Ray Tracey on Drivetime Sport

**MyTown** · 13/09/2007, 2:15 PM

Anyone hear Ray Tracey on Radio 1 last night?

He spoke of his career with West Brom, Swindon and Charlton.

He spoke of the decision of Johnny Giles, himself and Eamon Dunphy to come �home� to make Shamrock Rovers a force to be reckoned with once again in the League of Ireland.

What struck me about the interview is that Giles left West Brom having finished 5th. in what would be now the Premier League to come home and take over in Milltown. Now fair enough, there were probably family reasons, but does it not appear to anyone as a huge step down, particularly given the fact that their time at Rovers was not a very happy one?

Tracey also spoke of himself as being a very limited footballer, making a career out of his aeriel ability alone. From my recollections he was a brilliant servant in the green shirt and himself and Don Givens were an excellent partnership up front � loads of passion and graft in a pre-Charlton era � and no shortage of skill either.

He told of his only goal for Shamrock Rovers (what happened? did he fall out with Giles / Dunphy? Or did injury finish him off?) � a penalty in a cup semi-final against Sligo. He said the Sligo supporters may have been justified in feeling that it was a lousy decision, made by a blatantly biased ref (John Carpenter), but that he was subjected to years of hatred from Sligo �supporters� ever after , when his only act in the whole drama was to stick the pen away. He said all subsequent visits to Sligo by him were welcomed in a hail of spit � so anyone who thinks standards of fan behaviour are slipping, might like to think again after that.

If you�re interested enough you can catch the interview here

**DvB** · 13/09/2007, 2:30 PM

Originally Posted by MyTown

He told of his only goal for Shamrock Rovers (what happened? did he fall out with Giles / Dunphy? Or did injury finish him off?) � a penalty in a cup semi-final against Sligo. He said the Sligo supporters may have been justified in feeling that it was a lousy decision, made by a blatantly biased ref (John Carpenter), but that he was subjected to years of hatred from Sligo �supporters� ever after , when his only act in the whole drama was to stick the pen away. He said all subsequent visits to Sligo by him were welcomed in a hail of spit � so anyone who thinks standards of fan behaviour are slipping, might like to think again after that.

here

That was actually the 1978 FAI cup final, not semi final.

Koh

**drummerboy** · 13/09/2007, 2:31 PM

I remember, I was there. Dreadful day, dreadful match.

**NY Hoop** · 13/09/2007, 2:33 PM

They had a dream, led by Giles, to turn Rovers into European contenders. Giles did bring a new professional thinking to the club but other clubs couldnt be arsed stepping up. He was way ahead of his time. Experiment never worked out for a multitude of reasons that I'm sure older Hoops here will point out.

Hardly think it was a huge step down.

Treacy's penalty against sligo was in the 1978 FAI Cup Final. Incidentally it was the only medal Dummy ever won although rtengland should give him a medal for the trail of verbal diarrhoea that he comes out but I digress!

My memory of Treacy is of a manager who wanted his team to play ball and to cut back on the silly money that was in the game in his time at Rovers. He succeeded on both counts.

The other side of the coin was that he didnt give a flying fcuk about the fans and the disgraceful defeat in Poland was the beginning of the end for him though. And he also played his future son in law who was one of the worst players I ever saw.

KOH

**red bellied** · 13/09/2007, 2:35 PM

It was the 1978 FAI Cup Final. The old dressing rooms used to be situated behind the Shed in the Showgrounds and Treacy would have to pass here to get in and out. Treacy was manager of Shams in the nineties so the abuse probably occurred then.

**Tenderloins** · 13/09/2007, 2:37 PM

As far as I remember in 1978, Rovers went fulll time with the aim of winning the league and doing very well in Europe. It was actually very ambitious of Giles to take the helm at Rovers as there was an awful lot of pressure to do well.
At the time though 5th in the then English Division 1 would not have qualified you for Europe. Champions got into the European cup, 2nd and 3rd in the League the UEFA cup and cup winners into the Cup Winners cup. SO it may well have been making Rovers into a Eurpean force that was one of the reasons Giles moved.

**jebus** · 13/09/2007, 2:37 PM

It was a step down by Giles alright, but not a huge one by any means when you consider how popular Rovers and the league itself was back in the late 70s-early 80s. I can see why Giles and Dunphy felt they could turn Rovers into European contenders back then

**Tenderloins** · 13/09/2007, 2:55 PM

Doubt Giles would have had to take a drop in wages either.

**Dalymountrower** · 13/09/2007, 5:05 PM

Originally Posted by jebus

It was a step down by Giles alright, but not a huge one by any means when you consider how popular Rovers and the league itself was back in the late 70s-early 80s. I can see why Giles and Dunphy felt they could turn Rovers into European contenders back then

The crowds were uniformly crap back then apart from the big Dublin Derbies and the Cork Celtic/ Hibs derby.
Giles and Co gambled all of someone elses money on a Europe or bust strategy. Given that they didn`t win the league that torpedoed the European Cup dream. They didn`t get the plumb draw in the ECWC (Banik Ostrava ?) Giles huffed that the other clubs in the league wouldnt go full time and wouldn`t do the decent thing and let his Rovers team win the league, the`other clubs reckoned they could win trophies on a part time basis.
So end of dream, but the legacy of spend spend spend lived on and as the four in a row team lifted their silverware in a near empty Milltown, it was only a matter of time before Kilcoyne pulled the plug to recover some of his investment. No different than Shels really.

**jebus** · 13/09/2007, 6:07 PM

Originally Posted by Dalymountrower

The crowds were uniformly crap back then apart from the big Dublin Derbies and the Cork Celtic/ Hibs derby.

Not true at all, there used to be large crowds at Limerick games back then, Dundalk used to also get very large crowds I'm told, as I am about Waterford as well

**Stuttgart88** · 13/09/2007, 7:42 PM

Was it definitely his only goal for Rovers?

My first ever live game was Rovers vs Sligo at Milltown, Rovers winning 2-1 and I could have sworn Treacy scored at least one, a diving header into the Milltown Road end goal.

I was a very young aspiring goalie (ok, I was crap outfield and wanted to play so was stuck in goals) at the time and the keepers that day were Alan O'Neill and Alan Patterson.

**Dodge** · 13/09/2007, 8:31 PM

Did Tracey not mention his plan (when still ROvers manager) to forma new club and get them into the Scottish 2nd division?

That'll be my abiding memory

**Billy Lord** · 13/09/2007, 11:17 PM

Originally Posted by Dalymountrower

Giles and Co gambled all of someone elses money on a Europe or bust strategy. Given that they didn`t win the league that torpedoed the European Cup dream. They didn`t get the plumb draw in the ECWC (Banik Ostrava ?) Giles huffed that the other clubs in the league wouldnt go full time and wouldn`t do the decent thing and let his Rovers team win the league, the`other clubs reckoned they could win trophies on a part time basis.
So end of dream, but the legacy of spend spend spend lived on and as the four in a row team lifted their silverware in a near empty Milltown, it was only a matter of time before Kilcoyne pulled the plug to recover some of his investment. No different than Shels really.

A totally unbiased view there, full of insight and not an ounce of wild conjecture.

**Calcio Jack** · 14/09/2007, 8:15 AM

Didn't hear him.... to clear this up I suspect he was refering to his most infamous goal for Rovers rather than his only goal, as he scored lots of goals for us... including a late equaliser in the cup qtr finals in Milltown against Finn Harps.

Re Giles coming back he had a dream and fair play to him for trying to pursue it...despite all the begrudgers who couldn't wait to se him fail... also he was married to Kilcoynes sister so there was a strong family conection.

As for Dunphy playing for ...he wasn't bad and when we played St Pats who had Gordon Banks guesting for them he struck a shot that brought a save from Banks that to this day I haven't seen bettered.

**geysir** · 14/09/2007, 8:51 AM

Is it my false memory or did Banks play with only one good eye in that game when he made that save?

**onceahoop** · 14/09/2007, 9:01 AM

He packed in West Brom because he alleged that Directors over there were ruining the game (something like that anyway). At the time they took over Rovers had dropped to botom of the League

"I want to see Irish Football standing on it's own feet, to set standards to be followed by others, rather than for us to be led. We should not wory about England but set our own standards at League and International level. We must entice young boys to stay at home and create something worthwhile here."

John Giles quoted in "Who Stole Our Game". If you have the book go to Page 92 and read on.

**Stuttgart88** · 14/09/2007, 9:08 AM

"I want to see Irish Football standing on it's own feet, to set standards to be followed by others, rather than for us to be led. We should not worry about England but set our own standards at League and International level. We must entice young boys to stay at home and create something worthwhile here."

God, if only his modern day equivalents thought the same, with the wealth they have accumulated.

**dcfcsteve** · 14/09/2007, 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by Calcio Jack

As for Dunphy playing for ...he wasn't bad and when we played St Pats who had Gordon Banks guesting for them he struck a shot that brought a save from Banks that to this day I haven't seen bettered.

When was Banks at Pats CJ ?

**Dodge** · 14/09/2007, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

When was Banks at Pats CJ ?

Late seventies. Only played a couple of games. And yeah, he had alredy "retired" due to his eye injury. Pats fans who witnessed it have always said his save v Rovers was the best they've ever seen (far better than his save from Pele's header!)

**joeSoap** · 14/09/2007, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by NY Hoop

They had a dream, led by Giles, to turn Rovers into European contenders. Giles did bring a new professional thinking to the club but other clubs couldnt be arsed stepping up. He was way ahead of his time. Experiment never worked out for a multitude of reasons that I'm sure older Hoops here will point out.

Hardly think it was a huge step down.

Treacy's penalty against sligo was in the 1978 FAI Cup Final. Incidentally it was the only medal Dummy ever won although rtengland should give him a medal for the trail of verbal diarrhoea that he comes out but I digress!

My memory of Treacy is of a manager who wanted his team to play ball and to cut back on the silly money that was in the game in his time at Rovers. He succeeded on both counts.

The other side of the coin was that he didnt give a flying fcuk about the fans and the disgraceful defeat in Poland was the beginning of the end for him though. And he also played his future son in law who was one of the worst players I ever saw.

KOH

Who's his son-in-law??