Eoin hand

[dutchie]

Can anyone give a run down on his
time and achievements with limerick,cheers.

[joeSoap]

Gary Spain is probably a better man to answer this than me, but Eoin joined the club from Portsmouth at the end of the 1979 season.Under his guidance Limerick won their first league title in 20 years in 1980, and the FAI Cup in 1982, beating Bohemians 1-0 in a Dalymount decider. He also managed the Republic of Ireland National side in this time, being desperately unlucky not to qualify for the 1982 world cup finals in Spain.

Limerick also played in the European Cup(Real Madrid), UEFA Cup(Southampton) and Cup Winners Cup(AZ67 Aalkmaar) under Hands leadership,and he managed and played in unquestionably the greatest Limerick side of all time.

[gspain]

Gary Spain is probably a better man to answer this than me, but Eoin joined the club from Portsmouth at the end of the 1979 season.Under his guidance Limerick won their first league title in 20 years in 1980, and the FAI Cup in 1982, beating Bohemians 1-0 in a Dalymount decider. He also managed the Republic of Ireland National side in this time, being desperately unlucky not to qualify for the 1982 world cup finals in Spain.

Limerick also played in the European Cup(Real Madrid), UEFA Cup(Southampton) and Cup Winners Cup(AZ67 Aalkmaar) under Hands leadership,and he managed and played in unquestionably the greatest Limerick side of all time.

Just about perfectly sums it up.

Although normally a centre half he played the midfield holding role superbly. won the league with effectively the same team that finished mid table the previous season. However he did make 2 key signings in the spring - Garry Hulmes and John Delamere when things had gone a bit stale.

We really should have retained the title too - 3 points clear at the turn of the year having won in Dundalk and drawn away to Athlone. We just fell apart.

Hard to believe it is 25 years since we won the league.

[LFC in Exile]

Speaking of the season after we won the league, something odd happened half way through that might explain the collapse. This is an article I wrote a few years ago for a fanzine or something that never appeared. Well, I think its interesting.

When the FAI suspended its own manager

Few will be aware of a very unusual decision made by the FAI when they suspended the national team manager from all involvement in football, and even more strangely it occurred in the middle of a World Cup qualifying campaign.

The manager in question was Eoin Hand, who was also manager of the champions at the time, Limerick United. He had been appointed as national team manager in the summer of 1980. Limerick began the 1980/81 season in fantastic form. By Christmas of that year Johnny Giles’ Shamrock Rovers were the only team to beat Limerick (with goals in that game from Giles himself and a young Liam Buckley). They had also given a good show of themselves against Real Madrid in the European Cup. However, in the middle of that fine run, Limerick failed to fulfill a fixture away to Athlone at the start of December 1980.

The Limerick take on the issue was that they did not have sufficient players to field a team. The club had sixteen registered players, seven of which reported on the Friday night before the game that they had the ‘flu and were unable to play that weekend. Limerick officials contacted Athlone on the day before the game, but were ordered by the FAI to fulfill the fixture. Limerick didn’t turn up in St Mel’s Park that Sunday.

Limerick, in their defence, pointed to the fact that they would have had to take the field with nine men or else play unregistered players and that earlier in the year they had received a similar plea from Shamrock Rovers before a game at the Markets Field and had accommodated Rovers at the time. The day after the game was due to be played in Limerick, Rovers flew out to a European game with a full squad.

The FAI was determined to come down hard on the Limerick club; the possible options were to award the points to Athlone and a severe fine. In the end Limerick were forced to play the fixture in Athlone on St Stephens Day, were fined £1,500 and both Eoin Hand and the club Chairman Michael Webb were fined £150 each and suspended from football until the following January 31st. In addition the two were issued with “the severest of warnings by the League regarding their future conduct”, according to the Limerick Leader.

What made this more important than a club issue was the fact the Hand was manager of the Irish team. He had been in the job for a matter of months and was now suspended from any involvement in the game for almost two months. Ireland had a World Cup qualifying game away to Belgium in March 1981. Ireland lost the game 1-0. This must have put the FAI, and Hand, in a unique situation. The national team manager, who presumably was still being paid by the organisation, was prevented by the organisation’s own order from having any involvement in the game.

For the record, the incident coincided with the end of Limerick’s fine run that season. Defeat in January 1981 against Cork United and Drogheda meant that Limerick lost their four-point advantage at the top of the league and they were never to catch Athlone again that season, who won the league impressively. Limerick finished third behind Dundalk

[HuRya]

They had also given a good show of themselves against Real Madrid in the European Cup.

Ah didn't they lose 5-1 in the Santiago Bernabeu

[joeSoap]

However he did make 2 key signings in the spring - Garry Hulmes and John Delamere when things had gone a bit stale.

The latter causing Hand a lot of heartache off the pitch I seem to remember.

[joeSoap]

Ah didn't they lose 5-1 in the Santiago Bernabeu

And explain to me where the shame in losing 5-1 in front of 80,000 fans to one of the then greatest club sides in the world with a team made up of mechanics, publicans and insurance salesmen is ??

[HuRya]

And explain to me where the shame in losing 5-1 in front of 80,000 fans to one of the then greatest club sides in the world with a team made up of mechanics, publicans and insurance salesmen is ??

i thought you might have mentioned the home performance instead, against
"one of the then greatest club sides in the world". now that was something to shout about

[gael353]

And explain to me where the shame in losing 5-1 in front of 80,000 fans to one of the then greatest club sides in the world with a team made up of mechanics, publicans and insurance salesmen is ??

it was only 48,000 the biggest crowd to watch a limerick game ever (18,000 is our biggest home gate vs Spurs in 82?)
Great time to be a limerick supporter though

[gspain]

We led in Lansdowne until a disputed 75th minute penalty. It was 2-1 in the Bernabeu until the 70th minute as well. The scoreline flattered Real.

Take the point re the Athlone furore. However we drew the refixed game - a genuine 0-0 cracker and won 2-0 in Sligo a few days later. Eoin Hand had a great game in Athlone.

The home defeat to Cork united was a massive shock. We never recovered.

[dutchie]

Anything on his playing career?