It is 42 days from today until Euro 2012 kicks off, and today on our countdown we look at the moment when Ireland appointed it’s most successful international manager, Jack Charlton.
“I think the people of Ireland will take to him…he has enough personality to satisfy the Irish,” thus wrote Charlton’s former England international team-mate Jimmy Armfield in the programme notes ahead of Charlton’s first game in charge in 1986.
How prophetic those words would be.
Charlton is now a national treasure in this country.
His record of taking Ireland to their first ever major championships in 1988, 1990 and 1994 speaks for itself.
His overall record was: Games played: 94, Games won: 47, Games draw: 30, Lost: 17.
Along the way his sides beat Brazil, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, the USSR and England.
He took Ireland to a record high of number six in the world rankings.
Still it doesn’t take away from the enormity of appointing our first foreign-born manager and the absolute clusterf**k of an appointment process that lead to it.
Towards the end of Eoin Hand’s unlucky reign in charge of the national team, the FAI’s coffers were low.
A shake up was needed thought FAI President Des Casey.
They wanted to appoint a manager who could base themselves in England to view the Irish-based players there for the first time. (Trap’s cunning solution of DVD’s clearly wouldn’t work in the late 80’s)
An advert was taken out in a paper looking for a manager for the Irish soccer team and many were interviewed and shortlisted.
Eventually the shortlist was whittled down and the voting process itself came down to a choice between Des Casey’s favoured candidate Bob Paisley, the most successful club manager in British club management history with Liverpool, and Jack Charlton, who enjoyed minimal success managing in the north-east with Middlesbrough and Newcastle.
On the last count in the voting process Paisley had 9 votes, while Charlton had 5 and John Giles had 4.
It was obvious what was going to happen, even if Giles votes were all distributed to Charlton for the last vote, Casey would have the casting vote if the race finished 9-9 and would opt for his candidate, Paisley.
Except one of the blazers defected to the Charlton camp from the Paisley one and Big Jack was appointed with a winning vote of 9-8.
Charlton wasn’t available for the announcement of his appointment as he didn’t think he’d get the job. He had to be tracked down to a hunting lodge in Yorkshire to be told of his new role.
In Charlton’s first press conference he challenged Eamon Dunphy to a fight in the car park.
Ironically Dunphy initially was one of Charlton’s only supporters in the Irish media, writing in the Sunday Tribune that the appointment brought leadership back to Irish international football.
Bet you didn’t know that!
It all worked out in the end and well over two decades after he was first appointed he is still charming the Irish public like in the below TV appearance.
Today marks 42 days to go until the start of Euro 2012, so stick with us every day as we present another memorable Irish soccer moment.
