Discover how the creator of Father Ted has had a lifelong love affair with Drogheda United
Arthur Mathews made his name writing Father Ted but his first love was football and Drogheda United.
At the start of 2024, the idea of Drogheda United winning the FAI Cup seemed about as crazy as the concept of a comedy about three madcap priests becoming a cult phenomenon on British TV.
Yet football, like God, moves in mysterious ways.
Way back in 1994, Arthur Mathews was an unknown writer; Father Ted a mere plan in his head.
Read more: Former Derry City boss would ‘love to see’ FAI Cup finalists return to the Irish League
And way back in July this year, Drogheda United were a bit of a joke, too. Bottom of the league, hammered by their Louth relegation rivals, Dundalk, they looked to be going nowhere.
Instead they have finished the second half of 2024 on fire, steering a path into the promotion/relegation play-off, while also finding their way into tomorrow’s FAI Cup final.
Watching them will be Mathews, a lifelong Drogheda fan, and co-writer of the Father Ted series.
This is his fifth FAI Cup final in 53 years. If writing about the priesthood made him rich and famous, following the Drogs has been one long sorrowful mystery.
There was 1971 and the 3-0 replay defeat to Limerick. “I was just a child brought to the game by my father for that one. Then in 1976, I was a teenager so I could make my own way there for that one. I travelled on the back of my friend's Honda.
“By 2005, when we finally won something big, I was an adult. Now, I’m an old man. I suppose there is a real connection there, one that has lasted through time, and while there were years when we were living in London that I couldn’t get to more than one or two games a season, I’ve always considered them my club.
“As a kid, I supported Leeds United, as well.
“They always seemed to lose Cup finals or come second in the League. Then there was Drogheda, runners up in 1971, runners up in 1976. It entered your psyche, that your teams will never win anything and I’m not exaggerating, but that was personally damaging.
“We were always missing out. 'Is this how life is,' I wondered.”
The answer was no.
Yes, Drogheda remained the underdogs and Mathews’ career as a writer also had its early struggles.
But the underdog spirit that propelled the Drogs to finally get a golden era in the mid-noughties also appeared in Mathews’ professional life in the 1990s, when he and Graham Linehan wrote Father Ted.
At first, no one knew how it’d go down, a comedy about three priests, one a drunk, another a fool who knew nothing, the third a fool who thought he knew everything.
In some ways, their escapades were a mirror of life in the League of Ireland, that feeling of isolation, sparse crowds, a few get rich quick schemes, farce mixed with helplessness.
And yet, like the League of Ireland, the show had a cult and loyal following and still does, three decades on.
Mathews says: “We were underdogs, no question. It changed our lives. We got into the London comedy scene on the back of it. It propelled us into something else.”
Then after the upsurge of his professional career came Drogheda United’s seasons in the sun, the FAI Cup win of 2005, followed by the league two years later with a couple of Setanta Cup trophies added to their collective CVs.
“Like it was amazing, that we’d wait so long and then get so much so quickly. The owners took a gamble but it paid off. I’m guessing they spent a hell of a lot of money but look at the legacy they left. The town was on a high for years. We believed in our club, in ourselves, too. Some clubs don’t win anything.
“So for us, to go through so many years without success, to then have a sustained period of it, well, it was just magical. I’ll never forget it.”
But 2024 looked, for a long time, like it would be a period to forget.
By July, they were five points adrift at the bottom and a harrowing defeat to rivals Dundalk preceded the start of their FAI Cup campaign. Mathews remembers that month, the signings that were made.
Until then Frantz Pierrot was frequently referred to as a ‘bit of a handful’ for defenders, a euphemism for a striker who doesn’t score. But as soon as Douglas James Taylor arrived, everything changed.
It was like one of his comedy scripts, Pierrot and Douglas James Taylor, one character’s name sounding like it belonged in an Agatha Christie novel, the other like he was a Conservative MP ‘heading for the House of Lords’.
Both starting scoring, Drogheda started winning. Dundalk, Wilton, Athlone and Wexford were beaten on this Cup run, 18 goals were scored, and all of a sudden there was a scramble for tickets for another final.
Mathews and his family and friends have seven of them. He hopes his sister, Ria, doesn’t bring bad luck as she was there with him in 1971, 1976 and 2013 when Drogheda lost Cup finals, but missed out on the 2005 one, when they won it.
He says: “The biggest question is whether to have a drink before the game or not. And it’s a no, this time. In 2005, we had a few pints beforehand but you need to focus on things. The drink impacted your concentration. You want to zone in on it because these things don’t come around too often.
“It’s five Cup finals in 53 years for me. They’re great days. Being a League of Ireland supporter is a great thing. Many others have been to way more games than I have. I just couldn’t imagine not having it as part of my life. When people say, why do I do it, I reply: ‘why wouldn’t I?’
“It’s hardly a chore. It’s just someone following their local club. What’s a big deal about that? It’s special. Always has been. And always will be.”
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