Carlow Senior Football Team 1973


(Click on Image to enlarge)

Back: Martin Nolan (Nurney), David Byrne (Tinryalnd), Tom McDonald (Grange), Leo Hughes (Ballinabranna), John Byrne (Ballinabranna), Eamon Roberts (Kildavin), Cyril Hughes (Bagenalstown), Paddy Quirke (Myshall).

Front: Tony Kelly (Clonmore), Willie Cullen (Palatine), Pat Brown (Grange), Brendan Doyle (Kildavin), Eamon Ellis (Eire Og), John Kelly (Ballon), Ben McNally (Ballinabranna),

Drop in to most GAA pubs in Dublin and you will invariably come across a shrine to Heffo's Army, a blue and navy picture of the Dublin's 1974 All-Ireland football winning side adorning the wall along with a snap of Sean Doherty lifting 'Sam' and action shots of Jimmy Keaveney, Bobby Doyle, Brian Mullins and Paddy Cullen.

Our Classic Photo this week is of a Carlow side who met that Dublin team in their prime, or rather just before their famous breakthrough.

The Dubs, famously, spent the Winter of 1973-‘74 in Division 2 of the National Football League, visiting football backwaters such as Dr. Cullen Park and Nowlan Park, Kilkenny.

On arrival to play in Nowlan Park, the Dubs were amazed at the size of the crowd, some 5,000 assembled when their own home attendances were now numbered in the hundreds.

Only trouble was when they emerged from the dressing room having togged out the place was empty! The crowd had been there for a Kilkenny MHC final replay!

In November '73 a small crowd gathered in Dr. Cullen Park to watch Carlow take on the yet to be famous Dubs and saw little to give rise to notions that Kevin Heffernan was to become the new Messiah.

Dublin won 1-9 to 0-4, the Carlow team matching them for a good portion of the game. That Carlow team contained three Railway Cup players in Brendan Doyle, Cyril Hughes and Paddy Quirke, then still eligible for minor ranks.

Also on that team was another 18 year-old, Tony Kelly of Clonmore who later joined Kiltegan with whom he won 6 SHC medals and 1 SFC memento as well as lining out in both codes with his adopted county.

While the Dubs went on to win the Leinster and All-Ireland titles, shocking Cork in the semi-final and Galway in the final, Carlow's '74 championship campaign was also noteworthy in that they were the only county to play under two sets of rules (Not the last time you might add with '99's deck of cards in mind?).

You see they beat Kilkenny in the first round under the 'old rules' but the quarter-final against Louth in Dr. Cullen Park was the first day of the new larger parallelogram that is still in exisistance to-day.

Though Carlow were beaten by Louth, the home side's Willie Cullen became the first footballer to score a penalty awarded for a foul in the 'big square'.

By Leo McGough

[ Carlow Football Team 1962 ]

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