Search Results for 'Mickey Joyce'

Kevin Francis O’Byrne was born in Galway on December 2, 1934, the second son of Seán and Mary O’Byrne. He had an older brother, Brendan and a younger sister, Máire. He received his education at St Patrick’s National School and St Joseph’s College (The Bish). He was a very good student and a brilliant all-round sportsman. He featured strongly in the Patrician Brothers’ Hurling Leagues and in the school’s athletics events. Rugby was his favourite game; he played scrum half for his school, for his various clubs and twice for Connacht, both times against Ulster. He was also a fine soccer player, and with Johnny Dooley starred in the match when UCG won their first ever Collingwood Cup by beating UCD by three goals to two in the final, which was played at the Grammar School grounds in 1955.

John O’Dowd got the inaugural juvenile soccer league (for boys under-16) underway in Galway in 1931-2. The clubs competing included; Crusaders, Hotspurs, Reds United, Emmetts, Unknowns, Bective Rangers and Hibernians. The swamp was the only soccer pitch available in Galway at the time. The league was a big success and this prompted the organisers to run a minor league in the 1932-33 season.

Now that we are reaching the end of saturation coverage of the World Cup and watching some of the best soccer players in the world, you might wonder where it all began for some of them, how they got themselves on to the world stage, and how much they owe to the unsung people without whom they would never have succeeded, the referees whose dedication to the game make all of those matches possible.

Now that we are reaching the end of saturation coverage of the World Cup and watching some of the best soccer players in the world, you might wonder where it all began for some of them, how they got themselves on to the world stage, and how much they owe to the unsung people without whom they would never have succeeded, the referees whose dedication to the game make all of those matches possible.