Harry Buckle: The Belfast native who had a huge impact on sport in Cork

WHEN war broke out across Europe and thousands of young people went off to fight, it looked like football was dead and buried in Munster.

Now, in 2022, the Munster Football Association (MFA) will celebrate 100 years, a huge achievement for an organisation that was thrown into the world in dramatic circumstances following the Great War.

The story of the MFA goes back to 1901, when a namesake organisation was set up. This was dominated by British Army personnel who organised games and competitions.

Their control meant that ‘soccer was played on Saturday afternoons, usually between three and 4pm, when many civilians were still at work’ according to David Toms, author of Soccer in Munster.

It was noted in a round-up of the 1908/1909 season in ‘Centre Forward’ that: “A great obstacle to the games in Cork being attended is the lack of a general half-holiday, and I venture to predict that when that drawback is eliminated the attendance at local Soccer matches will far exceed that of past seasons.”

The main competition organised by the MFA was the Munster Senior Cup, and the honour list was dominated by sides from British Army units. Some of these were already experienced winners, like Royal Engineers AFC, who won the FA Cup in 1875.

Only one civilian side lifted the trophy and that was Cork Celtic in 1904.

Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914 and the outbreak of the First World War, the MFA was suspended.

Games would not be played again until 1922 when the organisation was re-established by Harry Buckle, an Irish international from Belfast.

He was born in 1882 and played for Cliftonville Casuals and Cliftonville Olympic before moving to England where he played for a host of top clubs including Sunderland, Bristol Rovers, Portsmouth, and Coventry City.

At The Sky Blues, Buckle scored their first two hat-tricks and he was made player-manager for the 1909-10 season by local tobacco magnate David Cooke.

The Irish international did a spectacular job in his first coaching role. The team went from finishing second from bottom in the Southern League to eighth place.

He also masterminded a famous run in the FA Cup for Coventry which saw victories over Preston North End, Portsmouth, and Nottingham Forrest.

Buckle returned to Belfast just before the outbreak of the First World War, and started working at the Harland & Wolff shipyard, while playing football in the Irish League. 

His move to Cork came after he, alongside 17 other Catholics, were thrown into Belfast Lough in a sectarian attack in 1920. This was the second assault on the footballer, the other occasion saw a bolt thrown at his head, leaving Buckle with facial injuries.

Buckle responded to the incidents by moving to Wales and then Cork. On Leeside, he started working in Fords Motor Company and on the factory floor Buckle noticed a massive interest in football.

Fords FC was then set up as the work team and following this, the South Munster Football Association was formed with Buckle at the helm. They had their inaugural meeting on February 28, 1922 in Desmond’s Hotel and according to the Cork Examiner, they decided that ‘matches be commenced at once’.

A North MFA also existed during this period and this catered for teams in Tipperary and Limerick.

The South MFA slowly absorbed parts of this organisation, like clubs Cahir Park and Tipperary Wanderers.

On March 19, 1922, the unification process was completed at a meeting at Desmond’s Hotel, which meant the MFA proper was formed. To help this new organisation find its feet, Buckle operated a number of different roles like coaching Fordsons along and referring the first Inter-Provincial match between Munster and Leinster.

The MFA used this period to implement a structure to football across the province.

In 1924, district football leagues were formed in Limerick and Waterford.

The Munster Senior League (MSL) was also started along with the restoration of the Munster Senior Cup. The inaugural MSL champions were Barrackton United from the South MFA, who defeated Cahir Park of the North MFA in a play-off.

The first final of the Munster Senior Cup was played in 1923 and Fordsons (Fords changed their name in 1922 to advertise the new Fordson Tractor) beat Shandon.

The competition quickly captured the imagination of the public with crowds of 6,000 people attending the 1926/27 final between Cork Bohemians and Cahir Town at Turner’s Cross.

The formative years of the organisation saw clubs spring up all over the province, such as Cobh Ramblers in 1922 and Rockmount in 1924.

Once the new MFA had been fully consolidated, teams began to join the League of Ireland. Fordsons, who won the Munster Senior League in 1924, stepped up to the top flight later that year.

They were joined by Waterford in 1930 and Limerick in 1937. The biggest statement this new organisation made was in the final of the 1926 FAI Cup when Fordsons travelled to Dublin to face heavily fancied Shamrock Rovers.

The team won 3-2 at Dalymount Park and they brought the trophy to the south of Ireland for the first time.

The structures which were formed back in 1922 held firm over the last 100 years.

The organisation laid the foundations for clubs to rise and develop players like Roy Keane, Denis Irwin, and Sean McLoughlin.

They also paved the way for success stories like Cobh Ramblers' famous run to the FAI Cup semi-finals in 1983, Rockmount’s journey to the FAI Cup quarter-finals in 2004, and Avondale United’s four FAI Intermediate Cups in a row.

These are just snapshots into the MFA’s fascinating and multi-layered 100-year history.