25 years in the league

[Magicme]

Hi all, I am currently working on various things to mark the fact that both Monaghan United FC and Derry City have been in the league of Ireland for 25 years this year and hope to put some pieces together for a commemorative programme when we meet on the 7th May.

I am looking for anybody who wishes to contribute to a piece on fans memories of the first time these 2 teams met and any info that you may have on the squad from 1985 or any other details you wish to share.

If you wish to contribute please contact me at cpo@monaghanunited.ie

Thanks

Julie-Ann

[Roo69]

Bray are 25 years in the League this year as well.

[Magicme]

Nice one. Pity your not in the First Division then coz you could join in our celebrations!! Are you doing anything for it? Maybe there should be some kinda event to celebrate 25 years of there being a "2nd division" in the country?

[HarpoJoyce]

Congratulations, UCD aren't too far in front of you.

Did Monaghan Utd. produce a programme for the home game(s) against Derry City?
Because if you did for Derry games but not for most (all) other teams. Then some City fans may have felt, at the time, they were being targeted for money.

Did Monaghan accept either Punts or Sterling currency at the turnstile?......... that was another one.

[bluewhitearmy]

Derry are not even in the league a year?

[Magicme]

Congratulations, UCD aren't too far in front of you.

Did Monaghan Utd. produce a programme for the home game(s) against Derry City?
Because if you did for Derry games but not for most (all) other teams. Then some City fans may have felt, at the time, they were being targeted for money.

Did Monaghan accept either Punts or Sterling currency at the turnstile?......... that was another one.

I dont know the full answer to either of your questions!!! Help! I think there was a programme coz one of the lads has emailed me saying he has some old programmes from that time.

As for the currency question, being the border badlands we probably accepted both!

Thanks for the congrats Harpo.

@Bluewhitearmy - Ha! Sure on that basis Limerick are only a couple of seasons old too!

[HarpoJoyce]

Thanks for the reply and appreciation.

The reason I mentioned the Programmes and currency issues, I believe Longford Twn produced two Programmes for the entire season in 1986-87 one League and one League Cup both against Derry City. Derry City fans felt they weren't getting value but were obliged to buy the programme for themselves and the fans back in Derry.

In Dublin some turnstile operators were charging a poor exchange rate ( maybe upto 1:1) when presented with a Sterling note.

Although Derry City fans inisisting that they saved the First Division Twice! didn't leave them much sympathy at some clubs.

[gspain]

Thanks for the reply and appreciation.

The reason I mentioned the Programmes and currency issues, I believe Longford Twn produced two Programmes for the entire season in 1986-87 one League and one League Cup both against Derry City. Derry City fans felt they weren't getting value but were obliged to buy the programme for themselves and the fans back in Derry.

In Dublin some turnstile operators were charging a poor exchange rate ( maybe upto 1:1) when presented with a Sterling note.

Although Derry City fans inisisting that they saved the First Division Twice! didn't leave them much sympathy at some clubs.

Monaghan definitely produced programmes for games other than Derry city and for Derry city in 85/6.

All clubs took sterling however the exchange rate was something like sterling worth 20% more than the Irish punt. Some clubs took it on a 1 for 1 basis.

Derry brought huge crowds and excitement to the league that season. I was at their games in Newcastllewest, Cork & Cobh in the first season and visiting fans greatly outnumbered the home fans even
for an end of season game in Cobh.

I can't recall if Longford issued for other games in 85/6 but there has pretty much always been a programme for the Limerick games in Abbeycarton and Flancare. Nobody is ever forced to buy a programme and
it wouldn't be unusual for a club to produce a special effort when they expect a bigger crowd.

[Magicme]

Apparently our record attendance was 2000 against Derry in Belgium Park.

[historynut]

Shame there is'nt a book on history of football in Monaghan, as it goes back to the very early days of football in Ireland. A Monaghan team compeed in some of the very early IFA Cups of the 1880's.
Not wishing to be offensive but believe Belgium Park is on left as you leave Monaghan on Derry Road near Lidl(?). From viewing it once , gather when admitted to league there was no stadium criteria. As recall in a dip, grass banking, a changing room block, and if 2000 in ground probably half of that again watching from above.

[TheBoss]

I cant remember where I found this but it was the squads from a game between the 2 in the 1985/86 season.

Derry City
M. Cassidy
T. O'Doherty
T. Kelly
P. McGuinness
L. McDermott
L. Bonner
K. O'Neill
B. McCready
G. Jones
E. Seydak
D. Tueart
T. McBride
P. McMullan

Monaghan United
T. Tasker
C. McConville
K. Reynolds
R. Mulligan
M. Coburn
W. Crawley
B. Savage
G. Turley
F. Treacy
P. Gilliland
P. Forde
B. McCaffrey
F. McPhillips

[Magicme]

Shame there is'nt a book on history of football in Monaghan, as it goes back to the very early days of football in Ireland. A Monaghan team compeed in some of the very early IFA Cups of the 1880's.
Not wishing to be offensive but believe Belgium Park is on left as you leave Monaghan on Derry Road near Lidl(?). From viewing it once , gather when admitted to league there was no stadium criteria. As recall in a dip, grass banking, a changing room block, and if 2000 in ground probably half of that again watching from above.

You are correct historynut, we have recently uncovered a photography from the early 1920's I think of a team called "Monaghan United". It would be great to do research on all this and a book or some sort of document would be lovely to have.

Yes Belgium Park is behind Lidl on the road heading for Derry and it is still used by Junior clubs (and on occasion Monaghan United Juveniles) on a regular basis. Have heard anecdotes that when we played Derry that day, their fans paid in and since wasnt enough room in the ground to get a good view, went back out and watched the game from outside the ground! Our 2 clubs history in the league is well tangled so it will be nice to celebrate the anniversary together.


I cant remember where I found this but it was the squads from a game between the 2 in the 1985/86 season.

Derry City
M. Cassidy
T. O'Doherty
T. Kelly
P. McGuinness
L. McDermott
L. Bonner
K. O'Neill
B. McCready
G. Jones
E. Seydak
D. Tueart
T. McBride
P. McMullan

Monaghan United
T. Tasker
C. McConville
K. Reynolds
R. Mulligan
M. Coburn
W. Crawley
B. Savage
G. Turley
F. Treacy
P. Gilliland
P. Forde
B. McCaffrey
F. McPhillips

Thank you for that, got emailed those very names this morning by our programme editor! So you are bang on the money there.

[historynut]

Just done a bit of surfing and uncovered a wee snippet that may be of interest to you.
Check out the Dundalk site and go to legends and John Murphy who was apparently manager at time of match. Scroll down interview and mentions game v Derry and wages.

[Magicme]

Thanks for that!! I thought Sean McCaffrey was our manager at the time of that game but maybe he was earlier or later in the season. He was the youngest LOI manager at only 25 yrs old apparently!

[Martinho II]

Thanks for that!! I thought Sean McCaffrey was our manager at the time of that game but maybe he was earlier or later in the season. He was the youngest LOI manager at only 25 yrs old apparently!

I am pretty sure Sean McCaffery was manager in yer first ever season in the loi in 1979/80..

[dcfc_1928]

Here were the teams for that first League meeting in Belgium Park - and it was Derry's first League victory in the LOI.

1st December 1985 (2.30pm KO)

MONAGHAN UNITED 0 - 2 DERRY CITY (Frank Devlin (2))

Monaghan Utd: Tommy Tasker, Colm McConville, Declan McAleer, Michael Coburn, Kevin Conlon, Bernie Savage, Michael Conlon, Greg Turley, Paul Gilliland, Willie Crawley , Sean Finnegan.
Subs: Frank Treacy, Paul Forde (replaced Finnegan)
Manager: John Murphy
****************************************
Derry City: Eamonn Quigley, Paul McLaughlin, Shaun Boyle, Nelson DaSilva, Declan McDowell, Noel King, Liam McDermott, Owen DaGama, Frank Devlin, Stuart Gauld, Kevin Mahon.
Subs: Paul Whelan, Kevin McKeever
Manager: Noel King

I was at that game, and I have a copy of the programme here and it's a fairly amateur effort, even for the time. 2 x A4 sheets folded in half (not stapled), to create a 8 page programme.

[atfconline]

I was at that game, and I have a copy of the programme here and it's a fairly amateur effort, even for the time. 2 x A4 sheets folded in half (not stapled), to create a 8 page programme.

Don't knock it, you used to get pretty much the same in Kilkenny, and that's in recent years!

[Magicme]

I am pretty sure Sean McCaffery was manager in yer first ever season in the loi in 1979/80..


We only joined the league in 85, hence the 25 years celebration.........

[Martinho II]

We only joined the league in 85, hence the 25 years celebration.........

ah sorry I have this phrased wrong.. I know Monaghan Utd was founded in 1979 from lookin at yer crest was McCaffery yer first ever manager?

[Magicme]

ah sorry I have this phrased wrong.. I know Monaghan Utd was founded in 1979 from lookin at yer crest was McCaffery yer first ever manager?

No he was our 2nd manager in the LOI apparently after John Murphy. We were formed in 1979 alright but not in the league til 85.

[Captain2007]

We only joined the league in 85, hence the 25 years celebration.........

Magicme I know you probably have enough info for your celebrations, but as I started out my career in 1985 with Bray, I have in my possession a scarf from sunday 8th Sept FAI LC Derry v Home farm and on the scarf are the following names.....M.Cassidy,E.Seydak,P.McGuinness,T.O'Dohe rty,T.Kelly,L.McDermott,L.Bonner,K,O'Neill,B.McCre adie,G.Jones,D.Tueart,T.McBride,P.Mullan, hard to believe that scarf is 25yrs old.....how time flies..

[Magicme]

Wow, nice one Captain! Its always great getting stories and info. If anyone from any club or supporting any club that was in the league 25 years ago wishes to give me a few lines on their memories, please do! Email me at cpo@monaghanunited.ie coz we can put together a 25 year blog for our site.

Get writing folks!

[historynut]

,Aware clubs formation in 1979 was as a result of amalgamation of two clubs if correct Hibs & Town. Would be interested to learn if known anything about these clubs also Mon United in the period from formation in 79 to election to league in 85.
Came across an interesting snippet when googling Clones Town, in that newspaper reports come up about them recently celebrating their 125th anniversary of first being registered with the original IFA back in 1885 though a club had been in the town since 1883. Article gives the briefest outline of their history, and the bit that caught my eye was that back in the 60's when FAI formed the B Division consisting of reserve side and leading non-league teams of the day they apparently approached Clones with an invite, bbut this was declined due to lack of facillities. This could raise the question could Clones not Monaghan have been the Fai's intended venue for borderland's area representation in the league ?

[Magicme]

More than likely historynut that Clones was indeed their target as up until the 70's really Clones was the main town in the County as such. It is still the headquarters for the County Library and I think it may have had the County Council hq there for many years too. It was a thriving town back in the day and would have been seen as the pinnacle of the county. I have very little info on the old stuff about the club but will try and dig out some for you you. Our programme editor is great at this kinda work and he works for the Northern Standard newspaper so can prob access some stuff in their archive. Will see what can do but it may be after May as we have a busy few weeks ahead. We play Derry on the 7th May, Bohs on the 11th and Shels on the 14th all at home!

[historynut]

Much appreciated.

[monutdfc]

A bit OT, but one cannot help but remark on Clones's sporting excellence. A small town has produced a world champion (Barry McGuigan), a GAA football allstar (Ciarán Murray - laterly physio for the Ireland football team), a full Ireland international (Jonathan Douglas) and 2 Olympians (McGuigan and Kevin McBride). Not to mention end Mons' legend Paul Sheils.

[Jacky08]

You could talk about the profits McClerys shop made on the day

[jinxy lilywhite]

fair play mons for 25 years. Well done to everyone involved with the club

[Candystripe]

I was at that 1st game and I also paid to get in and decided to come back outside and watch the game from beside the Derry road.

I did have a few drinks but I'm sure we lost the game 2-0.We played you's later in the league and we won 2-0 with Devlin scoring both goals.

That game we lost was 15th Sept and was a LC group game.

Looking forward to the game and apint in the club house.It's been a few years since I was there.

A few guys have asked have you's still got the "hot bar maids"? ;)

[Candystripe]

Double post.

[Magicme]

Afraid not Candystripe, there are barmen now. Should be some cute girls working in the shop tho! Make sure you come say hi to me (and that goes for any of the Derry lads on here) as I like to meet fellow foot.iers. I will be wearing a stupid yellow first aid jacket. Dammit. Just dont come to me if your hurt or injured coz I will probably make you worse! :D

[Candystripe]

I will do, like yourself it's always nice to put a face to people you've known on forums for years. ;)