1966–67 Dundalk F.C. season

Dundalk entered the 1966–67 season on the back of a disappointing eighth place finish in the League and a sixth place finish in the Shield the previous season. 1966–67 was Alan Fox's first season as player-coach, having been appointed by the club's new board of directors in August. It was Dundalk's 41st consecutive season in the top tier of Irish football.

Dundalk
1966–67 season
"The Greatest Year in the History of Dundalk Football Club"
ManagerAlan Fox
League of Ireland1st (Champions)
FAI CupSemi-final
League of Ireland Shield1st (Winners)
Dublin City CupRunners-up
Top Four CupWinners
Leinster Senior CupRunners-up
Top goalscorerLeague:
Danny Hale (15)
All:
Danny Hale (28)
Highest home attendance14,000 (vs. Shamrock Rovers, Shield, 16 October 1966)[1]

Season summary

The previous season had seen significant change at the club. By the end of 1965 it was clear that the debts, the condition of Oriel Park, and the need to rebuild the playing squad, were challenges beyond the membership-based ownership model. A new public limited company took the club over in January 1966, after the voluntary liquidation of the old company.[2] The new board set about investing in Oriel Park, which consisted of turning the pitch 90 degrees, building a new stand, and adding player and spectator facilities.[3] They also invested in a number of new players and a new player-coach, Alan Fox. Only five of the players who had finished the previous season were retained.[4]

The new season started on 21 August 1966 with the Shield and the Dublin City Cup. Dundalk had never won the Shield in their 40 seasons of League of Ireland membership, being runners-up four times and going close in numerous seasons.[5] At the 41st attempt, the new team made no mistake – with nine wins from the first 10 matches, effectively sealing the win with a 2–0 victory over Shamrock Rovers in front of a then record crowd of 14,000 for a domestic game in Oriel Park.[6][7] 10 days later they met Shamrock Rovers again, this time in the City Cup final, but fell to a 2–1 defeat.[8]

The League saw Fox's side continue their Shield form, with six wins in a row (scoring 21 goals in the process) leaving them clear at the top of the table in the run up to Christmas. A three match losing streak through the new year, which included the Leinster Senior Cup Final,[9] saw some doubts about the side creep in. But they only lost one more match in charging to the title ahead of Bohemians by seven points.[10] The club's third League title brought the only League and Shield Double in its history. To cap a memorable season, they also won the Top Four Cup, their second and last win before the competition was discontinued in 1974.[11] A semi-final defeat in the FAI Cup to Shamrock Rovers was the only slip-up that stopped the side winning medals in every competition. They called it "the greatest year in the history of Dundalk Football Club".[12]

First-Team Squad (1966–67)

Sources:[13]

No. Name Years League FAI Cup League of Ireland Shield Othera Total Goals
1 Kevin Blount 1966–1968 21 5 10 10 46 0
2 Fran Brennan 1966–1973 22 5 11 11 49 1
3 Alan Fox 1966–1968 22 5 11 11 49 0
4 Patsy McKeown 1957–1968 18 5 11 10 44 0
5 Mick Millington 1965–1970 16 4 11 11 42 1
6 Kevin Murray 1966–1970 19 5 10 11 45 11
7 Paddy Turner 1966–1972 22 5 8 10 45 17
8 Ben Hannigan 1966–1969 20 5 11 7 43 26
9 Danny Hale 1966–1968 20 3 10 9 42 28
10 Tony O'Connell 1966–1969 16 4 10 6 36 3
11 Derek Stokes 1966–1970 16 4 0 5 25 17
12 Jim Burke 1966–1968 12 0 6 8 26 0
13 Larry Gilmore 1966–1970 3 1 11 7 22 2
14 Francie Callan 1954–1967 13 4 0 3 20 4
15 Christy Barron 1959–1967 1 0 1 1 3 0
a. Includes the Leinster Senior Cup, Dublin City Cup, and Top Four Cup.

Competitions

Shield

Source:[14]

21 August 1966 Round 1Cork Celtic1–1Dundalk
28 August 1966 Round 2Dundalk4–0Shelbourne
4 September 1966 Round 3Drogheda United1–4Dundalk
11 September 1966 Round 4Dundalk1–0St Patrick's Athletic
18 September 1966 Round 5Bohemians0–1Dundalk
25 September 1966 Round 6Dundalk1–0Waterford
2 October 1966 Round 7Cork Hibernians1–5Dundalk
9 October 1966 Round 8Dundalk6–2Drumcondra
16 October 1966 Round 9Dundalk2–0Shamrock Rovers
23 October 1966 Round 10Sligo Rovers1–0Dundalk
30 October 1966 Round 11Dundalk2–0Limerick

Shield table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Dundalk 11 9 1 1 27 7 +20 19
2 St Patrick's Athletic 11 7 2 2 20 8 +12 16
3 Shamrock Rovers 11 7 1 3 37 12 +25 15
4 Waterford 11 6 1 4 24 16 +8 13
5 Limerick 11 5 2 4 19 17 +2 12
6 Bohemians 11 5 2 4 17 15 +2 12
7 Drogheda United 11 5 1 5 14 18 −4 11
8 Drumcondra 11 5 1 5 17 24 −7 11
9 Cork Hibernians 11 4 0 7 18 31 −13 8
10 Shelbourne 11 3 0 8 14 31 −17 6
11 Cork Celtic 11 1 3 7 17 28 −11 5
12 Sligo Rovers 11 2 0 9 10 27 −17 4
Source: Irish Press

Dublin City Cup

Source:[14]

First Round
23 August 1966 Dundalk2–0Drogheda UnitedDundalk
Stadium: Oriel Park
Quarter-Final
14 September 1966 Dundalk2–1Sligo RoversDundalk
Stadium: Oriel Park
Semi-Final
5 October 1966 Dundalk3–1WaterfordDublin
Stadium: Dalymount Park
Final
26 October 1966 Dundalk1–2Shamrock RoversDublin
Stadium: Dalymount Park

Leinster Senior Cup

Source:[14]

Fourth Round
2 November 1966 Dundalk3–1Drogheda UnitedDublin
Stadium: Tolka Park
Semi-Final
13 December 1966 Drumcondra1–1DundalkDublin
Stadium: Tolka Park
Semi-Final Replay
15 December 1966 Drumcondra2–5DundalkDublin
Stadium: Tolka Park
Final
15 December 1966 Bohemians1–0DundalkDublin
Stadium: Dalymount Park

FAI Cup

Source:[14]

First Round
12 February 1967 Dundalk6–1Tramore AthleticDundalk
Stadium: Oriel Park
Quarter-Final
5 March 1967 Dundalk1–1Cork HiberniansDundalk
Stadium: Oriel Park
Quarter-Final Replay
8 March 1967 Cork Hibernians0–1DundalkCork
Stadium: Flower Lodge
Semi-Final
1 April 1967 Dundalk1–1Shamrock RoversDublin
Stadium: Dalymount Park
Semi-Final Replay
5 April 1967 Dundalk0–3Shamrock RoversDublin
Stadium: Tolka Park

Top Four Cup

Source:[14]

Semi-Final
30 April 1967 Dundalk2–1Sligo RoversDundalk
Stadium: Oriel Park
Final
7 May 1967 Bohemians0–0DundalkDublin
Stadium: Dalymount Park
Final Replay
12 May 1967 Dundalk2–1BohemiansDublin
Stadium: Tolka Park

League

Source:[14]

6 November 1966 Round 1Dundalk5–0Cork Celtic
13 November 1966 Round 2Shelbourne1–3Dundalk
20 November 1966 Round 3Dundalk3–0Drogheda United
27 November 1966 Round 4St Patrick's Athletic1–3Dundalk
4 December 1966 Round 5Dundalk3–0Bohemians
11 December 1966 Round 6Waterford2–4Dundalk
18 December 1966 Round 7Dundalk0–0Cork Hibernians
26 December 1966 Round 8Drumcondra1–2Dundalk
1 January 1967 Round 9Shamrock Rovers2–1Dundalk
8 January 1967 Round 10Dundalk1–2Sligo Rovers
15 January 1967 Round 11Limerick2–3Dundalk
22 January 1967 Round 12Cork Celtic1–4Dundalk
29 January 1967 Round 13Dundalk6–0Shelbourne
5 February 1967 Round 14Drogheda United1–3Dundalk
19 February 1967 Round 15Dundalk2–2St Patrick's Athletic
26 February 1967 Round 16Bohemians3–0Dundalk
12 March 1967 Round 17Dundalk3–0Waterford
19 March 1967 Round 18Cork Hibernians0–0Dundalk
26 March 1967 Round 19Dundalk2–0Drumcondra
9 April 1967 Round 20Sligo Rovers1–1Dundalk
14 April 1967 Round 21Dundalk2–0Shamrock Rovers
16 April 1967 Round 22Dundalk3–0Limerick

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Dundalk 22 15 4 3 54 19 +35 34
2 Bohemians 22 12 3 7 45 27 +18 27
3 Sligo Rovers 22 11 5 6 37 29 +8 27
4 Limerick 22 9 6 7 31 29 +2 24
5 Waterford 22 11 1 10 53 48 +5 23
6 St Patrick's Athletic 22 8 5 9 49 51 −2 21
7 Shamrock Rovers 22 8 4 10 31 31 0 20
8 Drumcondra 22 6 8 8 35 38 −3 20
9 Cork Hibernians 22 7 5 10 31 39 −8 19
10 Drogheda United 22 7 5 10 31 42 −11 19
11 Cork Celtic 22 8 3 11 30 52 −22 19
12 Shelbourne 22 4 3 15 32 54 −22 11
Source: www.rsssf.com

References
Bibliography
  • Murphy, Jim (2003). The History of Dundalk F.C.: The First 100 Years. Dundalgan Press. ASIN B0042SO3R2.
  • Graham, Alex. Football in the Republic of Ireland a Statistical Record 1921–2005. Soccer Books Limited. ISBN 1-86223-135-4.
  • MacSweeney, Niall (1985). A Record of League of Ireland Football 1921/2 - 1984/5. Association of Football Statisticians. ASIN B008H2CBJQ.
  • Ryan, Sean; Dunne, Noel (24 October 1975). The Bass Book of Irish Soccer. Mercier Press. ISBN 9780853424505.
Citations
  1. O'Shea, Tom (17 October 1966). "Dundalk Poised To Take Shield". Irish Press. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  2. "Dundalk club take-over". Irish Independent. 21 January 1966. Retrieved 22 April 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  3. Dunne, Noel (6 July 1966). "Transformation by Dundalk F.C." Evening Herald. Retrieved 22 April 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  4. "Waterford's Injury Problems". The Irish Press. 13 September 1966. Retrieved 16 June 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  5. "Shield Shock for Dundalk". Irish Independent. 6 November 1939. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  6. Murphy, W.P. (17 October 1966). "Record Crowd Sees Oriel Park Team..." Irish Independent. Retrieved 24 May 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  7. O'Shea, Tom (17 October 1966). "Dundalk Poised To Take Shield". The Irish Press. Retrieved 22 April 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  8. Murphy, W.P. (27 October 1966). "Rovers Oust Dundalk!". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  9. O'Shea, Tom (26 December 1966). "Magnificent Bohemians Triumph". Irish Press. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  10. "Dundalk New League Champs". Irish Independent. 15 April 1967. Retrieved 22 April 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  11. "Dundalk Collect 3rd Trophy of Season". Irish Independent. 13 May 1967. Retrieved 22 April 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  12. "Pictorial Souvenir". The Irish Press. 16 June 1967. Retrieved 23 April 2019 – via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  13. Murphy, Jim (2013). A Dundalk FC Miscellany. Ireland: Self-published. p. 240.
  14. Murphy, Jim (2003). History of Dundalk FC - the First 100 Years. Dundalk: Jim Murphy. p. 464.
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