Most of the 400 souls who saw Galway United take on Cobh Ramblers in 1997 might have consigned it to the dustbin of memory. But a humdrum night in the First Division sparked something in an impressionable lad from Newbridge making his first pilgrimage to a rainy Terryland.
Known subsequently in United circles as a voice in the back of the stand or supporter’s bus, quick with an opinion or a story, Johnny Ward’s has become a recognisable voice for the league. Entering the 9th season of the LOI Central podcast which he co-hosts, and regularly contributing to Off The Ball, he may have often implored but could not have foreseen the rise in interest in the domestic game.
“In my time, there is no way there has ever been anticipation like this. Shamrock Rovers qualifying for the Europa League group stages in 2011 was a very big moment. Dundalk kicked on from that by being competitive in 2016. It has almost felt as if Damien Duff has brought it to another level in terms of mass publicity.
“Add the fact that Shels won the league with this unfancied team. Add in Stephen Kenny’s return to the league. You add in Shamrock Rovers are somehow in action against Molde on Thursday and then playing in the Aviva Stadium against Bohs on Sunday and then you’ve another live game on Friday. That’s not to mention John Caulfield’s return to Cork City. Also, it’s really hard to call the league, to call who’ll finish last. European places are far from set in stone. I’m not sure who is going to finish in the playoff spot. It has everything going for it.”
Johnny’s passion is undoubted and still flickers for his team.
“Galway United are a team that a lot of people will expect to regress. There are definite grounds to consider they will improve. They are a fascinating team to observe with a different style to other teams. They have made some left-field signings that are hard to assess but you’d have to say that recruitment has been really good in recent years. They will have to better this season by extension of everyone else is. It was interesting at the press launch that John Caulfield said we need to be better going forward.”
Ward is well positioned as a Dublin-based journalist to gauge the increase in interest and draws an interesting contrast with the league that has cannibalised Irish interest for years.
“The Irish Independent reported a 98% rise in League of Ireland stories read compared to the season before. The league has been on the up since the pandemic. I’m buzzing. Since I got into the League of Ireland, I absolutely fell in love. It’s never been anything like this. If we haven’t arrived, we’ve come an awful long way in the journey of relevance.
“I think people have taken a step away from [the Premier League] and realised that it’s devoured itself in terms of how globalised it is, the money involved, the petro-states, the Glazers and club owners that really shouldn’t be involved in football. The League of Ireland is not that. You can see Stephen Walsh scoring for Galway United all these years later, then on the sideline for his own local team a few days later. It’s still something you can relate to.”
The relatability of the characters and the clubs in the League of Ireland stands in stark contrast to the experience on offer of those who take planes, trains and automobiles to sit in sedate stadiums across the water. It is becoming harder for football fans to ignore the League of Ireland and they are losing more and more by doing so.
