The home of Bohemians is also the spiritual home of Irish Football. Hidden away deep within the red brick residential houses of North Dublin, its iconic floodlights tower high above the Phibsborough skyline.
Dalymount Park may have seen better days, but it still retains its magic and old school charm. It hosted its first game in 1901, and its first international match in 1904. With a capacity now of just over 4,000 fans, it is hard to believe that it regularly held 40,000 plus in its heyday, hosting international fixtures and FAI Cup Finals.
Dalyer has staged many memorable international matches. Here are just a few:
25th February 1934 – Ireland 4 Belgium 4
Still Ireland’s highest scoring score draw to this day. Paddy Moore of Aberdeen scored all four goals for the Irish, and in the process became the first player ever to score four goals in a World Cup qualifier.
19th October 1955 – Ireland 1 Yugoslavia 4
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid (supported by various government ministers and senior civil servants), opposed the visit of Yugoslavia because of their “godless Government” and called for the cancellation of the game quoting “continued persecution of the Catholic Church in communist Yugoslavia”. McQuaid referenced the case of Aloysius Stepinac, Archbishop of Zagreb, who was tried by the communist Yugoslav government after the war and convicted of treason. RTE declined to cover the game after its main sports commentator Phil Greene pulled out of the broadcast. The match went ahead and was attended by 21,400 fans. A lower crowd perhaps because of the surrounding controversy and because the game was held on a Wednesday night, but still a sign that Irish football fans wanted to watch a match against a classy side. Possibly this also illustrated a wish to discretely protest against conservatism and the excessive influence of the Catholic Church. Ireland’s goal was scored by Arthur Fitzsimmons. Yugoslavia’s Milos Milutinovic scored a hat-trick while Todor Veselinovic added a late fourth.
19th May 1957 – Ireland 1 England 1
The largest ever crowd at Dalymount Park was 48,000 for a game against England on 19th May 1957. England needed a point to qualify for the 1958 World Cup Finals but were shocked early on when Ireland’s Alf Ringstead scored after only three minutes. Ireland were mightily impressive in the game and managed to keep England at bay until the last minute when Tom Finney provided the cross for John Ateyo to head in an equaliser and break Irish hearts. The late equaliser also saved England Manager Walter Winterbottom’s men from stinging criticism.
30th October 1974 – Ireland 3 USSR 0
Almost 32,000 witnessed a memorable occasion as Ireland dismantled the Soviet Union at home. The Soviets had been runners up at the 1972 European Championships and were considered to be a strong team, but also a team full of mystique as the Cold War was in full swing. The match is notable, not just because of the resounding 3-0 win, but because Don Givens scored a hat-trick (including two headers) and also because a young Liam Brady made his Ireland debut. A header from Givens (from a Joe Kinnear cross) opened the scoring, Keith Treacy teed up Givens for a close range second and then in the 70th minute Givens sealed the victory heading in a Giles free kick.
29th October 1975 – Ireland 4 Turkey 0
Another big day for Don Givens as he scored four against Turkey. This was the last match in the 1976 European Championship qualifiers. Because of the rancour in the stands, the referee twice threatened to abandon the match (he did not) but he did send off Mick Martin and Turkey’s Alpaslan Eratlı. Ireland played some brilliant football but narrowly missed out on qualification by finishing one point behind the Soviet Union in qualifying Group 6.
16th November 1983 – Ireland 8 Malta 0
Two goals apiece from Mark Lawrenson and Liam Brady were added to by Frank Stapleton, Kevin O’Callaghan, Kevin Sheedy and Gerry Daly and gave Ireland their biggest ever win in front of 11,000 fans in a 1984 World Cup Qualifier. However, Ireland finished the qualifying campaign with just 9 points and third place in the table, behind Spain and the Netherlands.
5th February 1985 – Ireland 1 Italy 2
On Tuesday 5th February 1985, Ireland staged a friendly against the reigning World Champions Italy at Dalymount Park (a match which was Paul McGrath’s debut for Ireland). Despite the FAI anticipating a crowd of around 20,000 fans for the match, around 40,000 fans descended onto the narrow lanes surrounding the ground. A surge in numbers created a swell of pressure, so to manage the chaos, Gardai ordered that the gates should be opened to relieve the congestion. This resulted in a steady throng of supporters (many of whom were ticketless) moving into the stadium. During the match supporters were banked up along the side-lines, clinging onto fences, climbing floodlights and standing on the roof of the shed stand. Thankfully a disaster was mercifully averted by quick thinking by the Gardai and officials and the goodwill of Ireland fans. Paolo Rossi opened the scoring with a penalty and Italy grabbed a second through Altobelli after 18 minutes. Gary Waddock scored in the second half for Ireland, but despite a strong performance the game ended 2-1 to Italy.
12th September 1990 – Ireland 1 Morocco 0
The final full Ireland international held at Dalymount Park. The match was notable for being Denis Irwin’s debut for the boys in green. Ireland, coming off the back of a memorable first ever World Cup Finals won the game 1-0 with a goal from David Kelly after 74 minutes.
Moves are underway to demolish the existing Dalymount Park and replace it with a new re-orientated pitch and an 8,000-capacity UEFA Category 3 stadium. The plans are both ambitious and vital for Bohs as an increased capacity will bring in much needed extra revenue to allow the club to grow and compete. This will also constitute an exciting next chapter in the history of this wonderfully historic venue, and who knows, after the refurbishment maybe one day an Ireland team of some description will return to play in the spiritual home of Irish football.
