Jim McLaughlin assembled arguably the best squad witnessed at Oriel Park as their record in Europe is held in higher regard than any of the subsequent teams that donned black and white. Flanagan still speaks enthusiastically of his time with McLaughlin’s vividly wonderful performances.
“I suppose the first memory that comes to my mind was a game at Oriel when we were two down to Shamrock Rovers who featured John Giles, Ray Treacy and Eamonn Dunphy in their ranks. But
we came back to win 3-2 and I bagged the winner.” But despite the gritty determination, the Whites also saw the funnier side. “Then we played in Drogheda some time afterwards when Treacy was in charge there,” he adds. “He had signed Martin Murray and Damien Byrne among others, and we were playing them on a Thursday night. Our problem was that we
always started slowly given our involvement in Europe and again this was the case. Three matches into the season and Drogheda were ahead of us in the table probably for the first time ever. So Ray was giving it all in the press as Ray would stating that his team would establish themselves as the top team in Louth, that Dundalk’s time had passed and he had signed these great players, etc. Twenty minutes in and we were three up. The ball went out of play and Ray ran over to pick it up. Someone from the crowd shouted over to Ray, ‘Where’s your players now, Ray?’ to which Ray replied ‘At home with your wife’. Well if all havoc didn’t threaten to break out with everyone in fits of laughter at what was going on. We let the football do the talking, running out 5-2 winners.”

Living the American Dream
But Flanagan got the itch to live the American dream when he spent two Summers in the United States when he was on the books of Saint Patrick’s Athletic. He played with New York Apollo, a club that featured one Tommy McConville. “After I finished with Dundalk, I spent four seasons with Ards and Crusaders up north,” he states. “I eventually moved to America in 1991 with the intention of staying a few months, but it was 1997 or so before I returned to Ireland.” Taking a lunchtime break from running his latest soccer clinic in Orange Park, Florida, Flanagan speaks with a relaxed assuredness that the dream is now being lived in America’s Sunshine State. “It was my objective to continue in football as I could see the game getting bigger and bigger in the States,” he admits. “Although I don’t see it making a major impact at the professional level as the
sport is fifth in the pecking order here, there is a very vibrant youth football movement. We have 2,000 registered players here and there are 12 coaches which I oversee as well as everything else.” Flanagan’s family have settled comfortably with their way of life in America, with Pop fortunate to call on the assistance of his son, Kevin, at the soccer club, while his other son, Raymond, also works in the locality. The family also have a house in Atlanta, the city they initially arrived in with wife
Geraldine working for Delta Airlines while daughter Sinead concludes her studies there. He has not returned to the place of his finest footballing hours having returned to Ireland only periodically in recent years, and though a recent hip replacement slowed him down a little, promises have been made to return. “It was the late Tony O’Neill who actually diagnosed my
problem years ago and he advised me to soldier on for 15 years. He was spot on with the analysis, so I have had the change recently.” Flanagan had also intended to make the trip home near Christmas last year but a late illness forced him to cancel. That said, things have changed and Winter trips do not coincide with the Summer season option that the league recently adopted.
“The game has changed so much since I played,” he adds. “I don’t know if it has changed for the better as there is too much money at the top. Business has taken over the sport. It was amazing to watch Liverpool beat Milan, it was like a throwback game to the 1970s as you couldn’t have predicted that outcome at half-time. I also see the changes here. Synthetic surfaces are like the real thing. We are in the process of putting together a $1.5m complex with two indoor soccer pitches. I visited Cincinnati recently to look at the latest in indoor grass. It’s unbelievable stuff as you can slide on it as if it was normal grass - although the cows would tell you otherwise - and then they have this machine that can replace divots as if they were not there. Even recently the USA national team were playing in Salt Lake City where the sod was laid five days before the game was played and then the grass was cut, the game took place and the sod was then taken out!” Yes, things may change and maybe football’s soul has become the plaything of the rich and famous, but the grassroots game flourishes thanks to hardy annuals like Flanagan. With Clones accent still perfectly intact, a man who eventually got the reward on the field that his talent richly deserved can take comfort in leaving a lasting mark to a sport that remains so close to his heart and which grips
an American youth. The conversation ends as it started with football to the fore with Pop needing to get prepared as the next training clinic is about to get underway.