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Leeds United: Shelbourne chief hopes for double celebration with Leeds United
White the white of Leeds United and red of Shelbourne firmly in his heart, Joe Casey felt the double whammy of hurt at both club's off-the-field struggles a few years ago acutely.
By and large, it's been a tough time to be a fan of both during a largely fraught decade, as Shels chairman Casey knows only too well.
For the north Dublin club at least, a restoration of an upwardly mobile status that they traditionally assumed was their divine right as being one of the most famous club's in the Emerald Isle doesn't look long in coming.
Shels are sitting pretty a point clear at the summit of the Football Association of Ireland's first division and look well-placed for a return to the top-flight, which they graced for many years to considerable success.
The Tolka Park outfit have won the league 13 times, while being Ireland's most successful club in Europe and their star was shining particularly brightly as the new Millennium approached, just as Leeds' famously was.
United's lustre undeniably dimmed before Shels – thanks to the excesses of the Peter Ridsdale years – with the Dubliners managing to lift five domestic titles before their own version of meltdown.
Crippling
That came in 2007 when the club lost their Premier Division license under a crippling mountain of debt, with the bulk of their established players subsequently leaving.
The fightback began last season when Shels finished in a respectable mid-table position and it's continued at apace this year as the famous club competes with the likes of UCD and Waterford United for promotion.
And how Casey will be hoping the upturn also starts to generate over at his other spiritual home in West Yorkshire, after back-to-back play-off failures prevented Leeds getting out of League One.
Casey said: "We're a point ahead in our league with a game in hand, so we're hoping we get promoted this year with a bit of luck and let's hope it's a double celebration with Leeds going up as well.
"We got relegated down to the first division in Ireland in quite similar circumstances to Leeds' fall from grace and we're climbing our way back up again. We're in a summer season and things are looking good at the moment, halfway through the season.
"Really, we shouldn't be where we are, just like Leeds shouldn't be in League One. It's a similar situation with our history and fan-base. Let's hope we get out of it this year.
"We won the Premier League just three years ago but due to financial irregularities, we were demoted down to the first division, unfortunately. It's a very long story!
"We don't really have any former Football League players in the side these days and it's mainly home-based players now. We did a few years ago, but we then had the financial difficulties and the parallels are quite similar with Leeds.”
Tolka Park, situated in the Dublin suburb of Drumcondra, has been a familiar venue for many Whites devotees, with a fair number having made the short hop over the Irish Sea to cheer on their heroes in years gone by.
The link-up and friendship between the clubs started off in the days of Howard Wilkinson at LS11.
United regularly provided a marquee summer attraction for Shels supporters during the tenure of “Sergeant Wilko”, with many Ireland-based Whites grabbing a rare opportunity to see their heroes in the flesh.
Casey unquestionably had a foot in both camps, although the most famous link between the clubs is someone more used to screaming hordes of teenagers rather than the fervent hum of a football crowd in Westlife member Nicky Byrne, who famously played between the posts in United’s FA Youth Cup winning side of 1997.
Despite the friendship, Leeds can expect no less than a searching examination, just as they did last season.
Boasting wins from matches against Galway United and Bray Wanderers, United were seeking to round off their tour with a hat-trick victory against Shels.
But they were pushed all the way by Dermot Keely’s troops, with Paul Huntington’s header at the end of the first half cancelling out Anthony Flood’s 23rd-minute strike to maintain United's unbeaten pre-season record.
The game was also notable for the debut of one Luciano Becchio.
But whatever the scoreline, rest assured that Casey will afford himself a smile or two.
He said: “It’s a kind of a labour of love for me looking after this game.
“I’ve been a Leeds season ticket holder for the last 15 or 20 years and go over regularly and usually sponsor one of the players there and I am a kit sponsor with my name in the programme.
Sponsoring
“Last season, it changed a little bit because I was sponsoring the assistant-manager (Steve Staunton) and then that changed a couple of times!
“In terms of Shelbourne, we’ve always had a fantastic relationship with the club and the fans and there’s never been an ounce of bother.
“It’s always a good party atmosphere and everyone who comes over just has a good time.
“I’ve got good links with Leeds and know a lot of the people there.
“They’ve been over for the last two or three years and they were over many times before that and they’ve played in a couple of tournaments over here.
“I think the link with Shelbourne started when Howard Wilkinson was manager. I’ve only been chairman for the past two-and-half or three years, but the link was already strong before I arrived.
“I suppose the most famous player who has played for both clubs is Nicky Byrne, from Westlife.
“He actually played in one of the pre-season friendlies against Shelbourne for Leeds, as far as I know.”
leon.wobschall@ypn.co.uk
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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