“Jim Crowley, the great Jim Crowley, has died.”
He was the most modest of men. He was the grand master of keeping his achievements under a thick, heavy carpet.
He carried his deeds as lightly as a feather. He had wisdom for the ages.
Mickey Whelan always remembered Jim’s advice. Mickey had just joined the Dublin squad.
Jim told him that football is one thing, but life is another. “Don’t let football consume you. Always keep your friends.”
Jim had more friends than he could count. And more admirers than he’d ever know.
No doubt, he was the best of company wherever the road took him.
He worked for the Dublin City Council. “It was known as The Corpo back then,” he quipped.
He’d do his bit of shopping in the local SuperValu. Chatting to all-comers. Without a whisper of his deeds. The locals not realising a legend was in their midst.
A few years ago, Jim shared his memories for a piece on the Decades of the Dubs series for the Herald.
He was at home in Santry, not far from The Comet. The sun was high in the summer sky.
He answered the front door. The firmest of handshakes. Tall and strong. The perfect stature for a centre-half-back.
He was welcoming. Courteous. Friendly. Easy to talk to.
He sat in the front room beside the window and rolled back the years.
The term ‘Gentleman Jim’ rested comfortably on his broad shoulders.
It was his son, Conor, who had arranged the meeting. Jim passed on his love of football, and sport, to his family.
Jim was also an accomplished golfer at Royal Dublin. He never mentioned that.
Conor later sent on a film of Dublin in All-Ireland finals. It captured the wonder of those times when Jim and his teammates were superstars of the city but happily walked among the fans on those magical September Sundays.
The footage shows Dublin supporters marching to Croke Park from Marino and Fairview to the 1958 All-Ireland Football final, led by two horses, clad in blue, drawing a carriage containing fans. Many others were on their bicycles.
“We cycled everywhere in those days,” Jim recalled.
Some people crossed the waters of the canal in an effort to beat the huge queue in the passageway outside the turnstiles.
There were spectators on the roof of the stands. There were the old sideline seats.
The ground was absolutely jammed. There was swaying on the Canal End, like the Kop at Anfield.
The President of Ireland, Sean T O’Kelly, arrived. He greeted the Bishop of Derry, Rev Dr Farren.
The good Bishop threw in the ball. Kevin Heffernan, in his eagerness to win possession, jumped towards the ball and almost knocked down the Bishop!
The game had to be restarted. “The Bishop will have to improve his foot-work,” grinned Kevin.
Future Irish manager Martin O’Neill was at the match. His brother, Leo, came on as a substitute for Derry. It was Derry’s first appearance in the All-Ireland final.
Tony Hanahoe was also in attendance. “Jim McKeever, the Derry captain, was a fabulous footballer. He was running the show from the middle of the pitch,” judged Tony.
Dublin needed to do something to curb his influence. Kevin Heffernan spoke about the first time he had met Lar Foley.
“The Dublin team were training at O’Toole Park. Lar had just been called onto the Dublin senior squad.
“A ball came between us. I said to myself I’ll see what this fella is made of. I went in to give him a shoulder.
“Suddenly, I felt this arm, this huge arm, holding me off. I couldn’t move!
“In the dressing room after the training, Lar was leading all the banter. It was his first time training with us. He was only a young fella and yet here he was acting like he had been there for 15 years!
“He was unbelievable. An extraordinary guy.”
Des Ferguson agreed: “Lar was like a train. He could go all day. Moving him to midfield changed the tide in that ’58 final.”
It was Des who passed to Paddy Farnan for Dublin’s first goal. Johnny Joyce added a second.
Johnny worked in Donnycarney Church beside Parnell Park. He once scored six goals and three points for Dublin in a Leinster Senior Championship quarter-final against Longford in 1960 at Cusack Park, Mullingar.
But in the ’58 All-Ireland semi-final, Johnny was about to be taken off. Dublin trailed Galway by five points with ten minutes to go.
One of the selectors, Cyril Freaney, was a Vincent’s man and a brother of centre half-forward, Ollie.
Cyril didn’t agree with the decision to take Joyce off. The noise of the crowd made it impossible to get messages to the players. Cyril was told to walk around the pitch to tell him.
He was in no hurry to do so. Taking ‘baby steps.’ Hoping for something to change, or delaying the inevitable.
Suddenly, Johnny scored a goal. And then he scored a second. “I wasn’t going to be taken off then,” laughed Johnny, many years later.
Dublin won by a point. A last-minute 14-yard free from the incomparable Ollie Freaney.
Seán Purcell was playing that day, one of Jim Crowley’s favourite footballers.
“As Ollie went up to take that free, Seán put his head on my shoulder. He couldn’t look,” revealed Jim.
Jim had a chuckle regarding his pre-match preparation.
“I was a little concerned coming into the final because I had an injury and I hadn’t been training fully.
“The night before the game, I was walking my dog around 11pm. A fella saw me and shouted. “Hey Jim, you should be at home in your bed.”
The next day he got the bus to Croke Park, with his gear bag over his shoulder.
He mused how different it was from the modern era when the team bus drives right up to the dressing-room door.
There was no such comfort either for Dublin forward Paddy Farnan on that All-Ireland final day.
“He was delayed arriving at Croke Park,” explained Jim. “The crowd had built up.
“When he eventually got to the stile, he told the gateman who he was. The gateman didn’t believe him. “Go away out of that,” he was told.
“Luckily, somebody recognised him, and he was let in. It was just as well because he scored that vital first goal for us!”
Derry played into the Canal End in the first half. Their very first attack was foiled by Jim.
Later on, he helped to prevent a likely goal. Paddy O’Flaherty made a superb save, blocking out the shot.
And Jim and Cathal O’Leary swiftly arrived to sweep away the leaves.
Jim married Cathal’s sister, Mary.
Dublin’s win saw Sam arrive in the capital for the first time in 16 years. There was a massive pitch invasion.
Dublin had lost the ’55 final to Kerry. The defeat stung like a wasp.
The one consolation was that John Kerry O’Donnell invited the Dublin team to New York.
It was Jim’s first time returning to New York. He was born there around the time of the Wall Street Crash.
When he was four, the family moved to Dublin. He’d win ten Dublin Senior Football Championship titles with St Vincent’s.
He was one of the 14 Vincent’s men that played on the Dublin team who beat Cavan in the 1953 National League final. Tony O’Grady of the Air Corps was in goal.
Jim outlined how strong Dublin football was back then. “We played Seán McDermott’s in a county final and they had three Railway Cup players on the bench!”
He delighted in the modern success of the Dubs. Tommy Drumm was a neighbour and friend.
“He arranged a gathering of all the players that wore the number 6 jersey for Dublin,” stated Jim.
“Tommy then organised another event. It was at the Merrion Hotel. John Costello collected me.
“When I walked in, all my family were there. I was presented with a framed Dublin number 6 jersey.
“I was the guest of honour. I couldn’t believe it.”
Jim Crowley, forever a VIP for St Vincent’s and Dublin.
