WHAT LINKS ZINEDINE Zidane, Bob Marley, John Giles, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Pele?
They have all played on the famous Dalymount Park pitch.
Steeped in history, Bohemians Football Club’s 114-year-old ground was the home of Irish football for a long time.
‘Dalyer’ hosted international matches in the pre-Lansdowne Road days when over 40,000 fans would cram into the stadium to watch the Boys in Green line out.
Lifelong Bohs supporter and former player Colin White has beautifully put together a new book which chronicles the history of Dalymount through a series of carefully-chosen photographs.
“When the idea was introduced to me I immediately could picture certain iconic moments,” White told The42. “From having knowledge of the history of the ground, I knew there were certain photographs I had to have.
“We had to have the image of Zidane against Bohemians in 1993 and some reference to Pele and Brazil in there.
“The 50s and 60s were arguably the glory days of the stadium as it had the biggest crowds and there was some great images and video footage from that period.
“So I was very keen to have that as a large focus of the book.”
Over the past 18 months, White gathered together thousands of images with the help of the Irish Photo Archive, the National Library of Ireland, Inpho and a number of other photographers before deciding upon which ones would make the final cut.
“If it was going to print this time next year it would have continued to evolve but obviously we had a cut-off point and I was really happy with how it turned out,” he explains.
We got 95% of the images I was chasing so you can’t get much better than that.
“Some pictures were free as a lot of photographers have luckily offered us their images. Without those people, the project wouldn’t have got off the ground.
“Whittling them down was difficult but I knew the images were strong so it was just a case of using my gut feeling.
“Even people who were involved in the ground, Bohemians or Ireland may not be aware of these images as many haven’t been seen before.
“It is a combination of iconic moments and points of history but there is are also just great photographs that may not necessarily be from a hugely-significant game.”
Apart from football, the ground also played host to a number of famous musicians over the years and White believes it could be used regularly as a venue in the future after the Dublin City’s Council’s purchase from Bohs earlier this year.
“I was also very keen to have the concerts in there and touch on the point that it is more than a football stadium as there have been many other interesting events,” he says.
We had to get Bob Marley in there as well.
“With Dublin City Council buying the ground and planning the redevelopment, I believe it could become another outdoor music venue.
“It’s so close to town so the location is ideal. I fondly remember being at the Red Hot Chilli Peppers concert back in 1993.”
And White is optimistic for the future of Dalymount after some years of uncertainty.
“Only a few years ago it was very possible that the ground could have gone altogether,” he adds. “It’s slightly regrettable that Bohemians don’t own it anymore but it’s better than not having any stadium.
“I was slightly skeptical at the start but I’ve heard some of the plans and met some of the people involved and I’ve been impressed. There is a lot of money being pumped in and there are good plans for the whole community.
“It will be more of a Dublin city stadium than just Bohemians and I think there will be other sports in there.
“The bigger picture is that it is positive and we don’t have any debts so we can get on as a football club and not have to worry about the simple things like survival.”
As an added bonus, John Giles, a man whose name is synonymous with Irish football, agreed to write the foreword for the book.
I thought about who I wanted for the introduction and my ideal person was John Giles while Liam Brady was my second choice,” says White.
“Through a contact, I got a number for him, got in touch and and nailed it down early, which was great. I love his foreward, I actually prefer it to my introduction. And to have his name attached to the book was brilliant.
“We asked him to the launch even though I wasn’t really expecting him to come but he turned up and said a few words, so that was a bit of a big deal.”
While the book will appeal to older football fans, the younger generation may also be pleasantly surprised to learn about Dalymount’s past.
“A lot of younger fans who are into the Ireland international team and soccer in general more so than the League of Ireland will have no idea about Dalymount Park,” he says.
They will have heard of it and they might know it had some sort of connection with Irish football but they probably don’t realise the scale of it.
“When you see some of the pictures, the place is absolutely packed and you can see how condensed the fans are.
“There were games with 45,000 people in there which is hard to imagine as it’s rare enough to get 5,000 people these days.
“It’s a book about the stadium and obviously Bohemians feature quite a lot throughout. But if you’re a fan of football you’ll find it interesting.”
