Trailblazer Charlie O'Leary celebrates 100th birthday
CENTURION: Player, legislator, referee, father and grandfather are just some of his other functions that a gathering at Clontarf Castle will rejoice in on Friday night when the milestone is marked. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
CENTURION CLUBS are coveted places in football, be it international caps or goals, but Charlie O’Leary will reside as a trailblazer tomorrow upon hitting his 100th birthday.
Best known as the kitman for the Ireland team between 1986 and 2000 – and his special audience with the Pope – there’s so much more to celebrate in the active life of a national treasure.
Player, legislator, referee, father and grandfather are just some of his other functions that a gathering at Clontarf Castle will rejoice in on Friday night when the milestone is marked.
And just like the holy father in the Vatican, a queue of well-wishers will form to congratulate him, each of whom he’s likely to regale with a story pertinent to themselves.
That’s what a reservoir of memories creates and the sharpness of mind at such an age affords. He could even replicate the papal visit by switching venue to the Phoenix Park, given his popularity.
Stephen Staunton was the first Irish player to reach a century of caps, Robbie Keane to strike the landmark of Premier League goals but nobody else around the game can say they’ve been above ground for every senior international.
1924 was the year of the first official game but momentous too for the arrival of one Charles O’Leary into the world.
Through all strands from local, domestic and international, his influence has been felt.
The affection with which the likes of Niall Quinn, Paul McGrath, Packie Bonner and even Roy Keane speak of Charlie testifies to the role he had in that glorious era under Jack Charlton.
For a man standing all of 5’2”, he was larger than life and a visible presence over that period.
His sprint from the sideline on the scorching day all of 34 years ago in Genoa to embrace his namesake David remains an endearing image captured in history.
The back of a green batman, as he later referred to himself, covering the television shot beamed to multimillions globally.
That earned a quarter-final shot at the hosts but also cashed in a promise from Charlton.
As daily massgoers, the inseparable duo of physio Mick Byrne and Charlie had wished for a Roman stopover during their Italian itinerary on the outside chance of visiting John-Paul II.
Charlton was content in the church to take respite from the limelight to allow his backroom boys to step forward and exchange pleasantries with the Pope.
Their tanned faces against the white Adidas tracksuits tops ensured a glow from the guests but none radiated as strong as Charlie when he looked up and spoke to his hero.
There was Euro ’88 and USA ’94 either side of that odyssey and, as a figure raised during an stretch when England lorded it over Ireland in so many ways, Stuttgart signifies the turning point.
He had witnessed the Irish game from every angle, initially in his native East Wall as an adroit player.
Perhaps a brush with officialdom as a 14-year-old, when hauled before a disciplinary committee to be questioned as ‘Daniel’ O’Leary on his sister’s doctored birthcert, drew him to that sphere of the sector.
He would first establish the local street leagues before migrating into refereeing and the administrative side.
What was initially the Leinster Junior League became the Leinster Football League but colloquially attributed on the circuit as “Charlie’s League”. He made it his business to present the Cup established by clubs in his honour last summer.
Rising to the top of the refereeing tree was daunting during the 1960s because it was commonplace for English officials to be enlisted to cover the latter stages of the FAI Cup.
Charlie’s time for centrestage would come; initially as a linesman in a Cup final before then being the main man for a decider in 1972 worthy of legendary status.
Miah Dennehy’s first-ever final hat-trick earned the plaudits and the trophy for Cork Hibernians, their 3-0 win against Waterford avenging a final day league loss the previous week, but the man in black got to bow out on his terms.
Dalymount Park was where his love of football was engendered watching League of Ireland and the international team – sometimes from the roof - but here was ‘Little Sport’ keeping order on an occasion attended by 22,500 fans.
Unusually, they weren’t glad to see the back of him.
Clubs took the unprecedented step of writing to the FAI requesting their favourite whistler to delay his retirement but at 48 he had different interests to pursue.
He would make a rare exception – one of the first-ever schoolboy internationals, an U15 meeting of Germany against an Ireland side that included Frank Stapleton.
Referee and player were reunited by chance in 1986.
Charlton’s vague recollection of Charlie being in the middle for a Leeds friendly sparked a lightbulb when he popped into the Lansdowne Road pavilion on the eve of the manager’s first game against Wales.
Charlie was actually batting for the opposition as a liaison officer, seeking to borrow a pump from Mick Byrne, yet his reputation for being an all-round troubleshooter prompted Charlton to instigate a transfer.
From the next game against Uruguay to 2000 when Stapleton’s successor as captain Mick McCarthy was elevated to manager, his talent and counsel formed part of the squad’s DNA.
Bonner has dropped into his Harmonstown house this week to start the celebrations and McCarthy will be immersed in them too.
His eyesight isn’t what it once was but he won’t have to see to realise the impact he’s had over a lifetime that still enriches those privileged to be part of it.
