The day a group of teenagers from Castlebar made history
Soccer was popular on MacHale Road in the 1970s and games were played on the street from morning till night.
Even today, Road Rangers are spoken fondly of in Castlebar.
While only active for five years, they made a huge impact on the game of soccer in the county town and made history on Thursday, June 23, 1974, when they became the inaugural winners of the Quigley Cup after defeating Westport Crusaders 3-2 at Celtic Park. The competition has gone on to be the premier tournament for Under 18 soccer in the county.
The competition is named after Pat Quigley, the former president of the Football Association of Ireland. With a keen interest in the development of underage football, he donated a cup to the Mayo League in 1973 for an Under 18 competition.
“To my recollection, we had no Under 18 cup at the time,” recalls Pat. “I just said ‘We’ll put up a cup.’ It has stood the test of time. I’d say nearly every club in Mayo has won the Quigley Cup, including now-defunct clubs.”
Initially formed in 1969, many of Road Rangers team came from the young players living in MacHale Road and Jimmy Blake, one of the founding members of the club and a man who would later become one of the county’s top referees, recalled it as a time when "a lot of young people weren’t getting football at the time on the road". Ironically, Pat Quigley got involved with the club in 1971 as a committee member and he is not surprised by the talent that came through the street.
“It was always a hive of football, they played it on the street. They learned how to play football on the road and they were playing night, noon and morning.”
Unfortunately, the junior side of Road Rangers began to fall away in 1973 and the club decided to put their primary focus into youth football. Following the creation of the Quigley Cup, the stage was set for what turned into a memorable journey and they booked their place in the final with a win over neighbours Castlebar Celtic to set up a final clash with Westport Crusaders, who had beaten Ballina Town in the other semi-final.
Reports and photographs on the match are scarce, but a small report was carried in the on Thursday, June 27.
That Quigley Cup win was the first and only trophy for Road Rangers. The final effectively became the swansong for the club and it merged with Castlebar Celtic later that year.
“It was probably our final game that year,” recalls Philip Cresham, who played in the final. “The following season, we were all Celtic players.”
Much of that team went on to play for the all-conquering Celtic team of the 1970s and 1980s where the club won seven Mayo league titles, including a five-in-a-row, as well as three Connacht Junior Cups, but good memories remain of that Quigley Cup triumph and the continued success of the competition is down to much of the work that Pat Quigley has done.
“Every club wanted to be involved in the cup. Very few cup competitions go that length. I was only 28 at the time when I put up the cup. You can add 50 to 28 and see what you get!” quipped Pat.
Pat's idea of having a Champions League-style format for the 50th anniversary became a reality and the 18 teams involved this year were split into groups.
A shield competition was also formed for the third-placed team in each group, the Eleanor Quigley Shield, after Pat’s late wife, who passed away earlier this year.
“It was a lovely touch as far as the family is concerned,” said Pat. “For years and years, she was my backbone. She did a lot of work for the Mayo League where we used to run poker classics and bingo in the Welcome Inn.”
