Inside Track: Cannonstown Emmets and the Czechs suffered the same fate

A request came in last week, the caller looking for the Dowdallshill team that won the Louth 1934 second division championship. His grandfather was on the team, and his mother wanted to see who her father’s colleagues were.

The ‘Hill panel for the final might jog a few memories for the older set out around St Brigid’s Park: Michael ‘Johnny’Grant; Jim McKeown, Jimmy Gaskin, Paddy Tiernan, Larry Waller, Johnny Murphy (captain), Dan Bennett, Bertie Roddy, Jack Woods, Charlie Berrill, Jim Tiernan, Vincie Duffy, Jimmy Toal, Nick O’Hare, Tom Lawson, Tommy Reynolds, Paddy McCourt, Paddy McCrave.

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Curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to look up an account of the game. It told an unusual story – but maybe not, given how, in the first half of the GAA’s life, there were incidents you wouldn’t see today.

There were 23 teams in the original line-up, many of them no longer in existence, the likes of Tullyallen, Stormanstown Sarsfields, Woodington Rangers, Ramblers and Isles of the Sea, the latter comprised mostly of workers attached to PJ Carroll’s cigarette factory.

There was another team based in the northside of Drogheda, Cannonstown Emmets, and it was they who qualified to meet Dowdallshill in the final, having received a bye in the semis.

The match was played at the Athletic Grounds, and was fairly even until the Hill pulled away in the second half, leading 1-4 to 0-2 with ten minutes remaining. At this point, there was a schemozzle, and when it was sorted out, the referee ordered off a Cannonstown player.

The punished one’s colleagues didn’t like it and protested with the official. When they saw he wasn’t for turning, they walked off.

The inevitable enquiry followed, and at a meeting of the County Board, the game was awarded to Dowdallshill. But not only that, Cannonstown were suspended for six months. (Fair play to them – if that’s not some sort of a contradiction – the Emmets stayed in the game and were listed for action the following season.)

The Louth second division championship hardly bears comparison with an Olympic soccer tournament, but this, too, had a final that wasn’t completed.

The 1920 celebration of the Games was held in Antwerp, and because they had won the gold at the first two stagings of the competition – on home soil in London, in 1908, and Stockholm four years later – Great Britain were the hot fancies to win for a third time.

But, as a precursor to what was to come when England's senior side made its World Cup Finals debut in 1950, the Billy Wright-captained team losing 1-0 to the unfancied USA, and as a consequence, on their way home, even before the competition warmed up, GB lost in the opening round to Norway, ending their interest in proceedings.

The host country, Belgium, progressed to the final, in which they were paired with Czechoslovakia. Backed by a big home support, the Wallooons went two up after 30 minutes. The Czechs then went for the heavy stuff and paid the penalty when one of their players was sent off.

Just as happened in the Athletic Grounds 14 years later, the penalised team took umbrage over the referee’s decision and walked off.

They subsequently complained about intimidation from Belgian soldiers along the line, and England referee, John Lewis, being biased against them.

Whatever about Lewis' favouring Belgium, he was hardly in a fit state to officiate in an Olympic final, he being on the graveyard side of 70.

Belgium were awarded gold, while the Czechs were dumped, suffering a fate something similar to Cannonstown Emmets.