Dolan plays for U-21's

[Counting Crow]

Looking through some old programs last night I came accross the Ireland vs. Scotland one from 1986.

Towards the back the teams for the U-21 game were listed and in amongst such names as Denis Irwin and Niall Quinn was one Pat Dolan............!

Could it be the one and only messiah himself?

Does anyone know if he was capped for Ireland?

[joe]

himself and his brother both played underage for ireland

[tiktok]

i don't think he ever played senior, but he was a good capped underage player and was at arsenal for a good bit, he's been in the game his whole life.

he's had a difficult past though (don't want to go into it because i don't know enough about it and i might be misleading) and football took second place, which took him off the road as a player.

[parnell ranger]

he was an average centre half that played underage football with ireland and arsenal.
his brother eamonn played up front for west ham but never made the break through from a good west ham youths side.

[b_mcsweeney]

far as i remember, dolan played for ireland in the u20 world cup thingy back in the 80s (possibly 85). not necessarily interesting, but true.

[wws]

on the same team that went to Tblisi world cup with Eamon Collins and Martin Russell


1984

this is the pic of the team before a friendly that summer (dolan not pictured - collins is captain)

http://homepage.eircom.net/~saintspics/ec_youths.jpg

[patsh]

Originally posted by wws
this is the pic of the team before a friendly that summer (dolan not pictured- collins is captain)

Geez, not even his picture now......
This is taking the hatred a bit far....

[wws]

as in "not in picture"

[Dodge]

He started his career at Asrenal but by 1987 moved to Walsall. His first loan spel at Pats was also in 1987. He went back for a short period but ended up coming home to Rovers in abou 1990 and for 2/3 years played for them and Galway. He came to Pats as a full timer and was asked to help with the commercial side to justify his wages.

He has a fair few youth and u21 caps but was never close to making the big breakthrough. His brother played his entire career in England including a couple of season in West Ham's first team (fringe mostly)

and tiktok, that was a stupid comment considering you admit you haven't a clue about him...

[SÓC]

Does anyone know what he was like as a player; good, bad, ok?

Is it just me or do Dolan and Collins look way older than they actually are mid to late 30's?

[Colm]

Originally posted by SÓCcfc
Is it just me or do Dolan and Collins look way older than they actually are mid to late 30's?

I don't think Dolan looks old at all, Collins does look older than he is though.

[Dodge]

He was an Ok player but no more. the weight ruined him though. Thats also why he looks older. Collins looks way older than even Dolan though. Compare them to martin Russell who was on that team aswell...

[Trax]

Originally posted by Dodge
the weight ruined him though.

I heard that the weight came just a few yrs ago when he was ill for a while.Am I way off or what?

[pineapple stu]

Originally posted by Trax
I heard that the weight came just a few yrs ago when he was ill for a while.Am I way off or what?

As far as I know, he was forced to retire due to a kidney disorder which caused him to put on excessive weight.

He has three U-21 caps for Ireland, and was captain in one, I think.

Played for Arsenal, Walsall and Pat's.

[Dodge]

Originally posted by Trax
I heard that the weight came just a few yrs ago when he was ill for a while.Am I way off or what?

Yeah. He wasn't forced to retire. basically he got injured. Put on weight and then once he stopped playing football he balooned. He didn't have a kidney disorder. If there's any pics of his last playing days at Pats, you'll see he's overweight