‘The silence in Dalymount Park could be heard at Nelson’s Pillar’
And, in the unbearable tension of the moment, George Hamilton was somehow as composed as David O’Leary when he found the words to tee-up that famous penalty in Genoa in 1990: “A nation holds its breath”.
But it’s always easier to be a bearer of good news and so I’m sure even Jimmy and George would consent to give the palm to the man who was the voice of Irish football for those too many years when agony inevitably trumped ecstasy, as it did most indelibly in May 1957 when Ireland hosted England in a World Cup qualifier at Dalymount Park. Having been thumped 5-1 at Wembley, an unlikely victory for the Irish in the return game would have set up a play-off – again against England – to determine qualification for the 1958 World Cup finals.
And so 47,500 people crammed into the old ground to see a momentous game which also played host to some of the most immortal names in football history – men like Duncan Edwards and Tom Finney of England and Liam Whelan and Charlie Hurley of Ireland.
In the commentary box that afternoon was another legend in the making, Philip Greene.
And the game was only three minutes old when the radio man found himself describing, with mounting excitement, the moment when the underdogs seemed to have seized the day.
“Duncan Edwards controlling the ball beautifully… he slips it out to the left-wing… it’s intercepted there by Hurley… Hurley a square pass on to Joe Haverty… Fitzsimons calling for the ball… gives it to Fitzsimons… he inside to Whelan… (speaking very fast now)... through to the penalty area – Haverty has it – they still have it – Ringstead shoots – IT’S A GOAL! IT’S A GOAL!... (cue ear-shattering bedlam)... oh, listen to that crowd roar. Ireland have scored after three minutes. Ringstead the scorer. Leading 1-0. And the crowd has gone mad here… (fade)”
When we rejoin the action, some 86 minutes later, an impassioned Greene is shouting to be heard above the deafening din.
“ONE MINUTE LEFT TO PLAY… IRELAND LEADING ONE-NIL… ONE MINUTE LEFT TO PLAY AND THE CROWD ROARING, LISTEN TO THEM… England dangerous, half a minute left for play… Ireland leading 1-0… the ball is taken away by Hall of England… Hall tackled… on to Finney… they’re playing lost time, time is up as Finney comes back for England… (speaking fast again) ...Finney, he’s going in, he’s going in, he’s beaten Seward, he’s beaten Seward… he crosses and (suddenly sounding as if he’s been punched in the gut)... it’s a goal ...(crowd noise instantly subsides)... it’s headed in by Atyeo in the last… Overtime. Overtime… Finney not tackled there by Seward… 15 seconds over time … and a goal to England, scored by Atyeo from Finney’s cross… (sounding now as if he’s speaking from the depths of a bad dream)... Seward falling back, falling back, and the ball went over the mouth of the goal to Atyeo who headed into the net .. And now it’s a minute overtime and they line-up for tip off… the scores are level, Ireland 1 England 1… time over… playing overtime ...”
Batteries running down, air escaping from a tyre, words almost failing the wordsmith but not quite – no other commentary I’ve ever heard more vividly captures the desperate sense of deflation which attends the crushing of a sporting dream. And you thought Thierry Henry caused us some grief? When people talk about the shattering climax of that game in 1957, they recall a celebrated remark which Greene made later – that the silence in Dalymount Park when Johnny Atyeo scored could be heard at Nelson’s Pillar – but nothing conveys the reality of the drama, the sudden slump from joy to despair, quite like hearing Philip’s on the spot report.
If you know your way around the internet, you can still dig up that archive clip but, on this very day, as Philip Greene celebrates his 90th birthday, I hope and trust that someone out in Montrose will see fit to play it again.
Happily, Philip had plenty of reasons to be cheerful in his years as the distinctive voice of Irish football, and not least because of a self-confessed devotion to his beloved Shamrock Rovers (hence the popular nickname, ‘Philip Greene and White’). The quotes are legendary – “And it’s 1-1 here in favour of Rovers”; “The embattled Hoops are strapped to the mast as wave upon wave of Spaniard rolls over them”; and the almost certainly apocryphal but everyone claims to have heard it, “Oh f**k, Bohs have scored”.
To mark the occasion of his milestone birthday, Philip was earlier this week the recipient of a specially-commissioned medal honouring ‘A Lifetime Award For Services To Sports Broadcasting’ from the Association of Sports Journalists in Ireland.
And well deserved it was too, though you can’t help suspecting that the great man would be even happier if Shamrock Rovers could present him with their first title in 16 years in a few weeks’ time.
Meantime, if I can be permitted to speak on behalf of all of us who grew to love his voice down the years: happy birthday Philip Greene.
- Contact: liammackey@hotmail.com
