1987/88 Double success saw celebrations unlike no other win

It was 35 years to the day last Monday when Dundalk did their second league and Cup double. The first was under Jim McLaughlin in 1978/79. It took only nine years later for Dundalk to do their second double.

This time it was done under the tutelage of the third most successful manager Dundalk have ever had and that of course was Turlough O'Connor.

He took charge of Dundalk in 1985 right up until 1993 and not one of his teams were ever outside the top four in the league. It took him just three years to bring a league and cup double to the club.

In 1987 O'Connor saw his team win the League Cup and finish second in the league. They also got to the final of the Cup, but were beaten by the all-conquering Shamrock Rovers team who won their third FAI Cup in a row and who had already won their fourth league in a row.

It was great to see Dundalk break the Rovers hold on Irish soccer when a year later the Lilywhites deposed them of their League and Cup titles.

Season 1987-88 was Dundalk's 62nd consecutive year in the top tier of Irish soccer. It was also Turlough O'Connor's third season as manager.

In that season, Dundalk played Dutch Giants Ajax, who had won the European Cup three times going into their Cup Winners Cup game against Dundalk. The talented side had the legendary Johan Cruyff as their manager when they came to Oriel.

The first leg was won by Ajax. But Dundalk put it up to the men from Amsterdam for long spells of that game. 5,000 spectators turned up for the second leg at Oriel. But there were to be no shocks as Ajax advanced to the next round.

But Dundalk were concentrating much more on domestic honours. Turlough had put the final touches on a magnificent team that were to grab all the headlines that season. And for the right reasons. They were to become League of Ireland champions.

The Lilywhites reached the quarter final of the League Cup. They won the FAI Cup. Dessie Gorman, later nicknamed the Dundalk Hawk when he went to Linfield, was the club’s league leading goal scorer with 14 goals. He bagged two more across the cup competitions.

The League Title

There were 33 games in the League that season. It ended on the 21st April 1988. Dundalk went top of the table in the early part of the season, but then slumped to fourth following back-to-back defeats in October.

They then put together a seven-match winning run, which found them taking the lead in the league around the runup to Christmas. Dundalk led into March too, until a five-match winless streak saw them slip to third.

With three games remaining, the season started to turn in Dundalk's favour when after going two goals down to Derry they scored three goals in the final 12 minutes to keep their League season on track.

The Lilywhites hammered Bray in the second last game of the season. In the final game Dundalk only needed a point to win the league. Their opponents St Pats had to grab all three. The game finished 1-1, after the Inchicore men had opened the scoring.

Dundalk battled back to level the game and went on to get the point and clinch their first league title since 1982.

Their squad was made up of legendary keeper Alan O'Neill, Martin Lawlor, Joey Malone, Harry McCue, Gino Lawless, Larry Wyse, Barry Kehoe, Martin Murray, Dessie Gorman, Terry Eviston, John Cleary, Paul Newe, Michael O'Connor, Mick Shelley and Dave Connell. Jim Gannon was also a part of the squad.

Dundalk began their double winning season with an away win over Cork City. That was followed up with an away win against Shelbourne and a home win over Limerick. Dundalk drew their fourth game against Bohemians at Oriel and another draw away to Sligo.

The games rolled on as the Dundalk league challenge built good momentum. Their first defeat was away to Galway United and away to St Pats at Inchicore.

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But Turlough's team then struck gold when they beat the four in a row League Champions Shamrock Rovers in Dublin by 1-0. Wins over Derry City, Bray, Cork City and Limerick propelled Dundalk to the top.

Halfway through the league Dundalk beat Shelbourne 3-1 at Oriel followed up by a 3-2 win over Bohemians at Dalymount on December 20th. This was followed up by a 1-0 win over Sligo Rovers at Oriel two days after Christmas.

Amazingly, they had an away league game the next day on 28th December where they secured a 3-2 win over Waterford. Dundalk were held to a 1-1 draw by outgoing champions Shamrock Rovers on January 3rd 1988. This was the 19th game of the league campaign.

All of the teams in the league were part-time. Yet they had a much heavier fixture schedule than any of the present-day, full-time teams.

On January 10th Derry City beat Dundalk at the Brandywell 3-0. Dundalk followed this up with a win over Galway United and a 2-2 draw with Pats at Inchicore. That was on January 24th. Dundalk then had two straight wins, with a 4-0 win over Limerick and a 1-0 win over Shelburne on February 21st in Dublin. 

Bohemians came to Oriel on the last Sunday in February and beat Dundalk 2-0. This was a big blow to Dundalk. This was the first of five league games they went without a win.

On 9th March Cork held Dundalk to a 1-1 draw at Turners Cross. Sligo held Dundalk to a scoreless draw at the Showgrounds on 13th March. The Dundalk supporters felt their side's League title hopes were going up in smoke when Waterford came to Oriel and held them to a 1-1 draw.

For the first time since he had taken over at Oriel, the crowd started to vent some anger at the Dundalk manager Turlough O'Connor. That was on Saint Patrick's Day. It got worse again when Galway beat Dundalk 2-0 at Terryland Park. That was on 20th March 1988. 

But Turlough showed great courage by sticking with the same team throughout the slump. Dundalk's fortunes in the league changed with just four games to go when they beat Shamrock Rovers 1-0 in Dublin on 2nd April 1988.

Then came the game that powered Dundalk to the title. Derry City led Dundalk 2-0 with 12 minutes remaining on Easter Bank holiday Monday. I remember the game well. Out of nowhere Dundalk got a goal back. They added two more near the end to give them an amazing 3-2 win over the men from the Brandywell.

Nine days later Dundalk beat Bray Wanderers 5-1 at Oriel. On Tuesday April 21st, the final showdown at Oriel arrived. It was game 33 of the league. Pats needed a win. Dundalk just needed a draw. Oriel was packed to the rafters.

The visitors led early in the game. But Dundalk got the equaliser from Dessie Gorman. The Lilywhites were now champions, with celebrations going on well into the night.

I had just started my teaching job at Coláiste Rís in Dundalk. I arranged for Dessie Gorman and Barry Kehoe to visit the school with the league trophy. When they got out of director Fergus McCardle's car and came in with the trophy they got a great reception.

Dessie and Barry stood on hastily arranged tables, with assistant manager Tommy Connolly remaining on firm ground. They got a magnificent reception. The yard was filled with students from all classes. The Dundalk players were treated like the heroes they were.

Principal Frank Cooney was a very kind and understanding man. He did all he could to make the players and Directors, that included Jacky Henry, feel at home. Frank and another kind man, Deputy Principal Noel Lennon, did all they could to make the Dundalk FC people feel at home.

Frank and Noel were the best Principal and Vice Principal I worked under. And I worked under many. Dessie, Barry, Tommy Connolly and Jacky Henry were in the school for about an hour and a half. Needless to say the school was buzzing for the rest of the day.

I still have that film of Barry and Dessie in the school on video tape. I must look it up and get it digitised.

The FAI Cup

But Dundalk still had an FAI cup to win. On 14th February Dundalk travelled to the Showgrounds in Sligo. Sligo Rovers went 1-0 up. But Dundalk struck late for an equaliser when Michael O'Connor, a brother of Turlough, levelled. Four days later the two sides met again in a replay.

The Westerners looked to be on their way through. They went 2-0 up in the first half. I was sure Dundalk were out. It lashed rain. Mickey Fox's Oriel Park pitch became very heavy.

Amazingly, Terry Eviston struck gold with two and Paul Newe got one more to send Dundalk into Round 2. On 6th March 1988 Dundalk met Bray. Dundalk edged into the last eight with goals from John Cleary and Paul Newe.

I remember the quarter final in Oriel on 27th March 1988. Dundalk were held to a scoreless draw. It was Cork who nearly edged it with eight minutes remaining when they struck the crossbar.

The replay took place four days later at Turner's Cross. The odds on Dundalk doing the double had stretched to 8-1. I remember reading them the night before the game. I never went into a bookies in my life before. But I could not pass up the opportunity of odds like this. I put £200 on Dundalk to do the double.

Down I headed to Cork for the replay. Martin Murray did not let Dundalk supporters down with a stunning second half goal that put Dundalk into the semi-finals. The game was played in the afternoon, as Turners Cross had no floodlights.

The Lilywhites were drawn against St Pat's at Oriel Park in the first leg. At that time the semi-finals had two legs. Dessie Gorman got the only goal to give Dundalk a 1-0 aggregate lead.

At this stage Pat's were also in the chase for the double. Any fears Dundalk supporters might have had that Pat's would come back into the tie died when Dundalk played the best football I have ever seen against the Inchicore side on their own patch.

Barry Keogh tore Pat's defence apart with an outstanding display. Barry got one of the goals along with Dessie Gorman and Martin Murray. They won the semi-final tie on a 4-0 aggregate scoreline.

Dundalk played their cup final game against Derry City on 1st May 1988. Jim Mclaughlin brought thousands of Derry City fans with him as his side sought to avenge the dramatic comeback by Dundalk in the league only a week and a half before.

Derry fans outnumbered Dundalk easily by two to one for the 1988 Cup Final. But it was to be Dundalk's day. Larry Wyse was adjudged to have been fouled in the penalty area on 26 minutes. John Cleary fired a screamer to the net and that was that.

Turlough O'Connor got the better of his old rival Jim McLaughlin that day and saw his side win the cup. It was Dundalk's second double in nine years. Only one player survived from the 1978-79 double team and that was the forever young Martin Lawlor.

Martin won two double medals with Dundalk. His record was only equalled in 2018, when Dundalk won the double in 2015 and 2018. 

The celebrations in town were nothing like I ever witnessed in all my time up to the present day. Nothing could compare with the massive crowd that greeted the winning bus with the two trophies and the double winning team.

The celebrations for the Stephen Kenny winning sides would not compare to the celebrations and the crowds that turned out in Dundalk the night the Double winners of 1987-88 turned out to greet their heroes.

One of Dundalk's best supporters, the late Maria Mcelligott got on the team bus in Dublin Street with another Dundalk hero double winning player Harry McCue.

The bus took over three hours to get through the town before it made its way to the Fairways Hotel for a well-deserved victory dinner.

Martin Lawlor

Martin Lawlor says Turlough O'Connor slotted in very easily as manager of Dundalk when he came in as boss in 1985. Turlough and Tommy Connolly got on so well immediately, which was so important.

Martin says he had sat in many dressing rooms before Turlough arrived. It did not take him long to see the similarities he had with Jim Mclaughlin in the way he related with his players and others.

He knew that Dundalk had a winner on their hands yet again. He noted how Turlough was easy going and had an easy speech. He never shouted.

Turlough had many senior players in his squad already before he came. He told the squad in an easy tone to just go and do what they usually do. He said to keep it tight at the back and always told his players to depend on each other.

Martin told me there was suddenly no more team talks that included Rovers will do this or Derry will do that. Turlough simply told his players to be themselves and also to depend on each other.

The manager had a great ability, just like Jim Mclaughlin, in seeing a new player and bringing them to the club. Lawlor says the new players were like a new breath of fresh air to the squad and were ones that he could respect.

He says he could see that the new arrivals fully respected that they were coming to a club with a great tradition. They all respected the crest when they put on their jersey each week.

Martin says he knew right from the start that the new players understood what it meant to play for Dundalk FC. He says that this generated a huge amount of confidence all of a sudden.

Training became great fun and Turlough would get into the practice games with his players. But Martin said that the training sessions were also very passionate and serious. In the practice five-a-sides, players would take lumps out of each other to win the games.

Martin is convinced that the training session passion passed on to the double winning side of 1987-88. He said it was the competitiveness and passion learned from the training sessions that helped bring the double back to Oriel.

Martin spoke about the great comeback against Derry City at Oriel which ensured Dundalk were still on course to win the league. Martin says it never entered his mind that the league season was over, even though they were 2-0 down with only minutes remaining.

The 2,500 fans in the ground thought it was curtains. Gino lawless powered a header past Derry keeper Stuart Roberts with 13 minutes remaining. The equaliser arrived with six minutes remaining when Larry Wyse went on a driving run.

He played a cross to Martin Murray and his cross was volleyed home by Barry Kehoe. Dessie Gorman got the winner in the 90th minute to spark off great celebrations. Dundalk were on course for the title.

My Mistake

I have to admit that during the big game against Derry and when Dundalk when were 2-0 down, I left the ground in disgust 15 minutes into the second half. I was sure the League title hopes were gone. It was nothing to do with my money I had on Dundalk to do the double.

When I got home though, I saw the betting slip and was just about to tear it up when I just put it in the bin. I got a call from a friend hours later to say that it was unbelievable what happened between Dundalk and Derry that afternoon.

I said it was so disappointing to see Dundalk  throw away the League. He said sure Dundalk won 3-2. I could not believe it. But they did. My bet lived on. I quickly retrieved my betting slip. 

And I collected a nice sum of money after John Cleary's great penalty won the cup and the double on 1st May 1988.

They were great days. It was great to see Dundalk bring the dominance of Shamrock Rovers to an end after they had dominated the 1980's.

Hopefully Stephen O'Donnell can do the same with a Dundalk team in 2024. It certainly will not be in 2023. Last week also saw the 46th anniversary of Dundalk winning the FAI cup in 1977. That too was another super day.

Have a great week. Please be careful out there. Remember to look after each other.