Green Shoots - A History of Irish Football

On this week's show Kehlan an Gary look at the Rep. of Ireland football team as Jack Charlton is named the new manager and brings the country to its first ever major tournament, Euro 88'.

We look at Jack Charlton getting the Ireland and how he beat Bob Paisley, yes that Bob Paisley from the great Liverpool team, to the job.

We’ll look at how they made it to Euro 88, the players, the build up, what was it like to travel to it, getting around the tournament and what it meant after the tournament had finished.

On this weeks show Kehlan and Gary go through the 1980s in the League of Ireland. One team above all else would dominate the decade, Shamrock Rovers. Considered by many to be one the greatest LOI teams ever, they won 4 league titles in a row and 3 FAI cups in a row. A treble-double.

They also discuss Limerick becoming champions, the start of the tiered system with the introduction of Division 1 and Derry joining the LOI.

On this weeks show Kehlan sits down with former Rep. of Ireland manager, Eoin Hand. Eoin talks where his love of football comes from as well as playing and managing in a League of Ireland winning team, being boss for the Rep. of Ireland national team, and fighting racism and apartheid in South Africa. So join us for a journey through the amazing footballing life of Eoin Hand.

In this weeks episode Kehlan and Gary talk about the Rep. of Ireland national team from 1979 to 1985. This includes and infamous night in Brussels in 1981, where Ireland were robbed of a goal and their efforts to reach to the World Cup in Spain would fall agonisingly short. We also look at the tenures of Johnny Giles, and Eoin Hand who managed the team and Alan Kelly who was nearly the full-time manager before Hand got the job.

In this weeks Green Shoots podcast Kehlan and Gary talk about the remarkable decade that was the 1970's in League of Ireland history. With so many great teams and so many vying for League and Cup titles, why then did so many start to walk away from League of Ireland football?

On this weeks show Kehlan Kirwan talks with a former player and manager that has been a serial winner throughout his career. Where he goes trophies usually follow. Pat Fenlon is now Director of Football at Bohemians F.C. and he talks with Kehlan about his football life and getting Bohs back to winning trophies in the League of Ireland.

In this weeks Green Shoots: a history of Irish football Kehlan and Gary talk about Irish international football from the late 50s through to the early 1970s as they play in front over 100,000 people in Poland, a memorable or maybe not so memorable 1-0 win against West Germany in Germany and we get introduced to a young man who would leave a huge impact on Irish football, Johnny Giles.

On this weeks show Kehlan talks with Chris Lee, the author of a brand new book 'Shades of Green – a journey through irish football'. Chris has also written 'Origin Stories: The pioneers who took football to the world' and 'Defiant – A history of football against Fascism'. To see why he turned to writing about Irish football we sat down and had a chat with him about his brand new book.

On this weeks show Kehlan and Gary talk about the League of Ireland at its zenith during the 1960s. We also chat about:

- That extraordinary 1956 cup final between Shamrock Rovers and Cork Athletic

- The one that Gary has been waiting to talk about, Limerick are the 1960 League champions

- We talk about European football as Drumcondra beat Bayern Munich 1-0 and some glamorous and not so glamorous European ties for Irish clubs in the 60s. including a surprise win for Waterford over Northern rivals Glentoran.

- Plus we talk about the great Shamrock Rovers side of the 60s who won 6, FAI cups in a row

- And a Waterford side who would win 3 league titles in a row and 6 in 8 seasons.

In this weeks episode Kehlan and Gary talk about one of Shamrock Rovers greatest ever managers, Paddy Coad. His teams had an emphasis of young players and would set the foundation for some of the greatest League of Ireland teams of all time. Plus we look at Evergreen United FC, Waterford FC, Shelbourne FC and some famous results for the Rep. of Ireland national side.