Gaffers (12 page)

‘We played the standard 4–4–2 under Liam, which was the main formation of the time. We were very organised, though, and played with Terry Conroy and Steve Heighway on the wings, while Ray Treacy and Don Givens played through the middle. It was a good side. But despite taking the team so close, Liam sadly decided to resign due to other commitments.’

It was before the final game in the group against France, that Liam announced this would be his final game in charge. That 1–1 draw was one of the finest away results by the Ireland team that saw them gain their first away point in twelve years.

Sometimes, of course, being a football manager means that you spend less time preparing players and kicking a ball around than involving yourself in situations that are of a more
political nature, and in 1973 Liam Tuohy found himself in such a situation when he took charge of the Shamrock Rovers XI that played Brazil. However, the title Shamrock Rovers XI is very misleading as the Rovers XI who played Brazil contained not one Shamrock player and instead was made up of players from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The 1970s were a tough time politically, with the well-documented Troubles casting a shadow over the entire country. Both football associations had long since distanced themselves from each other, with the IFA strongly opposed to the Brazil match, seeing it as setting a precedent that might encourage moves for the IFA to merge with the FAI. Liam revealed in later interviews that not only were the IFA against the match, but that the FAI also had some reservations about the fixture.

To appease the growing concerns of the IFA, the team was not referred to as an All-Ireland XI but was called a Shamrock Rovers selection. However, charity was the winner on the night, with UNICEF the benefactor, and a goodwill gesture of solidarity and hope prevailed.

The game was the brainchild of Louis Kilcoyne, who while on tour with Rovers in South America managed to persuade João Havelange of the Brazilian FA to fit in a game against a Shamrock Rovers XI on the Brazil team’s summer tour of Europe. Louis enlisted the help of his brother-in-law Johnny Giles to get a team together. Derek Dougan, the Northern Ireland skipper who was head of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), decided to play, along with other Northern Ireland stars of the time, including Pat Jennings, David Craig, Allan Hunter, Martin O’Neill, Liam O’Kane and Bryan Hamilton.

For the Brazilians, the game marked the end of a nine-match
tour of Europe, and they had so far won five, drawn once and lost twice. Their line-up on the day included two of the biggest names in Brazilian football in Rivelino and Jairzinho. In front of 34,000 fans, Ireland fought back from 4–1 to lose 4–3, with Pat Jennings doing his reputation no harm when he saved a penalty. Tuohy, like his players, later revealed the pride that he took from the Irish performance at Lansdowne Road that night. He recalled in an interview in
The Irish Times
in 2004: ‘The game itself was great. They played their usual dazzling brand of football. There was more to them than that. They had great balance in the side and they all worked very hard.’

As well as managing Ireland, Tuohy had managed Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk, so he had worked with some of the players at club level and knew their strengths and weaknesses. Eoin Hand was one of those players, having played under Tuohy at Dundalk, so he knew the Ireland boss well: “I found him to be very astute, and he made the best of the resources he had at his disposal. He was involved with the players and was a very hands-on manager. He really knew what he expected from the team. Tactically he was prepared, although, that said, he did not always have the full team he might have wanted.

‘One of our lowest moments was probably the 6–0 defeat to Austria in the qualification for the 1972 European Championship. We only had one professional on the pitch that day – Paddy Mulligan. None of the stars travelled with us. Clubs would not release their players, as the game was at the same time as League matches. It was a crazy situation, really, and hard on Liam. There were none of the long stints that Giovanni Trapattoni enjoys with the players these days. The training camps help the players to gel together, but we did not have that.’

Liam Tuohy brought Mick Leech to Shamrock Rovers: ‘Liam was a great manager. He had this great ability to be a friend and a manager. His talent was split more on the motivational side of management than the tactical, not that he wasn’t tactical. He was a great character. When he signed me for Rovers I was taking over his position, and he stepped down and let me play in the team and encouraged me. He was able to make the tough decisions with players but still managed to keep the team happy. He had a good eye for talent. Damian Richardson, Mick Lawler and I were all signed by Liam and all played at international level.’

Tuohy was Paddy Mulligan’s manager for six years at Shamrock Rovers: ‘I was very familiar with him when he became the Ireland manager and knew him well. He was a players’ man and had a great way with the lads. I remember Ray Treacy calling me when Liam came in and asking me what Tuohy was like. And I said to him that in six seasons at Rovers he’d been brilliant and I couldn’t fault him. Unlike the Noel Cantwells, Charlie Hurleys and Mick Meagans of this world, Liam did not have the same level of success in England and instead built his reputation with Shamrock Rovers, where he won the League in 1964 as player-coach and then led the club to five successive FAI Cups from 1965 to 1969. But Liam, like Mick Meagan, was big on his sides being organised, and during his time he took Ireland forward again. He was close to the players and would mix well with them, taking part in the singsong after the games.’

In all Liam was manager for eleven games and he helped usher in another stage in the development of the Irish manager.

LIFE AFTER IRELAND

When his stint with Ireland finished, Tuohy became involved with Dublin University (Trinity College), winning the Collingwood Cup, an intervarsity tournament, in 1979. He managed the Dublin University team for six years. Liam then returned to national football. Such was his love of football, and such was the character of the man, that he took an unpaid position as manager of the Republic of Ireland Under-19 team. While working with them, Liam also returned to League of Ireland management, taking the reins at Shelbourne. Liam’s work with the youth team brought instant success and he led the country’s youth to three European Championships and a youth World Cup. The 1984 European Championship saw Ireland reach the semi-finals, losing to the USSR and eventually finishing fourth. Two years later Liam resigned his role with the youth set-up when the arrival of Jack Charlton saw changes to the coaching staff. One of the biggest appointments of Liam’s time with the Irish youth set-up was that of Brian Kerr to the coaching team, a move that proved to be one of the most inspirational and beneficial appointments in Irish football.

Kerr recalls: ‘I got involved again with Liam at Shelbourne in 1982, but it was short-lived. I think he was promised a golden hoard when he took over, and it never transpired. He then took over the Irish youth team, and again he got me involved – me and Noel O’Reilly. It was completely voluntary. None of us got paid, and the better we did the more work we had to do, but it was a fantastic time. We played in three European youth finals and made the youth World Cup in Russia. He had a lot of trust in us, and he gave us the freedom to do what we wanted in terms
of coaching. He would often get involved in the training games. It was amazing, watching him play, seeing the way he thought. His mind was so fast, and his finishing was still brilliant. He always had a knack of scoring. I was a St Pat’s supporter, and Liam often scored against us.

‘He is a unique character, and he has some memory for football. His preparation and judgement were key attributes. For me, he was a great confidence builder. It was the most enjoyable period of my coaching life, those days with Liam.

‘In those days there was no Under-21, Under-23 or even B squads. It was Under-15, then youth and then the senior side, so Liam was involved in the development of many players. The likes of John Sheridan, Eamonn and Brian Dolan, and Denis Irwin all came through the youth set-up. He liked to have a Kelly in goal, too. He had Alan and Gary, Alan senior’s sons, and also a keeper by the name of Paul Kelly.

‘[When he resigned] he was a huge loss to the game, although people in the football know would often tap into his knowledge. He never got involved with the FAI again. They could have benefited from his knowledge, but he was never invited to speak at a coaching seminar. It was ridiculous, really. Liam loved the game, and he was not about ego or money, as he had proved throughout his career. I think it bothers me more than it does Liam.’

Eamonn Dolan is the academy manager at Reading and was part of the youth set-up for Ireland under Tuohy: ‘I was seventeen when I was called into the youth team squad under Liam, and at the time my inclusion generated some controversy in England. I was born in England to Irish parents, and at the time I was doing well with West Ham, so I had got a call up to both the Ireland and England youth squads. I was never in any
doubt that I wanted to play for Ireland, but at the time Bobby Robson was under pressure with England and my declaring for Ireland was used as proof of his incompetence, which was not the case, as it had very little to do with him. Before, if you did not make the grade with England and had Irish blood, people assumed playing international football for Ireland was the silver medal. However, now the press was putting the spin on it that England was the silver medal.

‘Liam was great to me, and he handled the whole affair really well, with his own mix of humour, appreciation and dignity. Liam was a very straightforward and simple manager. He was a great motivator, and everyone loved playing under him. He was the perfect mix as a manager. He reminds me in many ways of Steve Coppell.

‘Ironically enough, I actually played in a youth game against England when we became the first Ireland team to beat them in a competitive fixture. They had Tony Adams at the back, and we had Niall Quinn and Denis Irwin in the team, so that level was a good stepping stone for players for later years. That victory helped remove any air of invincibility that England had. That game was before the World Youth Championships in the USSR, and it really helped build momentum before the finals.

‘The first thing we all noticed when we arrived in Moscow for the tournament was how downtrodden and bleak the city was. When we got into the hotel we were heading up to our rooms and amazingly there was a man at a desk on every floor. In those days everyone had a job in the USSR. It was a real eye-opener. Liam really had to keep us focused over there, and it was difficult for the coaching staff to get us to keep our eye on the ball, with so many distractions around.

‘The food and water in the USSR were very poor, and Liam and the staff decided that they would bring all our own supplies with us. We used to have to sort out our food in the rooms.

‘After Moscow we headed for Tbilisi, which is in Georgia, and it was such a contrast. Tbilisi was hot and beautiful, and the people were smiling, which although a small thing was not something we’d seen in Moscow. Wherever we went people followed us, and when the coach was taking us to training crowds would line the streets and watch us. They were very friendly.

‘Liam was very good at the psychological aspect of things. Whereas in Moscow it was very much a siege mentality, when we got to Georgia, Liam had us embrace the town and it got the people behind us. I remember there was a square outside the hotel and all the squad and staff got together and decided we’d play a game that the locals had never seen, so we started a game of cricket. The funny thing was that we had no bats, no stumps and no ball. We just pretended. It was amazing. All the players bought into the game, and the lads were catching imaginary balls and making appeals. We all got caught up in it. By the end of the game, a large crowd had built up around us, and everyone was watching us and really enjoying it. It was a special thing.

‘But that was the spirit that Liam created for us. He had great staff around him, with Brian Kerr and Noel O’Reilly, one of the greatest coaches Ireland ever had. The respect we had for them all was really evident. The experience that Brian got with the youth team helped him to become a great coach, and it was vindication for all his hard work when Brian got the top job. The best football people are really intelligent and really understand the game. This intelligence gives people confidence
and helps people trust them, and that was what made Liam. He was one of those people.’

LIAM TUOHY’S CLUB MANAGERIAL HONOURS RECORD:

One League of Ireland Championship: 1964
Six FAI Cups: 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969
Five League of Ireland Shields: 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1972

LIAM TUOHY’S IRELAND RECORD:

Total number of games in charge: 10
Total number of wins: 3 (ratio 30.00%)
Total number of draws: 1 (ratio 10.00%)
Total number of losses: 6 (ratio 60.00%)
Biggest win: 3–2
v
. Iran
Biggest defeat: 0–6
v
. Austria
Longest run without defeat: 2 games