For many years Peter Byrne was the main football writer for The Irish Times. A Bohs’ fan, apparently, but this Hoop won’t hold that against him, these days he enjoys the title of President of the Associations of Sports Journalists in Ireland. He’s also the brains behind Green is the Colour, a four-part documentary tracing the history of football on the Emerald Isle.
As ever with anything Irish, it’s a tricky situation. Irish football played its part in the founding of the Republic of Ireland, particularly as it was the first all-Ireland sporting body to split into two, shortly before the civil war and the founding of the Irish Free State.
Then there’s the whole issue of Irish football in terms of its clubs. Largely ignored these days by all other than a hardcore support, the previously popular League of Ireland is spurned by the vast majority of Irish people, who mostly pledge their allegiances to successful British clubs such as Celtic, Manchester United and Liverpool.
But no history of the game in Ireland could ignore our own clubs, and Green is the Colour boasts an impressive group of talking heads, ranging from the dreadlocked football author David Goldblatt to more familiar faces such as local hacks Philip Quinn and the aforementioned Peter Byrne, who appreciate that the international team is just the tip of the Irish football iceberg.
Narrator Darragh Maloney, a man whose dulcet tones are worthy of more than mere match commentary, guided viewers through the early days of the organised game, from posh English schoolboys through to working class Irish folk, as football grew from a leisure option to a spectator sport during the late 19th Century, to become a truly global game.
The most contentious issue in this opening episode was the gradual split between Belfast – where football first surfaced on the island – and Dublin, as clubs from the capital grew increasingly frustrated with the Lagan-centric attitudes within the Irish Football Association. After Shelbourne were refused an Irish Cup Semi-Final replay in Dublin after drawing with Glenavon in Belfast, the Leinster-based clubs agreed to split from the IFA and form their own association.
Early internationals were understandably covered in much detail, but it was disappointing that the debut League of Ireland season was completely ignored.
But overall it was a great story pretty well told, if rather incomplete. Even for those who – as the song goes – know their history, it was a refreshingly candid, informative and absolutely fascinating look at the early days of the game in Ireland. The contribution of UCD’s Paul Rouse was particularly illuminating, as it gave the game a colourful context, particularly in comparison with the parochial approach of the GAA.
Looking ahead I wonder how, for example, the John Giles’ era will be treated, and whether his brave-but-flawed attempt at resurrecting Shamrock Rovers gets a mention. Or how Northern Ireland’s World Cup exploits will be treated.
Either way, I’ll certainly be tuned in next week as I’m hopelessly hooked. Football, eh? What a game!
John Byrne
