Shamrock Rovers the greatest FAI Cup team of all
On foot of my recent conversation in these pages with Damien Richardson on the subject of where the current back-to-back champions and double-chasing Dundalk team might fit into the all-time League of Ireland pantheon, we had a letter from regular reader Tom Hunt in Mullingar pointing out a glaring omission – the great Waterford team of the late 1960s and early 70s which, having won the league in 1966, followed up with a remarkable three-in-a- row between ’68 and ’70, before adding further back-to-back titles in ’72 and ’73.
Over to Tom: “Victories in league competition are always considered to be a greater test of consistency than the less demanding cup competitions. The 1966 title was secured with an extraordinary run of 13 successive victories, a record that survives to the present day. No club before or since has won six titles over an eight-year period. Goals flowed in abundance during the six-title winning spree from teams that included some of the most iconic names to feature in the league. Peter Thomas, Tommy Taylor, Alfie Hale, Johnny Matthews, Jimmy McGeough (whose arrival in Waterford kick-started the 13-game winning run), Mick Lynch, John O’Neil, Dave Kirby, Phil Buck, Denny and Peter Fitzgerald, Al Casey and Vinny Maguire, to name but a few, should never be forgotten when greatness is calibrated.”
