On This Day in the LOI – 19th May 19th May 1929: Shay Gibbons was born on this day in Dublin. The former Republic of Ireland international is still the record goalscorer in the League of Ireland for St. Patrick's Athletic with 108 goals, and also sc
On This Day in the LOI – 19th May
19th May 1929: Shay Gibbons was born on this day in Dublin. The former Republic of Ireland international is still the record goalscorer in the League of Ireland for St. Patrick's Athletic with 108 goals, and also scored the most goals in one season for Pat’s: 28 goals in the 1954-55 campaign. He started his career just after the Second World War with Bohemians before moving to Whitehall Rangers. He moved to St. Patrick's Athletic in 1950 and in seven years at the club, he was prolific and helped Pat’s secure three League titles and was the league’s top scorer in three different seasons: 51/52, 52/53 & 55/56. He also played for Holyhead Town, Cork Hibernians and Dundalk before retiring in 1959. He made four appearances for the Republic of Ireland between 1952 and 1955 with his debut against Germany in Cologne in a 3-0 defeat in 1952 when he was the only LOI player in the team. He passed away on 9th June 2006 at the age of 77 years.
19th May 1951: Paddy Dunning (pictured) was born on this day in Dublin. The former defender has an extensive League of Ireland career from 1970 to 1989 with Shelbourne, Dundalk, UCD AFC and Drogheda United. He won numerous domestic honours, including the FAI Cup with UCD AFC in 1984 where the Students defeated Shamrock Rovers in the final, one of the biggest cup final upsets. His most successful years came at Oriel Park helping Dundalk secure the league title in 1979 & 1982, and the FAI Cup in 1979 & 1981. He was an ever present in the Drogheda United team that won the First Division League championship in 1988/89 and he retired at the end of that season with a career total of 446 League appearances. He made two appearances for the Republic of Ireland in 1970 against Sweden and Italy.
19th May 1982: Alan Mannus was born on this day in Toronto, Canada. Mannus started his career with Linfield where he spent nine years before moving to Shamrock Rovers in 2009. In a three-year spell with the club, Mannus helped the club secure the league title in 2010 & 2011 and the Setanta Cup in 2011. His form attracted the attention of St. Johnstone in Scotland in 2011 but after seven years with the Perth based club, he returned to Rovers in 2018 and helped Stephen Bradley's side secure the FAI Cup last season. He has earned nine senior international caps for Northern Ireland since making his debut against Trinidad & Tobago in 2004.
On This Day in Irish Football - 19th May
19th May 1957: Eleven days after losing 5-1 at Wembley Stadium, the Republic of Ireland faced England at Dalymount Park needing a win and another in Copenhagen against Denmark to secure a play-off against England for a place in the 1958 World Cup Finals in Sweden. A record attendance of 47,600 saw Ireland get off to a perfect start when Alf Ringstead of Sheffield United shot past his club colleague Alan Hodgkinson in the 3rd minute of the match. This is the only occasion that an Irish goal scorer has scored against his own club’s goalkeeper in an international match. With time running out and with the famous Dalymount Roar, England struck for an equaliser when John Atyeo headed home a cross from Tom Finney. The legendary radio commentator, Philip Greene, remarked that the silence could be heard on O’Connell Street! Charlie Hurley (Millwall) then a Third Division South player (as was Atyeo with Bristol City) made his international debut in this match. Liam Whelan made his fourth and final Republic of Ireland appearance in this match and he and four others who played in the match for England – Roger Byrne, Duncan Edwards, Tommy Taylor and David Pegg in his only international appearance – died in the Munich Air Disaster the following February. England full-back Jeff Hall of Birmingham City made his 17th and final international appearance in the match. Hall was to succumb to polio at the age of 29 in April 1959. Remarkably, goalscorer John Atyeo who had scored five goals in his six England appearances was never selected again. Having beaten Denmark to finish second in the group, the Republic of Ireland got an unexpected opportunity to qualify for the Finals in Sweden. Due to political reasons, FIFA could not find an opponents for Israel to compete in the Africa-Asian group and invited interested countries that finished as runners-up in their groups to enter a draw to face Israel over two legs for a place in Sweden. The Republic of Ireland were one of eight countries in draw which was won by Wales who went on to secure a place in the Finals.
19th May 1973: The Republic of Ireland drew 1-1 with France in a World Cup qualifying match at the Parc des Princes, Paris before an attendance of over 40,000 spectators. Serge Chiesa (79) put the French ahead but Mick Martin (84) equalised five minutes later. It was manager Liam Tuohy’s tenth and final match as international team manager as he had indicated his intention to step down due to business pressures. Tommy McConville (Waterford) and John Herrick (Shamrock Rovers) won their final caps (sixth and third respectively) in this match.
19th May 1979: The Republic of Ireland lost by 1-0 to Bulgaria in a European Championship match in the Vassil Levski Stadium in Sofia. The winning goal was scored by Chavdar Tsvetkov in the 81st minute of the match. The match was marred by a serious leg break suffered by Jimmy Holmes which effectively ended his Irish career – with just one more appearance to follow against Wales at Tolka Park in February 1981. It was also the last competitive appearance for Ireland by player-manager Johnny Giles at the age of 38 years.
