboy - as the likes of Seamus Coleman and Shane Long emulated in recent years.
“I was 22 when I went over. But really it can depend on the individual concerned. It was a different world completely. Manchester seemed such a big city compared to Dublin and I had to adjust,” he said.
“I think the clubs do work harder to look after the kids better nowadays. Some people are more mature early so it’s not a hard and fast rule.
“There was a big gap in talent between the League of Ireland and the top flight in England then but not so much as today. You have to be exceptional to even be looked at these days.”
