Oct 30,2024
Fifty years ago today the Republic of Ireland stunned the USSR as they swept to a famous 3-0 win in the European Championship qualifiers.
Don Givens' hat-trick had Dalymount Park rocking with glee, and five decades on, the thrill of that victory still resonates.
The team will be honoured at the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland awards in December, with the memories still fresh and vivid for the men who made it happen.
"Having a manager who knew how to pick a team was crucial," remembers former defender Paddy Mulligan, then playing at Crystal Palace.
"Mick Meagan started it, Liam Tuohy improved it, and Johnny Giles took it to another level. We had very decent players then and Giles not only organised us, but gave us the belief that we could compete.
"I went out with Ray Treacy for the warm-up and Dalyer was jammed. I said to Ray, 'this crowd expects us to perform’. Ray took all sorts of punishment from the Russians but he kept them occupied and was the perfect foil for Don, who was a great out-and-out goalscorer."
Player/manager Giles was braced for a physical battle against the imposing USSR.
But he had no hesitation when it came to throwing in an 18-year-old Liam Brady, passing the torch to Ireland’s next great midfielder.
"I wanted Liam to come with us on our tour of South America earlier that summer but the FAI didn’t do their job," he says.
"I wasn’t going to let Liam wait any longer as I could see he was a class player. Eoin Hand missed out, but Liam was the future. He was born to play.
"Everyone was on it that day and it showed what we were capable of with proper preparation and when all our top players were available. Don was a very good player who got on a run with his goals. He got four against Turkey not long after."
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The visitors’ brilliant attacker Oleg Blokhin was one of the best players in the world at that time, but it was Brady who set the tone in Dublin, surging into the USSR half after Giles nudged the ball to him from the tip-off.
"A month before, we played a friendly with Manchester United at Old Trafford," Brady recalls.
"I got half a game beside John, and thought afterwards there was a half a chance he might pick me at Dalymount. From the tip-off, he gave me the ball which showed his faith in me, and it put me at ease.
"The first goal by Don (Givens) was described by Jimmy Magee as a beautiful goal. John played a crossfield ball to Joe Kinnear and he played in a great cross for Don to score. That day, making my Irish debut, was one of the three highs of my career, along with the 1979 FA Cup final with Arsenal and winning the Serie A for the first time with Juventus, when we beat Fiorentina."
That fine Givens header broke the deadlock on 23 minutes, and he doubled the lead seven minutes later after a long Steve Heighway throw-in caused panic. Ireland were in dreamland.
"I reacted, and took half his nose off."
"We had just gone two goals up and I went up for a corner," says Terry Mancini.
"As the ball took a while to come back from the crowd, the Russian, (Volodymyr) Kaplichny – I never forgot his name – punched me in the kidneys. I moved away to the far post. He followed me, and then did it again. This time, I reacted, and took half his nose off.
"The referee saw it and I knew I was off. Kaplichny went too as the linesman had seen what he’d done to me. I got a three-game ban, reduced to two. Sadly, I never got another cap but it was a proud moment to be part of that team, on that great day.’
The win was sealed 20 minutes from time thanks to another Givens header, and the Boys in Green could savour a remarkable result.
"Terry Conroy jokes I had so little to do that I should have given back my match fee!" laughs ex-goalkeeper Paddy Roche.
"I did have a few saves to make. When it was over, I ran off the pitch as the fans rushed on, all trying to get to Don Givens. It was only my second cap, and a far happier experience than my first, when we lost 6-1 in Austria.
"I’d been to Dalyer as a kid to see the League of Ireland beat the English League in 1963. To be there as a player 11 years later as a player for another huge win was very special."
Ireland only had one player on the bench: Terry Conroy, who was unused on the day but had a bird’s eye view of a special performance.
"Don got the goals and deservedly the glory but Ray Treacy was immense," he says.
"'Trasser' took them on physically and they were so busy trying to cope with him, it allowed Don to find gaps. Ray was a battering ram; Don the artist. They were unstoppable.
"I never forgave John for not giving me a run after we went three goals up. He said later he was saving me for the next game!"
Republic of Ireland (v USSR): Paddy Roche; Joe Kinnear, Paddy Mulligan, Terry Mancini, Jimmy Holmes; Mick Martin, John Giles, Liam Brady; Steve Heighway, Ray Treacy, Don Givens.
Substitute: Terry Conroy.
Goals: Don Givens (23, 30, 70).
