The Commentary Box: Martin Lawlor reunites with old boss Jim Mclaughlin

Martin Lawlor was one of the longest serving players with Dundalk FC between 1977 to 1995. He played under five managers at Oriel. He won five League titles and three FAI Cups with the Lilywhites.

Two of these were doubles. He was part of the club’s first League and cup winning team in 1978-79. Martin won three league cups with Dundalk, along with four President’s Cups.

He had spectacular success with three of the five managers he served under. These were Jim McLaughlin, Turlough O’Connor and Dermot Keely in a career spanning 19 years as a player with his beloved Dundalk.

Under his first manager Jim McLaughlin he enjoyed unbridled success. McLaughlin to me was the best ever manager to have been involved in League of Ireland football.

Jim arrived in Dundalk in 1974 and despite moving to become Shamrock Rovers manager in 1983 and beyond that with Shelbourne and Derry City, he remained living in Blackrock and still does today.

Last Friday Martin had a reunion with his old boss Jim McLaughlin at the Birches Alzheimer’s Day Centre at Priorlands on the Dublin Road in Dundalk.

Martin, along with another former club great, Tom McNulty, was accompanied by members of the Dundalk FC 1903 Supporters club for the visit.

Martin told me that sadly Jim is somewhat unwell with Alzheimer’s. He says it is a very difficult situation for Jim and his family. He was honoured to visit the Birches facility last Friday where he met a wonderful team of warm-hearted people.

Martin says the Supporters club members, Tom McNulty and himself had a wonderful morning of song, of stories, of engagement and of people talking about their grand-children and supporting Dundalk.

Lawlor met up with Ollie Ralph’s mother. Ollie is a former Dundalk FC Player who played under Jim McLaughlin at Oriel and was assistant manager at the club when Dundalk won the cup in 2002.

Ollie’s dad, the late Joe Ralph won an FAI Cup winners medal in 1958 when Dundalk beat Shamrock Rovers in the final by 1-0.

Martin told me he wanted to thank the FAI who allowed him to take the cup to the Birches on Friday morning. The former club captain said he brought the trophy up for Jim. When he saw the cup he smiled warmly.

Martin asked Jim if he recognized the trophy. He replied by saying that’s the FAI Cup. Martin suggested to Jim that he lifted the cup a fair few times. Jim said that he did on many occasions.

Jim was in great form. He had tea and cake with the Supporters club group and with Martin and Tom.  In Martin’s eyes Jim McLaughlin looked absolutely great.

He felt it was a beautiful morning. The group went out into the side garden of the Birches. Some photos were taken. Jim’s wife Reeney was there along with their daughter Jane. Martin says he had a great chat with Jane and the family.

The Supporters club members presented Jim with a Dundalk FC jersey with his name on the back of it. This Martin said was a truly emotional point in many ways, seeing his old boss back with a Dundalk FC Jersey.

It was at the invitation of the 1903 Supporters club that the former defender went along to this event. He emphasized that this group are doing truly marvellous work at the club.

A donation was made also by the Supporters club to the Birches. This is a fantastic example of how a club and its supporters can work with the local community.

The current Supporters club are not that long in existence. I have to say they are doing a phenomenal job. Martin also referred to what he called the community of supporters in his time at Oriel when they won something.

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Jim’s Football Philosophy

Looking back at his time playing for Dundalk under Jim McLaughlin, he says part of his bosses success was achieved by adapting the age old principle of having a good back four.

Football of course has now changed to many other systems, such as three at the back. Martin says that Jim McLaughlin used the KISS principle in his approach to tactics, as did the late great Liverpool manager Bob Paisley.

The word meant Keep It Simple Stupid. Jim McLaughlin would have used this principle by getting a good back four. Once he had this, McLaughlin always believed he would be in with a chance.

Martin says that was the simple side of the McLaughlin tactics. He stressed another part to the McLaughlin secret was that if you were sitting in a dressing room as a player, you felt that you were there on merit.

Players felt a little bit special. Martin noted how McLaughlin would tell the players to go out and play the particular way they were used to playing. He always spoke to a player about what they do and what they were capable of doing.

Yet he also left it up to leaders on the pitch. This would be confirmed by all of his teams. He left it up to the leaders on the Park to change situations, to rescue things if need be. 

If things were going bad he left it to the leaders to solve the problem. This player would be taken to order by the rest of the team. Jim’s team talks left each player knowing they had to do the things they were good extremely well.

Players knew that if they did this then they were very happy. Martin says that even in the big games, like Tottenham and Celtic, Jim never really spoke about the opposition. Neither would he refer to the individual players that either Celtic or Spurs had or what they could do.

What mattered to Jim McLaughlin was what his players could do. They were told to keep things tight at the back and to move forward and have the right players in the penalty area.

McLaughlin’s tactics were never too technical. Martin says for Jim it was always about the players and their ability. He had the gift for being able to look at a player and be able to say that the player could fit the system he was going to play.

Jim McLaughlin would always have a strong back four. All of his teams, whether it was with Dundalk or Derry or whoever, had strong back fours.

Great Supporters

Martin recalled how Jim would tell his players that he did not have a whole lot particularly to say. He would tell the players they were there for the Supporters.

Martin named Marty Shields, who was taken at such a young age. Other legendary supporters the former captain highlighted included Mary McElligott. Mary was well known as a magnificent supporter throughout the country.

He also named the late Vincey Cranney as being a club legend. Vincey had a serious mobility disability. But this never stopped him getting to games.

Vincey lived in Kilsaran, beside Castlebellingham. He would stand near the O’Connells ground on what was then then the main Dublin to Belfast road at the time. He was decked out with his black and white scarf.

Anybody traveling to the Dundalk games either in Oriel or in Dublin would only be so glad to give such a kind soul a lift both to the games and give him a safe return lift to Kilsaran.

Martin also paid tribute to the late Mickey Fox. Mickey was the club groundsman for decades. He began working at the club in 1946. He was groundsman right up to his death in April 2006.

Mickey always had a cup of tea ready for anyone who visited Oriel Park, whether on match night or on days when there were no games.

On the day he died he left Oriel at around 1pm to go home for his dinner. He lived on the Ardee road. During his lunch he went out into his second love, his garden. Sadly Mickey passed away in this very garden. He was found there by his devoted sister.

Mickey will always have a special place in my heart as he looked after my dad’s grave when he died in 1996. Mickey asked me would I mind if he could do this. I was proud to tell him yes.

He even put some of the sacred soil of Oriel Park’s grass pitch onto the grave. It was also looked after so well and still is by Blackrock man Sean McEleavey.

Lawlor told me it was because of these people that he never left Dundalk. He had many invitations to go to other clubs, where there were possibly greater opportunities.

But the people at Oriel who were legends ensured he stayed until April 1995, when he won his 5th league medal.

Mental Health

Nowadays Martin is strongly involved with a mental health Organisation named OPA Mind. He says they have developed technology to help people who may have mental health difficulties.

They work with people who can’t speak about how they feel. They can’t speak to their loved ones about how they feel. Martin says it’s all because of a stigma people feel. A stigma which exists at a societal level and also in the workplace.

He has dealt with hundreds of people who were in difficulty over the past 20 years, intervening in so many situations, including hundreds and hundreds of people dealing with suicide.

He says sometimes people were up on top of buildings, under canal bridges, out at beaches. He has also dealt with people threatening to kill themselves in dark lanes late at night. Martin noted his organization has done so many interventions.

The common denominator with these people was they felt they can’t speak or say how they feel. He says that is the problem.

He believes the Opa Mind organization which he works for have developed a piece of technology in an app that allows people to speak into it about how they feel. They can talk about how they feel in private and are guaranteed it’s anonymous.

They can do all sorts of things with these people. The app allows users to go on a private journey and let them express how they feel.

Opa Mind also clarifies things for people. They help people on their own private journey until they reach the self-empowerment stage. This is when the people actually decide it’s time to seek help.

They make up own their minds to go and talk to the therapists. They might decide to open up to their families and decide to get the support of everybody around them. They decide that they are not afraid of the stigma attached to their difficulties anymore.

Martin said at this point he had to mention Harry Taffe, who was groundsman at Oriel for years and the club’s chief videographer. Harry was also Stephen Kenny’s right-hand man.

Sadly Harry took his own life. Martin says Harry was a wonderful man and his contribution to the club was fantastic. But he also did so much for many people in society. This was incredible.

Martin says despite this, Harry was lost. He says this is what his organization was trying to avoid. Martin can be contacted about OPA Mind on social media. The OPA Mind twitter address is @mind_opa.

He is encouraging anyone who feels like reaching out to do so. He has been helping people through so many difficult situations over the past 20 years.

Martin was full of praise for Head In the Game and Dean Arrowsmith. Head in the Game tries to get people whether they go to games or not to try to talk. He said they try to encourage people to reach out to somebody.

Martin did a lengthy interview with me. He spoke about the great times under Jim McLaughlin. I will bring these up again soon. But he also spoke in detail about the other four managers he played under. They are John Dempsey, Tommy Connolly, Turlough O’Connor and Dermot Keely.

Lawlor played with Dundalk in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. I will bring up what he had to say about life was like under these managers in future articles.

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Final Thoughts

Dundalk face into their last six league games as they try to regroup for a really crucial period. They have been going through a very torrid time. They lost to bottom of the table UCD at Belfield in the league, while they were dumped out of the cup by First Division Waterford in a horror show.

They are in third place in the league. This is the last European spot. But Pat’s are just two points behind Stephen O’Donnell’s team, with a game in hand.

Pats have to come to Oriel in a couple of weeks’ time. Importantly, they have a game in hand on Dundalk. But a win over Drogheda is a must for the Lilywhites to get their run for Europe back on an even keel.

Drogheda have beaten Dundalk twice at United Park this season. They beat them at Oriel Park in the one home game they have played against them at Oriel this season.

Dundalk have four of their last six games at home. Two are away. The last game of the season is against Derry City at the Brandywell. Derry still have an outside chance of catching Shamrock Rovers in the title race.

If the race for the title goes down to the final day, a Derry-Dundalk game will be fascinating. This is because Dundalk will have to get a result in Derry if they want to keep third spot.

The Lilywhites can still qualify for Europe from fourth position if Derry City win the cup. If they don’t and Dundalk finish this far back, the Oriel Park team’s European dreams will be over.

Last Sunday week Shamrock Rovers were knocked out of the cup by Derry City. They had five former Dundalk players and four former Shamrock Rovers players in their first team for that victory.

I hope everybody has a safe week. Please look after each other. And remember. Be careful out there.