Our Finest Forgotten Player

by Bluebeard and Shane Murphy

(first published in the September 2011 Cork City match programme)

When the Blues face Cork, there is always more than just three points on the table. Bragging rights for such a game are a big deal these days. History weighs upon the fans, if not the players. The debate starts long ever before the game does as to what was the best match, the closest match, the greatest injustice – everyone has an opinion. However, when it comes to the question of who was the best player to play in both cities, you face a more tricky prospect. While there has been a recent rash of players playing for both, few have been as successful with both, except perhaps Jason Kabia. Going back a little, you have Pat Morley starting here before moving on. Alfie Hale played for Hibs and Celtic, and on numerous spells for us, and Bobby Tambling did similarly. Both Miah Dennehy and Johnny Matthews swapped sides in the twilight of their careers but it did neither of them a service.

To get the real deal, you have to go a lot further back. Wikipedia won’t help you, it almost entirely misses him but for two references on the Cork FC page. And he is elusive, his name spelled differently from source to source, sometimes just the one. And yet, the man is one of the few players to have scored more than 100 goals in the league, the first winger to do so. After exhaustive research by the pair of us, (and Mrs Bluebeard too), here we hope to revive the standing of the man we believe possibly the finest player to have played for the two cities, and certainly one of the greatest Blues of all time.
 
Timothy Jim O’Keeffe (or O’Keefe) entered the League of Ireland at the same time as Waterford FC in 1930 – joining Cork from his local side Blackrock Rovers. The 20 year old made an immediate impact, scoring seven goals as the men from the Mardyke finished in fourth place, but struggled to hold down a place in a strong Cork line-up the following season netting just twice for the League and Shield runners-up. By 1932/33, Timmy had nailed down the left wing spot as his own adding four goals and gaining widespread notice for the accuracy of his crosses and corners, but it was his fourth season that really brought him to prominence nationally. His powerful shooting was rewarded with eleven league goals (making him the League’s third top scorer) as Cork finished second behind Bohs and he led the way to success in the FAI Cup ending Shamrock Rovers five year domination of the competition. O’Keeffe scored in every round as local rivals Cork Bohemians, Bray Unknowns and Dundalk were disposed of before (in a remarkable mirroring of 1937) scoring in a 2-1 Cup final win over St James’ Gate. The outside left’s exceptional form caught the eye of international selectors and O’Keeffe was called up that February for Ireland’s first ever World Cup qualifier along with his clubmates Jim Foley and Tom Burke. Ireland drew 4-4 with Belgium at Dalymount Park. Struggling with a knock, Timmy missed a couple of chances and was overshadowed by the contribution of Shamrock Rovers’ Paddy Moore who became the first man to score four goals in a World Cup match.
 

Waterford's double-winning side of 1937

The success of ’34 was not repeated a year later. Cork finished bottom of the League with Timmy only scoring four times and crashed out of the Cup with a 5-1 defeat in Sligo. Changes were made and Timmy was allowed to join Waterford in January 1936. His thunderous shot and ability to beat defenders made him an instant hit with the fans at Kilcohan. He finished the season with seven goals for fifth-placed Waterford. Then came a famous season for the Blues. Davy Christopher’s team won both the Shield and the FAI Cup while also coming third in the League. O’Keeffe claimed sixteen league goals to finish third top scorer again and, amazingly, scored in every round of the Cup again. Dundalk were the first to fall after a second replay with the wing wizard scoring in the original 3-3 draw. Next up were Cup specialists Shamrock Rovers (who had by then annexed six of the previous eight Cups). Timmy got both goals in a 2-0 win at Kilcohan Park and scored again in the 4-1 semi-final victory over Longford Town. In the final, he scored the Blues’ second goal in the 65th minute before St James’ Gate pulled one back. Remarkably, it was the second time he had scored in a 2-1 Cup final win against the Dubliners. Each team member earned a £5 bonus, but it wasn’t long until relations with the board hit a sour note. After the end of the League of Ireland season, Timmy played a match for Belfast Celtic as a ‘guest’. Waterford had not given him permission and so he found himself in dispute with the directors. The result of this illegal appearance in another jurisdiction was a year-long international ban from the FAI.

Fortunately, the Corkman was able to put it behind him and went on to have his most prolific season in ’37/38. The Blues came second in the League just a point behind Shamrock Rovers. Waterford scored an astonishing 76 goals in 22 matches which is still the club record for a single season with highlights being an 8-0 home win over Drumcondra and overcoming Cork 8-1 at the Mardyke. Timmy banged in 21 League goals that season – an incredible tally for a winger. Rovers sealed the title with a 6-1 drubbing of Bohs in mid-April. A week later, the Blues rounded off the season with a great 4-0 win away to St James’ Gate. The following day, Monday the 25th, Waterford played Hibernian of Scotland in a friendly. Hibs were still playing their season and had a famous 4-0 victory over archrivals Hearts the previous week before visiting Ireland to play Belfast Distillery, a Munster select side and the Blues. Waterford lost 6-2, but Hibs had identified a player they wanted to sign and so they went into negotiations to sign the 27 year old outside left. As soon as his international ban was complete, Timmy was back in the Ireland team. Coach Joe Wickham picked him for a mini tour of Eastern Europe in May and his faith was repaid when O’Keeffe put in a Man of the Match performance against Czechoslovakia in a 2-2 draw in Prague. Four days later, he played in a 6-0 loss to Poland in front of 25,000 fans in Warsaw. That summer, Hibs paid £400 to secure the services of the exciting wideman – smashing the record fee paid to an Irish club which stood at £250 received by St James’ Gate from Manchester United for Jackie Carey. The O’Keeffe deal remained the record for the next nine years until Peter Corr swapped Dundalk for Preston after the war.
 
Tim’s move to Edinburgh got off to a good start when he scored in a pre-season trial match at Easter Road and he was in the Hibs team for a very notable opening day fixture, still considered an important milestone for the club. For the first time in their history, Hibernian took to the field wearing green shirts and white sleeves. This distinctive kit is still famously worn by Hibs today, but they wore all green shirts until 1938 and had actually started off in hooped jerseys, ultimately adopted by Celtic. That match, which ended in a 2-2 draw, was one of only four O’Keeffe played for Hibs. He found it difficult to settle in Edinburgh and manager Willie McCartney sent him on loan to Raith Rovers. There, he impressed scoring eight league goals, but couldn’t prevent the Kirkcaldy side finishing bottom of the Scottish First Division. Still feeling homesick, and with Britain about to go to war, Timmy returned to Waterford. The Blues faithful were glad to see him back having finished bottom of the League in his absence. He immediately picked up from where he had left off by scoring fifteen of Waterford’s forty-four goals that season. The team was rebuilding though and only improved slightly on the previous year by finishing eleventh in the table out of twelve.
 
That preceded perhaps the defining season of his career. That 1940/41 campaign has gone down as one of the most tumultuous in the club’s history and the zenith of a great Munster rivalry. Cork (formerly Fordsons), who added the suffix United to their title in 1939 after spending the previous season as Cork City, were set to fight it out with their Eastern neighbours Waterford for both the League and Cup. Leadership of the League changed hands several times as the top two pulled clear of the chasing pack and the whole country watched as it became almost inevitable that they would also meet in the Cup final. Waterford won ties away to Bohemians and Limerick while United knocked Evergreen and Drumcondra out. Waterford’s title push was impeded by a titanic struggle with Shamrock Rovers in the Cup semi-final while Cork cruised to the final with a 3-0 win over Dundalk. The Blues eventually overcame Rovers 3-2 in a second replay with the original replay having been abandoned. That allowed Cork to take the lead in the title race while the fixtures piled up for Waterford.

The Blues' forward line for the 1941 Cup final

The great Munster rivals met in the Cup final on the 20th of April. It finished two goals apiece with Jackie O’Driscoll and Johnny Johnstone scoring for the Blues, and Jack O’Reilly getting both of United’s goals. Three days later, Sean McCarthy put Cork ahead in the replay against the run of play, but Johnstone equalised before half-time. Both teams were reduced to ten when O’Driscoll and Owen Madden became the first players to be sent off in a Cup final after a scuffle. Then, a glorious chance presented itself to O’Keeffe, but he uncharacteristically missed from close range. Instead, O’Reilly gave Cork the lead and he later made it 3-1 to seal the victory. That weekend, Cork beat Bray Unknowns to go within touching distance of the title as Waterford were held to a 2-2 draw in Limerick. However, they slipped up by drawing their final league game the following Wednesday away at St James’ Gate while the Blues dispatched Rovers 3-0 with O’Keeffe scoring his 101st and 102nd League of Ireland goals. That left Waterford two points behind going into the final deferred game against Bray. Despite being six points adrift at the bottom of the table, Bray took a surprise 2-1 half-time lead. The stage was set for Timmy to show his leadership qualities and drag the Blues back into contention. He was central to a magnificent second half display that saw goals from Connors and Maurice Hartery as well as a brace from O’Keeffe while they could even afford a missed penalty from Paddy Coad. That 5-2 win gave Waterford momentum heading into a play-off decider with Cork. While Cork had won the Cup, they had fallen to a 4-0 defeat in Kilcohan and a 2-1 home loss to Waterford. Much to Waterford’s grievance, the play-off was set for the Mardyke on May the 11th rather than a neutral ground. However, that turned out to be the least of their worries.

With the season now stretching two weeks past its original schedule, seven Waterford players demanded a £2 bonus even they lost the play-off. While the board had agreed to pay a £5 win bonus, they were apoplectic at the thought of paying a bonus to a losing team. An impasse followed and all seven players were dismissed by the club and banned from League football for a year. The Blues were unable to field a team and had to inform the FAI on the 9th of May that they could not fulfil the fixture. The knock-on effect was that Waterford withdrew from League football for four years, Cork United won the first of three successive Championships and great players like Paddy Coad, Johnny Johnstone and the hero of the 1937 Cup final, Timmy O’Keeffe, were cast out of football for a year. In O’Keeffe’s case, it turned out to be particularly tragic in hindsight.
 
Aged 31, but still in peak condition, O’Keeffe was left to stew when the League recommenced. His suspension didn’t include Cup matches and so Limerick jumped at the chance to sign him for Cup games only. Their opportunism was not rewarded as they fell to Bohs at the first hurdle. When his ban ended, Timmy went back to his hometown to sign for Cork United. Disappointingly, the year out of football had taken its toll along with bouts of illness and he couldn’t recover his old form. He picked up his first League winner’s medal, but only scored once and at the end of the season asked to be released from his contract and retired. Everyone involved in Irish football was shocked just a few months later when Timmy O’Keeffe died of cancer on the 11th of September at the Bon Secours Home in Cork aged 33. The Irish Times reported in his obituary that “a striking tribute was paid to O’Keefe. St James’ Gate and Cork United lined up before the start, and the huge crowd stood in silence as the buglers of the Transport Workers’ Band played ‘The Last Post’. It was the most impressive scene ever witnessed at an Association Football ground in this country. At Tolka Park, where Drumcondra and Shamrock Rovers met, a two minutes’ silence was observed.” In November, a posthumous testimonial match was played in aid of Timmy’s family. A League of Ireland XI beat the Army 3-2 in front of a large crowd at Dalymount Park thanks to a winning goal from Tommy Eglinton of Shamrock Rovers.
 
In total, Tim O’Keeffe scored 105 League of Ireland goals (76 for Waterford), putting him in the elite of League of Ireland goal-scorers, as well as his eight in Scotland. He won one League medal, two Cup medals, and one Shield medal, to go with his three Irish caps. More than that, he won the hearts of not only Waterford and Cork fans, but of all of those who loved football in this country. Tonight, 70 years after his last game for the Blues, let us jointly restore to mind our finest forgotten player.