Liberty Sport

Celtic seek site

By Brendan O’Brien

Walking along Marrowbone Lane in the shadow of the Guinness brewery, it is impossible not to feel the sense of decay which permeates the streets. Disused factories and boarded windows greet the passer-by, making for an uncomfortable and eerie silence.

At the corner of James’ Avenue and Ewington Lane every Wednesday evening, the quiet is broken by the unmistakable shouts of football players. If you are from the area you may recognise the odd shout from Pat Walsh as he coaxes and cajoles his players. It is here that newly-formed Bow Lane Celtic prepare for their weekend games. It may not be a proper pitch but as Pat says, "it’s got goals and the lines are marked".

Home matches are played in Bushy Park, Templeogue, more than three miles away. The club cannot avail of the local Brickfield pitch because the quota of teams allowed to use it by the local authorities has already been filled. As well as the cost of travelling around Dublin every weekend, the club must pay the Corporation £10 for every training session held at James’ Avenue, which is a public area. Pat explains that "other pitches have the (flood) lights connected to the main road, but here the lights have to be turned on by a groundskeeper.

"The situation with facilities in the area is terrible. What we need is an all-weather pitch that can be used over and over. Normal pitches cut up too easily during the winter and then you get a backlog of fixtures."

The club are currently attempting to attract more sponsors to help pay the running costs. With their location under the brewery stacks, Guinness seemed a natural choice. The response received was not what the club expected. Pat explains, "I went to Guinness and they told me that they have a budget just for TV, things like the Rose of Tralee. I was told that there were so many local teams that they couldn’t really do anything.

I’ll give you a laugh, back in 1990, I had some of these lads in Maryland (Football Club). I went to Guinness and they told me they didn’t encourage alcohol in schoolboy teams. Well, I went back to them this time and said, ‘these lads are all men now’, but they still didn’t give us anything." "I thought Guinness would look after us, but they have an answer for everything."

Born out of a desire to play for a local Liberties club, Bow Lane was founded by Pat’s son Alan Walsh, and Peter Fenlon. They applied and were accepted for membership to the

Union of Churches League who are celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year. Once established, they asked Alan’s Dad on board as team manager. Pat was involved with schoolboy teams until a few years ago and had no hesitation in jumping back into the game.

He explains his reasons, "We’ve a good bunch of lads here. The age group we have is between 17 and 23 and we’d be hoping to keep them together for a few years. Some of the lads played for Maryland and other teams, but they all came back when they heard something was going on locally."

"Some of the lads would even work a few extra hours during the week so they could play the match on the Saturday. They all look forward to the weekend game and with things the way they are in the area, that’s a big help. As well as that the young kids who watch us train know that there is a local team they will be able to play for when they’re older."

A promising start is all very well, yet as Walsh concedes, the hard work hasn’t even started yet. "People don’t realise the costs involved. We’ve been lucky enough with backing from local small businesses, but without more help we’re facing a real uphill struggle."

When the training sessions end the local kids rush onto the pitch, grateful for the few minutes they scrounge from the lights before the groundsman turns them off. They can dream that maybe one day they will be the ones who are paying the tenner to use the pitch.