Youghal Carpets were the first team to win all four domestic trophies in one season

The recent passing of former Youghal Carpets’ stalwart Connie Hosford brought to mind the immense contribution he made to the club’s outstanding success in the Business League.

An accomplished defender and born leader, Connie was at the heart of the acknowledged glory years of the mid-seventies and early eighties. 

No team with the exception of Postal Workers contained an array of skilled performers as Youghal Carpets. 

Players of the calibre of Connie, Dave ‘Badger’ Barrett, Jim Atkins, Walter McCarthy, Bernard ‘Bones’ O’Sullivan, and later on Davie O’Mahony, Denis Crowley and Greg Cooney, lit up the playing pitches of Killacloyne, Blackpool Park, Hickey Park and Pfizer Park with increasing regularity.

Indeed, such was the team’s standing in the league in the early 80’s that the Carpets’ instantly recognisable orange jersey with its yarn logo and black shorts and socks was worn by the league’s representative team in their memorable Wembley Tournament win over the Munster Senior League U23’s in June 1981.

Founded in 1971, Youghal sought membership to the Business League on August 23rd of the same year and became the second carpet weaving company alongside Kincora Carpets to join what was becoming an expanding league. 

After their opening match against Olympic was postponed due to weather conditions with the score at nil-nil, Youghal got off the mark two weeks later with a one-nil win over Doyles at Southern Park. 

Victories over Postal Workers (3-!), Fords (3-2), True Temper (4-1), Lunhams (6-1), Doyles (4-0) and CIE (3-2) led to a 2-1 win over league champions Postal Workers in the club’s first shield final victory. 

Incredibly, the victory was only a taste of things to come as the Killacloyne outfit lifted the league and cup double in 73/74, becoming only the fifth team to have achieved the feat up until then.

Notable wins in the league included wins over CIE (3-0), Olympic (6-1), Aer Lingus (6-5), Fords (3-2) and Postal (3-2) before the cup campaign began the cup campaign got underway with an impressive four-nil win over Sunbeam at Rangers Park on Saturday, April 20th 974. 

A two-nil win over Doyles in the last four was followed by a narrow one-nil win over Postal in the semi-final. 

A week before the cup final was played, a first league title was secured with a three-nil win over True Temper.

Not for the first time, Lunhams failed to produce their best form when it mattered most, in the cup final. But, take nothing away for Youghal’s 1-0 win on the day, Jimmy Burns heading the winner in the 89th minute, heralding the arrival of the first great Carpets’ squad. 

With Connie now a permanent in Carpets’ starting eleven, further honours made their way east before the decade’s end with shield successes in 76 and 77 followed by a second cup triumph also in 77. 

The firm’s second string, Youghal ‘B’ made it a treble by winning the second division title in the same season. 

A year later, another top flight success capped a very satisfactory first decade of football at work.

After a Mooney Cup win over Ridge Tools in 1982, Postal wiped the boards for the remainder of the eighties. 

However, Youghal were not to be eclipsed, surpassing their great rivals by doing what was considered to be unachievable, taking all four domestic honours in 92/93. 

The shield campaign off to a flyer on September 6th 1992 with a 6-1 win over McSweeney’s at Killacloyne and ended with a final replay win over Liebert at Pfizer Park with Connie proudly accepting the trophy on behalf of his jubilant colleagues.

Having only lost once in the league in nine outings, Youghal rattled in sixteen goals on their way to a Mooney Cup Final three-nil win over Garda United. 

A 6-2 win over OLH made the title win and the treble a distinct possibility. By the mid-way point in May Carpets finished their programme with a sparkling 4-1 over Garda. 

In the Byrne Cup Youghal went where no team went before and made history by beating Cork Examiner 5-2 in the final on May 29th to sign off in style.