A PICTURE proudly hangs inside Patsy McGonagle’s home in Ballybofey, depicting the 1948 Irish Olympic soccer team in London for the Olympic Games of that year.
Included in the back row is Lt Private Patsy McGonagle, father of the Irish Athletics Team Manager of the same name.
Patsy McGonagle senior was born in Ballyliffin and after going to school in Rasheney, he joined the Army, while in the 1940s he played for three teams in the League of Ireland – Drumcondra, Shelbourne and Bohemians.
It was during his time with Bohemians that he was selected to represent Ireland at the 1948 Olympics. McGonagle played at left-back on a team that included another Donegal man, Emmet McLaughlin, from Moville, at centre-forward.
Picture caption: The Irish soccer squad for the 1948 Olympic Games. Patsy McGonagle senior is second from right on back row and Emmet McLaughlin is second from right on front row.
Patsy McGonagle junior is in Rio now, for his fourth Olympic Games, 68 years after his father headed for London in ’48.
Ireland played just once in 1948, losing 3-1 to the Netherlands at Fratton Park in Portsmouth.
“Our eleven, after one week’s serious training,” reported the Irish Independent, “was pitted against a full-strength Dutch team which had been in special training many weeks and had caused the people in Portsmouth to shake their heads with grave fear for the Irish when they played a practice game with their 22 players at the ground on the previous day.”
[adrotate group=”60″]Ireland got off to the worst possible start when Faas Wilkes fired the Dutch ahead in the second minute and Andre Roosenburg doubled the lead in the 11th minute.
Brian O’Kelly pulled one back in the second half, but Wilkes’ second of the night showed the Irish team the exit door.
McLaughlin, who was studying medicine at UCD at the time, was described in the report as having ‘clever dribbling and shrewd passing.’
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