Ten Things You May Not Know About Shamrock Rovers

by John Kehoe

(first published in the May 2009 Shamrock Rovers EA Sports Cup programme)

1.  Shamrock Rovers weren’t always the Hoops, but for their first 25 years played in green and white STRIPES!

2.  As well as their famous 6-in-a-row Cup victories of the 1960s, they also won the Cup five times in succession between 1929 and 1933, and three times in a row in 1985, 86 and 87.

3.  Rovers were the first Irish side to play in European competition, when they were drawn against Manchester United in the 1957-58 European Cup preliminary round. After a 6-0 drubbing at Dalymount Park, Rovers ran their hosts somewhat closer at Old Trafford, narrowly losing by 3-2. Irishman Liam Whelan was among the scorers at Dalymount, as were David Pegg and Tommy Taylor. By February of the following year all three would be dead, along with 20 other victims of the Munich air disaster.

4.  The Hoops have a decent record in the Intertoto Cup, winning three and losing three of their six ties to date. They beat Altay of Turkey 3-2 in 1998 (but lost 5-4 on aggregate), and beat Polish side Odra Wodzislaw in both legs in 2003, before losing out to Czech side Slovan Liberec in the next round. They are the only Irish team to beat Turkish or Polish opposition in Europe.

5.  Rovers still hold the record for the biggest winning margin of an Irish side in Europe, with their 7-0 aggregate victory over Fram Reykjavik of Iceland in the first round of the UEFA Cup in 1982. They went out to Universitatea Craiova of Romania in the next round.

6.  Rovers played in the United Soccer Association League in 1967! In order to get their League up and running quickly due to pressure from the rival National Professional Soccer League, the USAL brought in teams from Europe and South America to represent the various American cities involved. Wolverhampton Wanderers played as the Los Angeles Wolves, and Aberdeen as the Washington Whips, and these sides contested the play-off final (LA won). There were other teams from England and Scotland, as well as Northern Ireland, Holland, Italy, Uruguay and Brazil, and the Boston Rovers were essentially Shamrock Rovers in their close season. The rival Leagues merged to form the NASL the following year.

7.  The Hoops’ official record home attendance is 28000 for a league match against Waterford at Milltown in 1968, although it is thought that figure was surpassed on several occasions in earlier seasons.

8.  The Shamrock Rovers Player of the Year trophy is named after Waterford’s Paddy Coad. But he never won the trophy himself, as it was first awarded only in 1980. Robbie Gaffney was the first recipient. In recent years the Waterford connection has been strengthened, as both Shane Robinson and Noel Hunt have recieved the award in successive seasons.

9.  Rovers have supplied more players to the Republic of Ireland international team than any other club, 62 in all. The last was Pat Byrne in 1986.

10. Rovers have played over 2000 league games, won over 1000, and scored more than 4000 league goals. Their 2000th match was a 2-1 defeat to Drogheda at Richmond Park in 2004. The 1000th victory was over Kilkenny at Tolka Park in 2006. And their 4000th goal was scored by Padraig Amond in the 4-0 win over Galway in 2007.