The Claddagh has produced some very talented soccer players over the last 100 years. Teams included Claddagh Rangers, Cladonians, and of course the much-admired Galway Rovers. The history of both Claddagh Rangers, Cladonians has been more or less lost with the passage of time. The story of Galway Rovers Soccer Club really needs to be told before it suffers a similar fate. According to one source and indeed photographic evidence, Galway Rovers Soccer Club was founded during the 1932-33 Season when they won the Celtic Shield. This was a local junior competition and the team included, Dick Owens, Paddy Long, Joe Whelan, Ned Walsh, Michael Browne, Michael Conroy, Eddie O’Shea, Bill Walsh, Mick Keane, Jack and Tom Talbot. The club was based generally around the Claddagh, but over time the catchment area extended to Shantalla, The West and other parts of the town. In September 1932, Rovers travelled to Dublin to play Easons in their first national competition. They defeated the Dublin side by 4 goals to 3 in a well-deserved victory.
The Galway Rovers flag depicts the date 1936 which is the date associated with the juvenile team. By the 1936-37 season, the club had been formed into a juvenile squad by Josie Owens and Paddy Anderson. Rovers experienced immediate success winning the Juvenile league in their first season. Owens was possibly one of the most versatile sportsmen that Galway ever produced, having competed at the highest levels in rugby, soccer, tennis, swimming, water polo and rowing. He had the rare distinction of representing Ireland internationally in both rugby and soccer.
Despite initial success, the club was disbanded in 1940, some believe because of the war. However, Rovers reformed in 1942 as a junior club. The people responsible for this included, Sean Lally, Martin Feeney, Barney Cantwell and Martin Moran. In 1946, the club won five major trophies in the Galway and District League. This was an outstanding achievement and certainly an indication of the calibre of the players. Some of the great players of this period included, Eamonn Lynskey, Paddy O’Brien, Mike O’Toole, Patrick Folan, P.J. Duffy, Sean Lally, Bobby Birkett, Willie Lally, James Walsh; and Willie Croker (his sons, Billy and James later played with Rovers). Another player, Dudley Flaherty, had four sons, Mike, Colie, Noel and Kieran all of whom played with the club.
In those early days, Rovers had no clubhouse, but meetings and functions were held in the Old Malt Pub, Garvey’s Pub (West) and the Atlanta Hotel, Dominick Street where Josie Owens was proprietor. The club colours were blue and white. Paddy O’Flaherty was a prominent name in the club about that time and was a president of Galway Rovers for a number of years. Former President Michael D. Higgins was also involved with Galway Rovers during this period. He became vice-president of the club in circa 1968. He later served as president of Galway United, showing his commitment to both clubs over a long period of time.
There was a huge commitment by all those involved in the club. This is evident from the fact that Galway Rovers won every junior competition in Galway and Connacht, and did so on numerous occasions. In 1954, Rovers won the very prestigious Connacht Junior Cup. In 1956, the intermediate team played an epic series of semi-finals against Grattan United in the Murphy Cup. This brought excitement and attracted people from all over Galway. It eventually took four games and two periods of extra time to decide the winners; and after 400 minutes of soccer, Rovers had fought their way through to the final against Sparks (ESB). In 1958, Rovers captured the Connacht Junior Cup again. Josie McDermott scored the winner in the final of the cup. He also served as club secretary for twenty-six years. Rovers were also competing in the Western League. In 1959-60 a large contingent from the club travelled to Stoke-on-Trent and Coventry where games had been arranged against Irish emigrant teams living there at that time. The club made several trips to Coventry and Birmingham throughout the 1960s.
Galway Rovers had a great run in the FAI Junior Cup in the 1972-73 Season. They were under the management of Matt Lee, one of the all-time greats in Galway soccer. The hopes for Rovers ended when they were beaten in a Dublin quarter-final by Hoganville, the eventual winners. Rovers had Spaniard named Manuel Castro on the team; he had played on the Barcelona third team. The team also included Pat O’Donnell, an exceptional goalkeeper and the very talented Derek Lee. Pat O’Donnell was chosen for the Irish Junior Panel. Following their consistent and excellent performances both Pat and Derek were approached by League of Ireland sides to sign as professional players. Both were also on the very successful Galway Town team that won the Oscar Traynor Trophy in 1971, again under the management of Matt Lee. Matt was on the Galway Rovers team that won the Connacht Cup in 1958. He also played professional soccer with Kilmarnock in Scotland. He has been credited as being the first professional soccer player in Galway. Another man who played against Hoganville was Tex Callahan. He became the Kit man for Galway Rovers and later provided the same service for the Galway Senior Hurling Team. The Club Crest was actually hand-stitched onto the jerseys by Queenie Ward (Claddagh & Shantalla). Queenie was married to Jack Ward, a brother of Gerry. Queenie was paid a shilling a crest; her daughter Martina, helped and was rewarded three-pence. Martina remembers that the club also used the Heart and Hand emblem.
Most of the successes for Galway Rovers between 1970 and 1977 were achieved by the juvenile and youths teams. During that period they won an amazing array of trophies in the Under-15, 16, 17, 18 Leagues; and many of them in successive seasons. In fact the Under-18 side reached three Connacht Cup finals and won two of them. The Under-18 team also had a good run in the FAI Youth Cup, but were eventually beaten by Cambridge Boys from Dublin. The Dublin team included two excellent players, Gino Lawless and Pat Joyce, who went on to play professional soccer with Bohemians F.C. Most of the young Rovers players progressed and were proud to represent Galway Town Youths and Connacht Youths in various competitions. The Under-18 team also won three leagues in a row under the management of Frank O’Connell. At one stage Frank looked after all the juvenile teams and was secretary of the club prior to Rovers entering the League of Ireland.
Other people involved with youths training included Dudley Flaherty, Mike Flaherty, Ray Durnin, Tom Barrett, George Fagan and Sean Devaney. Transport to and from matches was often an issue, but this was resolved by dedicated club members using their cars. These people included P.J. O’Connell, John O’Connell and Steve Burke. Another man who made an excellent contribution to the club was Tom Burke from Corrib Terrace in Woodquay. He also made his car available and served as president of Galway Rovers for a number of years. Steve Burke was another great stalwart of the club. He served on the Galway Rovers committee and was Grounds-man in Terryland for ten years. Steve also served as president of the Galway Rovers Juvenile section. Tony O’Connell was also a member of Galway Rovers for many years and was the man behind the PA system in Terryland in the early years. He was also chairman of the club for a short time. These people were later very proud to see a number of the juvenile players signing professional soccer contracts and subsequently playing with Galway United. These players included Tommy Murphy, Tony Murphy, Gerry Curran, Gerry Daly, Eamonn Deacy, Kevin Cassidy, Ricky Flaherty and Gerald Flaherty.
Thanks to Patrick McPhilbin for photograph enhancement. Photographs Courtesy: Galway Rovers Sports and Social Club – Claddagh Hall.