Previous Player Testimonials

In this section we will be getting an insight as to what it was like to play in the Collingwood Cup. Many have the fondest of memories and have made lifelong friends a a result. Others remember devestation as a missed penalty, and own goal or a last minute goal denied them the title.

Many famous players have lined out for the Collingwood. From Manchester United & Irish International Kevin Moran, Derby Countys Conor Sammon, TD Jim McDaid, rugby international Hugo McNeill, Tommy Drumm, Dublin’s All Ireland winning captain in 1983 and UCD's own Brian Mullins.

Collingwood Memories; Hugo McNeill

I have great memories of the Collingwood having been lucky to play in the winning Trinity team of 1979. However my rugby team mates of the same year did not see it in the same way and I nearly got lynched as the final clashed with a vital Dudley Cup fixture against UCC in Cork.

I had always loved soccer and had played it alongside rugby at school in Blackrock. I had played for UCD during the year I spent there and was fortunate both to win a Harding Cup and to tour the Far East on one of the amazing Freshmen tours organised by the late ,and genuinely very great, Dr Tony O'Neill. When I switched to Trinity I also got to play soccer and we were lucky at the time to have Liam Tuohy as coach. In addition to the serious soccer there were always the slightly dangerous fixtures of the Trevor West XI where many of the participants made Vinny Jones and Joey Barton look quite angelic.
However the Collingwood was the highlight and we went into the tournament with a sense of great expectation especially since it was played in College Park. The only problem for me was that I had picked up a knee ligament injury and also that the final of the Collingwood would clash with the rugby fixture with UCC. In the early stages of the tournament things went quite well but my knee was getting worse. I used to play centre forward and without having a great deal of talent, was reasonably big and also had good positional sense (which also covered up other deficiencies on the rugby field). The result of this combination was that I did manage to score a lot of goals. Therefore Liam Tuohy and the captain Kenny Le Gros were happy for me to play even if not fully fit. I could be put up front and even if I lost nine balls out of ten I might ni havck a goal with the tenth. However I could never have played full back at rugby as nine out of ten mistakes would have resulted in a deluge of tries conceded.

We got to the semi final against UCD which was a very close match and involved a lot of my former teammates. The lucky formula continued and as the game was deadlocked I managed to get to a ball that was crossed from the wing. Rather typically I did not get a clean connection and headed the ball into the ground. However Jim Mc Cabe, the brilliant UCD keeper of the time set himself to parry a clean header only for the ball to loop over him as it bounced in a long slow arch as he fell backwards from his crouched position.
We were now in the final and there was a wonderful buzz around the squad.I was hobbling around but was able to contribute. However when I met my rugby coach and captain Roly Meates and Donal Spring I had to tell them that there was no decision to be made as I could not possibly fulfil the fullback role in rugby. I think they were both somewhat sceptical but had not seen me on the soccer pitch. The final was against Maynooth and my knee was even worse. I contributed even less to the general play but once again at the crucial time managed to get on the scoresheet and we won 2-0.It was a great feeling.

However my rugby teammates were not so fortunate and lost narrowly to UCC in what was to prove the decisive fixture of the Dudley Cup. The mood on the train journey back was apparently grim and not helped by the report on RTE news that I had scored to win the Colllingwood. It was lovely to get together with those Collingwood teammates in 2009 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of those magical days in College Park.

COLLING WOOD CUP 100th YEAR CELEBRATIONS; Jim Lawlor

Dear All,

It is here in the middle of a frantic transfer window travelling across Europe, negotiating with players, agents and clubs in what is one of the busiest periods of the year for me. Then i get badgered by the Collingwood legend that is Terry McAuley to put down some words to celebrate this year’s 100th Collingwood Cup and i perform this task with great pleasure and gratitude for the invitation.

I had the fortune to win the Collingwood Cup twice as Manager I Coach of UUJ, in Galway against Trinity (sorry Terry) and in Cork against UCC. I also had the misery of losing to NUIG in an epic final at the bowl in Limerick. Of course we also had barren years when the finals were in UUC and UUJ when we hosted. All of the collective experiences are a treasure to me looking back and the memories are very vivid for me to this day. I have been Chief Scout at Manchester United for nine years now and have had some incredible experiences but my Collingwood memories are special and equal in a different way.

We had some very talented young players, some of them top young Irish League stars but also a complete mix of characters in our group who all gave everything they had to go through 5 games in 5 days to win the final, a physical and psychological challenge of which in football terms i have not seen the equal. I’m disappointed the format has now changed but I’m sure someone will have a good reason for it that they will be unable to convince me of.

It is however not all about the football, the social and cultural experience of heading off with your student mates for an adventure of fun and football offers a personal experience most of the students who have played in the event will never forget. Through the course of their studies many students visited cities in Ireland that they would normally never visit, even Coleraine (Sorry Tom).

One hundred years!!! Hard to believe but what a legacy and distinguished history the event has to be proud of. I got involved via the encouragement of my great mentor Prof John Sugden. He and people like the late Dr Tony O’Neill, Terry McAuley, Dennis Clarke, Kieran Dowd, Tom Stark and many others all deserve our sincere gratitude and respect. Their selfless dedication and unseen efforts have sustained and made possible this week of 100 Years Celebration that you will all now enjoy. Others must now take on the challenge for the next 100 years. My first Collingwood experience was at UCD and ironically this year’s 100th Finals will be there.

Finally to all the IUFU members, students and coaches, have a fantastic week, good luck to you

all. I know hosts UCD will put on a great tournament (and probably win it). I would dearly love to roll the clock back and be there but with the way the season has gone for us thus far I have enough challenges of my own at the moment!

Come on UUJ (aka the Poly) H! All the best.

Jim Lawlor. Chief Scout.

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Jim Lawlow with his 1996 UUJ winning side.

Dave Mahedy; Director of Sport UL

Appropriately hosted by UCD one hundred years of the Collingwood Cup triggers many great memories but still remains the one major that has eluded us in Limerick in all our guises over the last forty years since we arrived on the University Sports Circuit. Yes as the National College of Physical Education, Thomond College, NIHE Limerick and now the University of Limerick, we have graced this fantastic festival of Intervarsity Soccer with no silverware to boast about but with a lorry load of great memories and friendship to last a lifetime.

My undergraduate appearances in teams that included GAA Greats - Brian Mullins, Pat and Mick Spillane, rugby legend Tony Ward and coached by our mentor Dave Weldrick was my first introduction to this great and demanding competition. We never topped the group but we really came alive in the plate…… I know the losers competition!! But we still soldiered on to the bitter end in Coleraine, Trinity and Cork in the seventies and boy did we enjoy the experience.

Having graduated to Manager in the late eighties it was more heartache. This time we did top the group - we even got to the three finals only to lose them all, two after extra time and all to the Hanrahans and Dignam lead and ‘Doc’ Tony O’Neill managed UCD. YES ‘Unlimited Heartbreak’ a bit like the Henry Martin’s book on Limerick Hurling but we came back for more and guess what, lost another final in Belfast 1998 to St. Mary’s - Oh Man….

It’s all planned and we decided to wait until the second century of Collingwood before we dominate the competition and it all seems to be going to plan!!! So watch out you have been warned UL are on the march once the celebrations of the first hundred years have subsided.

Seriously, it’s a fantastic, unique and a very special intervarsity that we love playing in, we look forward to hosting, it will haunt us until we win it but we won’t rest until we reach the Holy Grail of varsity soccer and finally succeed in winning a Collingwood Cup.

Thomond College of Education Soccer Team 1978

Back row left to right: Dave Mahedy (Dublin); Liam Patton (Donegal); Gerry O’ Loughlan (Clare); Brian Murtagh (Westmeath); Eamonn McGinley (Limerick); [?]; [?]; [?].
Front row left to right: [?]; Jimmy Kelly (Dublin); Cal McCarthy (Dublin); Paud Herlihy (Kerry); John Halbert (Cork); Frank Noone (Mayo).

Kevin Moran – Collingwood Cup, 1975-6

I remember the semi-final more than the final. We played Queen’s and it was 1-1 after extra-time. I took a penalty for us in the shootout – I was the regular penalty taker at the time. Thankfully, it went in and we went on to win that shootout by 4-3.
We played Trinity in the final in Belfield Park. We won the game – there wasn’t much in it but the thing that stands out for me most is that Tommy Drumm – who I played in half-backline with for Dublin the next summer was playing for Trinity.
I hadn’t even met him at the time as I hadn’t play minor or Under 21 for Dublin. Within two months of that Collingwood Final we ended up as team-mates for Dublin.
That was my only year playing Collingwood cup. I was in my third year in UCD then. For my first year I had stayed playing soccer for Rangers who were based up in Bushy Park, Terenure. Then for my second year I played for Bohs.
I only went to play for UCD in my third year because they played their matches on a Saturday and it meant I could play Gaelic football for Good Counsel on the Sunday.
I thoroughly enjoyed playing for UCD in my final year because I know that by playing there under the guidance and influence of Ronnie Nolan , the UCD manager, that it led ultimately to me getting the opportunity of going to Manchester United.

Prof. Brian MacCraith; Memories of the Collingwood Cup

I started playing soccer for UCG (I still can't get used to calling it NUIG!) when I was a postgraduate physics student there in the late 70's.
It was probably a measure of my ability (or lack of!) that I was only selected to play in one Collingwood Cup -- the 1979 tournament hosted in TCD.
My abiding memories of that tournament included missing a 'sitter' against NIHE, Limerick (now UL) in the league stages of the tournament in a game which we drew.
I did score against UCC in the next game, but unfortunately they scored four! This ended our participation!

Our early exit allowed us to then enjoy the delights of Dublin from our 'luxurious' base in Barry's Hotel on Great Denmark Street.
My recollections become more vague at this point, which is probably just as well!
The great memories of Collingwood Cup are of shared experiences on and off the field with great UCG players like Mickey Gorman (brother of Tommie), Ray Benson and Andy Bonar.

Prof. Brian MacCraith,
President, Dublin City University