Keep Trying To The End

Every Game An Away Game by Bluebeard

(first published in the July 2011 Longford Town match programme)

Longford: our recent arch-nemesis. A horrible day nearly seven years ago, when a non-scoring forward and a classy ex-Blue did unspeakable things to us in three minutes, ruining what could have been remembered as a very pleasant Sunday afternoon. It still feels like a knee in the Netherlands.

It seems sometimes that being a football fan is cause or symptom of some kind of depression, or at the very least an incurable miserablism. No fan can ever be comprehensively satisfied, because your team is always able to do better; and then, when at the top, you are ultimately attempting to postpone the inevitable fall, yet know it is soon to come. Cork know this now. Maybe this is the nature of sport – endlessly comparing yourself with imagined potential: you are either doing better than you should, or failing to do as well as possible – in the eyes of fans or journalists, I don’t think it is possible for any team or individual ever to be doing exactly as well as they should be.

Take, for example, two of the brighter stars from Longford and from Waterford from the early 1990s, two young men who at an early point in their career managed to shine brightly in the League, and, unusually for the time, were brought across to the comparative glamour of the English leagues. Did they succeed beyond their potential, or did they get to play above their abilities?

I think I would not be the only one to say that Dave Savage was probably the first really big name that League of Ireland-era Longford produced. Dave spent an unproductive year at Brighton before coming to Longford in 1992, and had two good seasons there. I recall him in some forgotten game at the RSC when he was being courted – a good player, but the old RSC surface was a great equaliser. Mick McCarthy brought him to Milwall in 1994 for what was considered huge money by First Division standards of the time: £15,000. In four years at Milwall, he played over 150 games, and even managed to win 5 international caps. He was known to their fans as being frustratingly brilliant some days, and anonymous on others. Since then, he moved on to Northampton (for £80,000), Oxford United, Bristol Rovers, Rushden & Diamonds, and played for Oxford City until recently. Perhaps not the best career ever, but certainly a career, and a long lasting one.

Darren Lonergan was a one-season Blue in 1992/93 – the final season in Kilcohan. Lonergan was, if I recall correctly, an attacking right full back from Tramore who had a shock of bouffant blond hair, hence his nickname Baywatch. He really stood out for us that season, not least thanks to the hair. He was young, but played well, and took a nice goal in a famous 1-0 win at home against Bohs. It was no surprise that Oldham came knocking on the door, and we wished him well.

With the naivety of youth, I expected to be seeing him on TV highlights before long, but it never really happened for him. According to various sources, he played twice for them in the 95/96 season. In 1997, he went to Bury for a month, then Stalybridge Celtic for a year. His next club was Macclesfield in 1998 for about five months, and the last mention of him I can find online is of him playing for Hyde FC in the 99/00 season. Now 37, one must presume he has retired at this point.

Perhaps it may not have been much, but they can still boast a better professional career than most prospects, and some internationals, especially when you note the circumstances of the time. They were both outliers, like Roy Keane: at the time, Irish players older than 17 were not being picked up by British teams.

That route is now established. Contrast the pair with more recent exports from both teams. To return to that dark day in 2004, two of the key players got their chance to travel across to Britain. Daryl Murphy had been with Luton for a couple of fruitless years, but a few seasons here and suitors came. Sunderland parted with £100,000 for him. These days he is with Celtic, and doing alright for himself. Paul Keegan had plied his trade with respect, if not necessarily goals, in the US, then at Bray, Bohs, Longford and Pats, was spotted by Motherwell, who took him on and brought him over at the age of 35 in 2007. Keegan is older than Savage and Lonergan, but only retired recently from professional football with Airdrie in the Scottish second division. A late arrival in British football, perhaps, but certainly a success, and certainly not by the orthodox route of the ‘90s.

I suppose if Paul Keegan has taught us anything, it is to ignore the miserablism, play to the whistle, and keep trying to the very end. Promotion looks unlikely now but you never know, particularly after last week’s performance. An 88th minute winner in a Cup final and a career in Scottish football starting at 35 are reason to keep trying.