Long-serving Offaly soccer referee honoured in exhibition

AN exhibition looking back on a soccer referee's 50-year career with the whistle has opened in Tullamore Library.

Addressing the opening himself on Thursday evening, Tullamore man Michael Flanagan, now 75, said there were no local referees when he started out.

He had refereed many matches unofficially at first, including the Tullamore town leagues and the Paul Mitchell Memorial Tournament.

Then one Sunday morning he got a knock on the door from well known local sportsman Pat 'Bird' Keenan, and was asked to referee a soccer match in Mucklagh.

Michael protested at first, saying he was not a registered referee with the FAI, but then agreed to referee the match, on condition both teams sign papers recognising him as the referee and accepting the result.

After the game he telephoned the result into Kevin Byrne, the Dublin-based official responsible for running the Leinster Junior League, and his match report was accepted.

Michael then contacted John Stacey in Athlone, one of the country's top referees at the time, and subsequently completed the required training.

A career officiating at countless matches in the Leinster Junior League, its successor the Combined Counties League; the Offaly Schoolboys League, and its successor the Midlands Schoolboys/Girls League (MSL), followed.

“There's nothing easy about this game, no matter what people say about it. The whole thing is to try to be as best as you possibly can, as straight as you possibly can, and do it to the best of your limits,” said the O'Molloy Street native. “I've enjoyed it all immensely.”

While he acted as linesman in Leinster Senior League matches in addition to his other regular duties in adult football, he said his work with the youngsters was what he enjoyed most.

“You have to take the rough with the tumble,” he remarked. “The MSL, I was with them for 21 years, probably the best years of my life.”

He added: “You get paid for the games [but] you can forget about the money in these situations. What I found from all this was you start out with a kid at 9, the following year they're 10, 11, 12. You see them growing and not alone that, it's a privilege to be with them and to be togged out and to be out there. You're in heaven really.”

He said he always insisted on everything being done “by the book”, and when it came to filling in players' names on match cards, a basic requirement for every match, “everything has to be written in block letters”.

He also pointed out that there was often much more to his work than enforcing the rules. He spent 30 years refereeing matches at Tullamore College (the 'Tech') and the Christian Brothers school.

Many years ago, the school would not even have a dedicated soccer pitch so the goals from Tullamore soccer club's ground would have to be temporarily moved.

“Eddie Dowling was working in Colton's and he had to bring the lorry with the goalposts up from Puttaghaun down to the Tech; I had to take the time to get the young fellows to put up the goals, put up the nets myself, mark the pitch, go back home, come back down, referee the match and then the goals had to be taken down again.”

Because he didn't drive, Michael would sometimes make a 40-mile round trip by bicycle for matches.

He was still refereeing into his 60s and extended his career even further by getting one of his knees replaced before his 65th birthday.

The exhibition was the brainchild of local photographer and teacher Alex Aubin, a native of France who lives in Tullamore.

He said he first came across the referee in 2015 when he brought one of his children to a match and was told by another parent present: “Oh yeah, the referee is Michael Flanagan. He was my referee when I was young.”

Alex decided then to honour Michael's lifetime of refereeing, saying to him: “We need to give value about your career and your work.”

Speaking at the launch the Frenchman declared: “Michael is the hero, and for me, a legend of the community.”

He thanked the library for hosting the exhibition and noted that it will move to Birr Library from February 7, in recognition of Michael Flanagan's travels around the county to matches.

Alex also linked up with Vincent Hussey in a local writers' group, Wordsmiths, resulting in specially penned poems and tributes to Michael Flanagan.

Some of the lines from a poem written by group member Phil Newton were as follows: “Michael in giving his time to youth, equipped them to chase the bigger truth... For each young man who crossed his path, knows right from wrong... Michael taught young men to play, when to yield, preparing them for life's precarious field... He gave his heart to sport in every weather, creating teams that really matter... Michael, referee supreme, we thank you for filling young hearts with dreams.”

There were further contributions from writers Margaret Evans and Roseanne Tyrrell and all were well received by numerous former Tullamore soccer players present, who took the opportunity to share with each other their memories of the referee's career.

The exhibition features many photographs of Michael on the pitch; tributes from officials at different levels of soccer, including Denis Magner from Tullamore College; trophies presented to Michael; a pennant presented by the Tullamore St Patrick's Day Parade committee; a match report detailing how he once had to abandon a game; a newspaper report on how he revitalised his career after his knee replacement; a photograph of him meeting President Michael D Higgins, and much more.

Alex Aubin made an appeal for anyone with any items associated with Michael's refereeing career to contact him with a view to including them in the next exhibition.