Remembering the greatest League of Ireland team of all time

Irish Daily Mirror

2 days ago

David Crawley remembers the biggest game of his career.
He had just turned 27, was in the second year of his contract, commuting from Dundalk to Dublin every day with nothing bar a dream in his head and a pair of boots in his car.
Shelbourne had given him a chance, and now, here he was, fulfilling it. Deportivo La Coruna were the opposition, a place in the group stages of the Champions League the prize.
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'This could change your lives if you win,' the team were told the night before the second leg of that game at the Riazor Stadium on Spain's northwest coast.
The person addressing the team was Shels secretary Ollie Byrne, a dreamer if ever there was one, but now someone who was seeing his vision turn into a reality.
'When people talk about the greatest League of Ireland teams that there have ever been, the same names come up time after time,' Crawley says.
'You hear about Shamrock Rovers in the '80s, the Shamrock Rovers side now, the Dundalk team under Stephen Kenny.
'But that Shelbourne team that Ollie Byrne and Pat Fenlon put together was something else.
'We had quality players fighting for each position.
'And in Pat we had one of the best managers the League has ever had. He was passionate, driven, prepared, organised, clever. I loved playing under him and was lucky to have played for so many great managers: Jim McLaughlin, Dermot Keely, Martin Murray amongst others.
'Pat and I clicked.
'Plus, the big thing is, he gave me memories that I will never forget.
'And it is only when you retire that you appreciate what you had. No one can take away either the memories or the medals.
'No one can take away what we achieved that summer in 2004, that European run when we defeated a tough Icelandic side (KR Reykjavik) in round one, Hajduk Split in round two, and then faced the previous year's semi-finalists in round three.
'With half an hour to go in the second leg of that game, we had a chance to go 1-0 ahead. I'll never forget it because I was involved in the build-up to it, playing a one-two with Ollie Cahill, crossing it in for Jason Byrne.
'Jayo got a great connection to his header but the keeper (Jose Molina) was top class.
'That was our what-if moment. No blame goes on Jason because he was unreal for us, a brilliant pro, a brilliant fella. We were just unfortunate.'
And yet they were also hugely lucky that the planets aligned, the greatest team the league has seen put together by one of its finest managers.
Together they went on a run, winning three league titles in Crawley's time there, as well as embarking on that European run.
Yet that's only one part of his career story.
The other parts, the two First Division titles he won with Dundalk, as well as the 2002 FAI Cup he took back to his home town as captain, are equally unforgettable.
Success had been like smoke for him; there for him to see and smell, impossible for him to grab hold of.
As a kid he went across to Manchester City as a 15-year-old, callously told by the club hierarchy that it would be too late if he delayed his departure another year.
Homesickness struck.
So he came home and while Dundalk offered a lifeline, his timing was unfortunate, as he was too young to be part of the 1995 league winning side, but too old to still be around when Kenny arrived to rejuvenate the club in 2013.
Instead he was there during the wilderness years, suffering two relegations while also winning the Cup and those two First Division titles.
Crawley said: 'To be a Dundalk man and to captain the club to the Cup is a massive thing for me, a proud, proud memory.
'I loved my time there.'
Yet when they got relegated in 2002 and Shels called, he knew he had to answer it.
He says: 'I was scared but I wanted to prove myself because I knew inside my head that I was good enough.
'And it was an amazing experience, regularly being in TV games, winning leagues, playing in Europe.
'I never drank or smoked in my life. I had the right attitude. The game was good to me.'
And he was good to it.