Dundalk won a dramatic league championship in 1962/63 to be entered into European competition for the first time. Before the first leg the Irish Independentstated: “It’s a great occasion for the this our oldest provincial club who must not underestimate the magnitude of their task.”
The first leg produced a disappointing result after a nervous performance in front of a 23,000 crowd in Dalymount Park. Zurich’s game plan involved soaking up whatever Dundalk could throw at them and then hitting back on the break. For the first 20 minutes Dundalk were on top but from one Dundalk attack Zurich cleared and their excellent left winger, Meyer, dribbled past John Murphy and sent over a cross to the back post which was headed strongly to the net by Feller. While Dundalk had plenty of possession, it was Barron who was the busier keeper for the remainder of the half. The second half was very similar to the first. Dundalk attacked from the outset but could not find any way through although Callan and Kennedy went close. Then again Zurich scored on the break. Looking suspiciously offside, Von Burg broke through the Dundalk defence and fired a low shot past Barron. In the 68th minute Zurich made it 3-0 when another piledriver from Feller was deflected past Barron by Patsy McKeown. In the end it could have been worse. Meyer missed an open goal and Von Burg hit the post. Dundalk were able to console themselves in the knowledge that they had the lions share of possession and they were by no means outclassed.
The team that night was: Barron, Rowe, Lyons, McKeown, Murphy, Dalton, McArdle, Kennedy, Callan, Hasty, Cross.
The Dundalk side reached Zurich with a party of 42 people – including 15 players, club management and supporters club members. “We have to beat them by four goals, which is a bit of a tough proposition” said Dundalk’s chairman Benny Kennedy.
Dundalk became the first Irish team to ever when a European match when they beat FC Zurich 2-1. This was quite an achievement and it’s importance was not lost on the Irish Media. The Dundalk Democrat summed it up well: “Mark the significance of this feat, because it is history making which goes to the credit of Dundalk. Let us exult in it, shout about it from the rooftops, and rub it in where it needs to be rubbed”.
The main reason for this victory was the excellent display by the Dundalk forward line with Jimmy Hasty and Francie Callan playing blinders. Dundalk’s first goal came on 30 minutes. The ball broke to Hasty in the box and his shot was blocked by a Zurich defender. From the rebound he passed to Cross who from 10 yards smashed it to the net. Dundalk were 2-0 up on 57 minutes. Jimmy Hasty won possession on the left, nutmegged a Swiss defender and, just as the keeper was coming out to claim the ball, Hasty slid in and toe poked it to the net. Dundalk looked good to level the game on aggregate but on 80 minutes Feller scored for Zurich and ended the tie. A great night for Dundalk FC and there small band of traveling support.
The team that night was the same as the first leg.
EYEWITNESS REPORTS 1963 (Interviews conducted in September 2003 at the 40th anniversary reunion).
Timmy Lyons:
“I played in the first leg but broke my arm. Leo O’Reilly was converted for the night into a centre-half. It was a significant achievement on his behalf to play so well. We had a very settled side defensively. I was, by quite some distance, the youngest player in the squad and I had six years at the club. “
John Murphy
“Zurich had white jerseys so we had to play in a local summer league team – Arsenal’s – Jerseys. I don’t know if we were overawed or what happened. We relaxed over in Zurich and started to play. Leo O’Reilly came in for Timmy at centre-half and played there as if he played there all his life.
Jimmy Hasty got a lot of sympathy because he only had one arm. He lost his arm in a timber mill in his first day of work. But he left a stump and he would use his stump to lean against you and a defender wouldn’t be able to jump against him. He scored a lot of headers using this trick! He was a brilliant chap.
I remember leaving the shoe factory at 4.30. On the bus at 5.30 and into Dalymount because we had no lights at 6.45. It turned out that Zurich had white jerseys also. Mickey Fox got us the local Arsenal teams’ kit so we had to wear the Red and White kit. I think we were overawed by the situation and we didn’t play anything like we were capable and lost 3-0. When we went to Zurich we had nothing to lose and we produced one of the best displays a Dundalk team ever produced. It was wonderful and we had a great crowd with us. I remember getting off the plane and Timmy Lyons had a broken ankle and was in a wheelchair. Gerry McCourt the trainer had a bad limp followed Timmy. Then Jimmy Hasty with one arm followed Gerry. We must have looked like we had taken a wrong turn on the way to Lourdes
Christy Barron
The key was our team spirit. We had been together for years. We understood each other and played to each others strengths. We had great heart. On many occasions we would be a goal or two down but come back and win.
Tootsie McKeown: He was as tough as nails. He was very quiet and unassuming but himself and John Murphy were the two best full backs in the league. Timmy was the baby of the team as he keeps reminding everybody. He was great in the air and could out-jump everybody. Timmy and I had a great rapport. The whole defence had a great harmony.
We played Zurich in Dublin and we didn’t play very well. I don’t know if it was nerves. It was our first European experience. Then we went off to Zurich and one of the Dublin papers asked if it was really necessary for us to make the trip. It was a dreadful day when we arrived in Zurich. We were supposed to have a training session on the pitch but we were not allowed on it because it was so wet. We had a session on a stony pitch and got soaked. We went back to the hotel for a rest and a light meal. We went back to the stadium. We got a right run around for the first 15-20 minutes but then we scored through Dermot Cross. We then played out of our socks in the 2nd half. Jimmy then made it 2-0. The Zurich players were really rattled. Dermot Cross broke through with 12/13 minutes to go and Jimmy got in the way! Jimmy hit the crossbar with his shot. We always thought that if Dermot had been able to get his shot in he would have scored. Almost from the rebound they came up the pitch and scored. We then had the better of the later stages of the game. We were delighted with ourselves in the dressing room. The Irish ambassador had come from Geneva to Zurich to watch the game and he came into the dressing room and told us that we made him feel proud to be Irish.”
