Eamonn "Chick" Deacy Testimonial Game 18th August 2012 K.O. 5.30PM
by Keith Kelly
Galway’s soccer family will be out in force this Saturday to honour its greatest player when the city and county’s flagship soccer venue is renamed in his memory.
The Galway FA voted unanimously to rename Terryland Park after Eamonn ‘Chick’ Deacy, who died suddenly in February, and to mark the occasion, a number of Chick’s former team-mates from the three clubs closest to his hearts will play in a testimonial game at Eamonn Deacy Park on Saturday evening (kick-off 5.30pm).
Chick was part of the Aston Villa squad that claimed the old English First Division title in the 1980/81 season, famously being one of just 14 players used by Ron Saunders in that title-winning season. Five of that squad are travelling to the city for the game – Tony Morley, Ken McNaught, Colin Gibson, Allan Evans and Des Bremner – with McNaught saying they are looking forward to paying tribute to Chick.
“He was a good friend, he was very often the centre of attention as he was just such fun to be around, and the lads all loved him, he was great company. He was very much a valued member of our squad, and the fact he played for his country says just how good he was.
“There was never any question about us coming over for his funeral back in February, and the fact that a club director, Robin Russell, travelled over as well show the huge respect we, and the club, had for Eamonn.
“We’re all looking forward to coming over and paying tribute to Eamonn, to doing his memory justice. He is the first of that title-winning squad to pass away, and that has hit us all hard. He was such a humble guy, and travelling over to be part of this celebration of his life is the least we could do,” McNaught said.
The player Chick was perhaps closest to during his time at Villa, Tony Morley, says the manner in which the city native got a trial at, and subsequently signed for, Aston Villa is deserving of Hollywood.
“He changed his age to get a trial with Villa – back then, you hadn’t a hope of getting a trial at 27, and he knew that, but it was his dream and he did what he had to in order to realise that dream. If that happened in America, they’d make a film about the bloke – if a guy from rural America changes his age to get a trial with a team and he went on to win the Super Bowl, there’d have been a book and film about him telling that story.
“We all thought ‘fair play pal’, we thought it was great, and even Villa saw the funny side of it and respected him for that, for chasing his dream. Every time the Villa lads get together, we don’t talk about Gordon Cowans or Peter White or Gary Shaw, we always talk about Eamonn – he was such a great part of that group of players. He was magical,” Morley says.
Former Irish international Paul McGrath is also part of the Villa squad, and his former Irish international team-mate, Packie Bonner, will play as a special guest of West United – West United is based in the Henry Street, Shantalla and Claddagh are of the city, and was the club Chick started and ended his career with.
The renaming ceremony takes place at 5pm on Saturday and will be presided over by Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring. The ground will be blessed by Fr Dick Lyng of the Augustinian Church and Reverend Gary Hastings of St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church.
Gates open at 4pm, and there will be pre-match entertainment provided by the St Patrick’s Brass Band, while Greg Cotter will perform at half-time. There will be limited parking available at the ground, and people are urged to use the City Council car-park at the Dyke Road, and to use public- transport where possible when travelling to the game.
Ticket for Saturday’s game cost €10 for adults, €5 for students, with children under the age of 12 who are accompanied by an adult admitted free of charge. While tickets will be available at sales points at the ground, people are being urged to buy their tickets from the numerous outlets around the city and county to prevent congestion on the day.
In the county, tickets are available from the Brogue Inn in Tuam, O’Brien’s Hardware in Loughrea, the Square Inn in Athenry, Londis in Oughterard, McPrionsias’s Spar in An Spideal, Dooley’s in Moycullen, Kearney’s Centra in Oranmore, and Kerrigan’s Londis in Kilcolgan.
Tickets are also available from Terryland Park, or by logging on to www.galwaysoccer.com.
