Remembering the time the Busby Babe popped home to 'mammy' for tea after nutmegging Duncan Edwards
Ireland have only played three competitive fixtures against England in Dublin and there was a story behind every one of them.
Everyone knows the story of Stuttgart and Ray Houghton’s goal.
But what about the three times England played Ireland in a competitive fixture in Dublin?
They might be the old enemy but it is a rivalry that has been in hibernation, 33 years passing since England and Ireland last played a game that mattered.
That was Wembley, 1991 - an unforgettable performance from Ireland, a game they should have won.
Then again, that has been the story of this duel, England finding a way to survive, Ireland coming away with more pride than points.
Here is the story behind the three times The Three Lions visited Dublin.
WORLD CUP QUALIFIER 1957, Ireland 1-1 England *Dalymount Park
Rita Whelan used to keep three ironed shirts in a drawer at home.
Each belonged to her famous older brother, Liam Whelan - the Busby Babe who tragically lost his life in the Munich Air disaster.
The first had the familiar Red Devil badge on it, worn by Whelan in the 1957 FA Cup final. The next two are from that 1957 World Cup qualifier between Ireland and England. Edwards's shirt feels soft and light, Whelan's Irish jersey as rough as a potato sack. He brought both of them home after that game.
"Walked home from Dalymount, he did," John Whelan, Liam and Rita’s brother, recalled on the day I visited him on the eve of the 60th anniversary of Munich. "Him and [fellow Ireland international] Joe Haverty, had a cup of tea here with mammy and then they both caught the No 12 bus into O'Connell Street, to go to the Gresham Hotel where the team were staying.
"That was the thing with Liam. He'd just arrive home. No warning. No phone call. He'd get the boat or catch a flight and walk through the door. 'Mammy, I'm home,' he used to say. She always said the same thing back to him. 'How long are you back for?'"
Not long enough.
Liam died in February 1958 - Edwards, his pal and teammate - passing away 15 days later.
It was only a few months earlier when they went toe to toe, Whelan, winner of just four Ireland caps, scorer of 52 goals from 98 appearances for United. Twice he was a league title-winner, twice he helped United reach the semi-finals of the European Cup, and in the first of those two seasons, 1956-57, only two men, John Charles and Jackie Mudie, surpassed his tally of 26 league goals.
But they were centre forwards, Whelan a midfielder. "He was tremendous," Busby would later say. "A brilliant finisher but also a creator. Bobby Charlton took his place in the team just before Munich but the plan was to play both of them, Bobby as the inside left, Billy [as Whelan was known in Manchester] as our inside right."
"I saw him play in that game against England," Eoin Hand, the former Ireland manager, said. "Now bear in mind, I was only an 11-year-old at the time, so I hadn't the wisdom or experience I'd subsequently gather. But even at that young age, you could tell that he was outstanding.
"Duncan Edwards — considered the greatest player in England at the time — marked him. Liam nutmegged Duncan. He was brilliant.”
Sitting at home in Drumcondra Eamon Dunphy listened to the match on the radio. “I couldn’t get a ticket,” Dunphy told The Star.
“Ireland were 1-0 up - with a minute to go. Philip Greene was commentating for RTE. ‘This is Tom Finney,’ Greene told us.
“We were off our seats at this stage, anxiously waiting for the final whistle. ‘Finney crosses and (John) Atyeo scores’.
“Then Greene delivered the killer line: ‘you can hear the silence at Nelson’s Pillar (on O’Connell Street).”
The crowd was stunned. A World Cup place was there for Ireland to take so the equaliser and the draw felt like a tragedy.
But of course it wasn’t because no one died that day.
Nine months later, too many did.
IRELAND 1-1 ENGLAND, EURO 80 QUALIFIER, LANSDOWNE ROAD, OCT 1978
Paddy Mulligan tells a story about one of his early caps with Ireland in 1970.
They had a double header away - Poland on a Wednesday in Poznan, West Germany in Berlin on the Saturday.
To save money, the FAI insisted the players travel by train.
“That was fine in theory,” says Mulligan.
“What we didn’t know was that after each stop at a station, they removed a carriage.
“So, by the time we got to Berlin, there was only one carriage left. All of us players were squashed in between the mail bags and the porters.”
Eight years later, the old attitude among the FAI’s blazers remained in place.
But the team had changed.
New kids had emerged, David O’Leary, Liam Brady and Frank Stapleton from Arsenal, Gerry Daly from Manchester United.
It was Daly who scored when Ireland met England in a European championship qualifier in 1978. Mulligan played that day, too.
He says: “As a team we were unlucky not to qualify for World Cups or European championships because the new boys generated hope.
“England, we respected them. But we expected to win.
“Jeff Powell from the Daily Mail spoke to me after the game. ‘Pleased with the result?’ he asked me, after we had drew 1-1.
“I was anything but. ‘We had the more creative players,’ I said to him. I wasn’t being bullish. I just knew we had quality and had reason to hope.”
It took another dozen years for hope to turn into a tangible reward.
IRELAND 1-1 ENGLAND, EURO 92 QUALIFIER, LANSDOWNE ROAD, Nov. 1990
It was a Wednesday afternoon. November 1990. Ireland was still gripped by World Cup fever and a 5-0 win over Turkey suggested the team were about to move onto another level. Then England came to town.
They were a team of stars. Gary Lineker, David Platt, Chris Waddle, Peter Beardsley and most of all, Paul Gascoigne.
Jack Charlton had a plan for Gazza. And then, 45 minutes before kick off, that all changed.
"You wouldn't believe it, he's only gone and left Gascoigne out of the side," Charlton told the players.
There were gasps and murmurs and most of all there was excitement. "No Gazza? Right, bring them on."
“We were up for it,” recalls Tony Cascarino.
And with time ticking away, Cascarino proved he was up for anything when he rose to nod in Steve Staunton’s cross. A point was rescued but in the end it didn’t matter. England made it to the Euros. Ireland, the better team across the qualifiers, lost out yet again.
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