Christmas time brings memories of sports stories of days gone by to the fore

Christmas is a season of reflection.

A time when people get together and tell stories with their loved ones as time slows down when the nights get longer and darker. 

That involves lots of different conversations over the dinner table, ranging from politics, to long lost family histories, and there’s always sport.

Midwinter also has a way of reminding us about what has come before, by bringing it into focus through the glow of the lights from the tree. 

This could be a number of things in Cork, especially this year with the 20th anniversary of last time the Liam McCarthy Cup visited and the Rebel Army’s title deciding victory over Derry City on the final day of the season at Turner’s Cross.

2025 also means that 80 years have gone by since Rockville won the FAI Junior Cup and 70 since Tower Rovers got the better of Drumcondra in the FAI Youth Cup final. 

Those days might seem like ancient history now, but they were once the highlight of people’s careers during a time when soccer was all they had when Gaelic football and hurling were out of season.

One club that is going through a celebration is Glasheen, as they get ready for their centenary while playing in the Munster Junior League.

There will be a book, and plenty of talk of the infamous 1965-66 FAI Youths Cup winning side, a group that has become immortalised locally over what they went on to achieve.

That was one piece of silverware picked up by a club that swept up all that was before them during a golden era that saw six appearances in the national cup decider, and three victories.

1966 is arguably the sweetest of the lot as Glasheen welcomed Shelbourne to Flower Lodge in Cork, for a game that was to be played in front of over 4,000 people.

The club, which had yet to lose a game that season, were already on an adventure that season, which included an area final for the ages in the FAI Youth Cup at the end of March as they were paired with a Richmond side that was also unbeaten. 

Glasheen won 2-1 at Church Road, despite the odds against them according to the report in the Evening Echo.

The FAI Youth Cup was lifted at the end of May, with a 3-1 victory over Shelbourne in Cork. 

Dave Fahey was in charge of that group, that included future Irish rugby international Barry McGann, a player that would turn down a trial with Manchester United. 

Pat O’Donovan, before his long involvement with Cork Hibernian and Cork City, was in defence, and John Carroll was singled out in the local papers for climbing through the underage sides at Glasheen and taking his place in the team after an 11 year ascent.

Shelbourne were easily dispatched, with the game and stories from that afternoon in Flower Lodge now well told between living memory and the press achieves. 

There is also the other trophies won by Glasheen that year, as the club dominated Cork soccer in addition to winning the biggest prize of all in underage football.

That was 1966, the same time when Real Madrid claimed their sixth European Cup and England became World champions following a madcap victory over West Germany at Wembley.

Cork Celtic and Cork Hibernians finished in the bottom half of the League of Ireland, to end a disappointing season for senior football on Leeside.

Glasheen offered something, and it was snatched by the crowds that went out to Victoria Cross and Flower Lodge. 

There was a frenzy, a roar, and then the joy of another successful season by a club from Cork, and at the expense of side based in Dublin city centre.

A bond was created, while a group of players got ready to break-up and move on to pastures new. 

McGann as previously mentioned was one; Patrick Dineen went on to play cricket player for Ireland, John Herrick stepped up to international football, and Denis O’Sullivan became a professional golfer.

They are one group, of many, just like the Rockville and Tower Rovers, and each one occupies the same level of status in the sweeping story of Cork soccer.

The individual happenings belong to those that lived it, and experienced it first-hand. 

Those are often kept under wraps, only to come out at Christmas time when remembering takes up an afternoon. 

It forms part of a tradition, and by doing so it keeps the stories of old alive.