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There’s something about the Dublin GAA jersey. Reminds you of an Irish summer. For years now the Dubs have been trendsetters.
From the change to navy shorts from white in 1974 on the advice of media presenter Mick Dunne because it would look better on the telly; to the famous white O’Neills tracksuits they wore onto the field for the All Ireland final, the Dubs epitomized cool.
In the seventies, the Dublin players were like stars in the city, at a time when the GAA was at a low ebb and needed a injection of life and quickly. The sky blue jersey with the famous navy and white trim, a classic. It was instantly cool, and the sort of kit others wanted to mimic and source. I remember a primary school team looking like mini Dubs with the same shirts and shorts. Since then it’s been one classic Dublin GAA jersey after another. A best seller and a must have souvenir for tourists in the capital.
The irrepressible Heffo. The mastermind of Dublin’s revival in the seventies. A man who could spot a player when he needed a job done. He pulled Jimmy Keaveney from retirement, albeit on the advice of a seven year old, to spearhead All Ireland success with his dead ball finesse. Heffo also knew when a man had done his time and needed to be retired.
In the modern age of analysis, GPS and player tracking it is a fact (revealed by Liam Hayes in his super book on Heffernan) that the maestro had his matches recorded by two cameras back in the seventies. At that time video analysis was pretty much unheard of. Heffo was two steps ahead of the game. He wanted to know what his backs were up to when the ball was down at the other end of the Pairc. As a player he introduced the third midfielder.
When his time came in the seventies with Dublin at a low ebb, he was reluctantly talked into taking over a fairly mediocre and disinterested group of players. Speaking to Magill magazine in 1989 he summed it up well:
“There were four fundamental points: the team had won nothing, it had done nothing, morale was at a low ebb and confidence just was not there,”
With an almost unheard of group of two selectors and a focus on player fitness, focus and self-esteem, he revolutionized Dublin GAA and cemented his position as one of the giants of the game.
Kevin Heffernan changed forever the game of Gaelic football with his team of the seventies he created one of the most daring and flamboyant teams ever to play the game. Without the Dubs there possibly would have been nothing to drive eternal rivals Kerry GAA and Mick O’Dwyer onwards to their own success.
For his career spanning over forty years as a player and manager he waged what seemed like a one-man war with the old enemy. Fearless and brave Heffo had his own ideas on how Gaelic football should be played. His life’s ambition was fulfilled when he took on and defeated the Kingdom.
The household names, Paddy Cullen, Bernard Brogan, Brian Mullins, Kevin Moran, David Hickey, Anton O’Toole. Immortals in blue.
Liam Hayes describes how Heffo built one of the greatest football teams taking a group of ‘putrefied players’ to ‘white tracksuited celebrities and the dandiest of All Ireland champs ever beheld. Swashbucklers that looked and played like champions. He managed the Ireland International Rules panel and oversaw generations of Vincent’s players in Dublin but it was with the Dubs in ’74 and ’76 that he had his finest hour.
They don’t, but if a certain Danish beer did GAA clubs, they might just say that St Vincent’s are possibly the best GAA club in the world. Some of the facts are startling view through the prism of modern sport. In 1953 Dublin won the National League wearing the famous Vincent’s shirt. Fourteen of the starting team were from the Marino based club. It is an achievement that is still unique. In 1958 the Dubs won both All Ireland minor and senior football championships. Eighteen St Vincent’s players featured across both teams.
Think Dublin, think St Vincent’s. Add in two All Ireland Club Championships and you see a club that is synonymous with success in Dublin, in Leinster and at All Ireland level.
Has there ever been a club in the history of the GAA that has produced so many towering figures that have left a lasting influence on the game? In addition to Heffo, Dave Billings, Pat Gilroy, Brian Mullins, Mickey Whelan. All iconic names.
There are few sights in the GAA like the Hill in full colour and few sounds like the Legions of Dublin fans in full voice. It can make the hairs stand on the back of your neck. C’mon Ye Boys and Blue. Not for the faint hearted as a place to watch a game if you’re not supporting the Dubs.
For all the talk of the current All Ireland winners rarely having to leave Croke Park, the fact remains that the summer, and the championship, are both made brighter, more blue and more raucous when the Hill is in full song.
Given its name from the ruins and rubble of the Rising that was deposited there, the open bank has risen an iconic place in Irish sport. It’s always packed on All Ireland Sunday but it’s never quite the same unless the Dubs are there.
Lastly, no mention of Dublin in 2016 would be complete without celebrating this man. Last April the news filtered through to the GAA world that Dublin GAA lost one of its most popular figures with the passing of Dave Billings. A St Vincent’s clubman, in recent years he had served as part of Tommy Lyons and Pillar Caffrey’s Dublin management set up. It was at UCD that Dave was a legend to generations of students from up and down the country.
He was the focal point of GAA at Belfield and was the man responsible for co-coordinating all Gaelic Games at the College. This spring the UCD men won the Sigerson for the first time in years, and it was a fitting way to mark his passing, in the colleges’ game to which he devoted so much time and energy. The players dedicated their success to their mentor and friend.
To his eternal credit Dave touched the lives of players from every county that passed through UCD and togged out for the College teams. A true gentleman and legend of Dublin GAA.