Damien Duff on ‘grassy knoll' pic that went viral – ‘It was an embarrassing photo for the league, not me'

Sunday World

20-05-2025

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Shelbourne boss insists global impact of Dalymount Park photograph is bad PR for League of Ireland
Shelbourne manager Damien Duff stands on a grassy back at Dalymount Park during the SSE Airtricity Premier Division defeat to Bohemians last Friday. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
And while the Shels boss admits that he has issues to deal with close to home and on the pitch, after the champions were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Drogheda United on Monday as their search for a goal goes on, the former Ireland international fears that the image sent out by last week's derby has damaged the league.
Serving a touchline ban due to amassing yellow cards, Duff was restricted in terms of where he could watch their game away to Bohs and opted to observe from a grassy hill behind the Des Kelly Stand in Dalymount, but a picture, taken by Sportsfile photographer Seb Daly, of Duff certainly caught the eye – not in a good way as far as Duff is concerned.
Shelbourne manager Damien Duff stands on a grassy back at Dalymount Park during the SSE Airtricity Premier Division defeat to Bohemians last Friday. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Aidan Fitzmaurice and Seán O'Connor look back on a big night of action in the two Monday games
'I'm not on the socials, obviously, but I'm not stupid, I'd imagine it got a lot of airtime, probably a lot of laughter. I'm sure an awful lot of people thought I was embarrassed, I wasn't one bit embarrassed. I find it a deeply embarrassing photo for the league,' Duff said after the scoreless draw with Drogheda United.
'I fought as much as anyone for the league for four years, so you could say I'm mortified - 'Oh, Damien is mortified for himself' - I'm not one bit mortified for myself, I'm mortified for the league.
'We call it the greatest league in the world, I call it the greatest league in the world, but a picture has gone to a lot of countries around the world, some big people in the football world have texted me, laughing.
'I think for too long now people have laughed at Irish football and everything about us. Let's not all fool ourselves and get carried away, the league is in a great place, a wonderful place.
'Yeah, great, the fans coming like you've never seen before, wonderful tight games, the most watched game, I think, in TV history, last year up in the Brandywell, the most exciting league finish in years upon years, but let's not get carried away, it was an embarrassing photo for the league, not me.'
Asked by the Irish Independent if his reaction was a comment on the state of facilities at Dalymount Park and the fact that there were not many options for him in terms of staying within the confines of his touchline ban, he said: 'Read into it what you want, it's not me having digs.
'Like I said, it's probably got a lot of traction. I'm stood in a meadow on top of a hill. Here, as the Beatles sing, I was probably the fool on the hill.
'But again, I was probably the butt of the jokes, but I shouldn't be. Because it was an awful reflection of the league.
'A photo can speak a million words. You seen intrigued that I'm saying this I find it an awful photo for the league. That's all I'm saying. Embarrassing.
'Like I said, you can read into that what you want. I said it before, I said it after, because I utterly believe it.'
Duff and his club had just come through a bruising 90 minutes at home to Drogheda, their fourth game in five matches without a goal scored and the Shels boss admitted that the champions didn't do enough to deserve a win as confidence has taken a hit.
'It's disappointing, we huffed and we puffed, did we do enough for me to come in here and say we deserved to win the game? I don't think so, we dominated possession, maybe three-quarters of the possession but did we do enough with the ball,' said Duff, who had to call on back-up keeper Lorcan Healy for most of the game as No. 1 Conor Kearns was forced off with a calf injury after half an hour.
'Drogheda, they are set up so well and work so hard for each other, brilliant, they have their way, it's a very efficient way, with Drogheda you have to wear them down, grind them down, and we didn't do that enough.
'They [Shels players] are maybe in a vulnerable time, not on a good run, as disappointing as tonight is, it's the many other games this season that we have let go by and dropped points is where you suffer, there have been more disappointing nights, for sure there's a lack of belief, a lack of spark and all we can do is stick together and keep working hard, as I told them at the end of the game. Read more