IRELAND’S MATCH against the Czech Republic on Thursday is the country’s biggest game for a long time.
And 20 years ago, the Boys in Green faced another high-stakes fixture against the Czechs.
Back then, the team were under pressure of a different sort.
They had just suffered a humiliating 5-2 defeat away to Cyprus. Steve Staunton’s reign as manager, as well as the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, was in danger of ending when it had barely begun.
While it is a largely experienced squad, Heimir Hallgrímsson could potentially hand international debuts to Harvey Vale, James Abankwah, Bosun Lawal and (in the unlikely event of a Caoimhín Kelleher injury) Josh Keeley tomorrow.
Back in 2006, Steve Staunton’s squad were depleted due to injuries, meaning ahead of the vital qualifier, the embattled manager handed first competitive starts to four players: Wayne Henderson, Jonathan Douglas, Stephen Kelly and Paul McShane.
With the team’s inexperience, coupled with the disastrous Cyprus result, some feared that Ireland may be on the end of a second successive embarrassing result.
Instead, the side rallied, earning a 1-1 draw against a team that featured Premier League stars Petr Cech and Milan Baroš.
“To play any game like that was always special. I think it was a couple of minutes into the game, maybe I could have scored. It was a good save by Cech,” Douglas tells The 42.
“Lansdowne Road was rocking that night. And the pressure was on. We had a couple of poor performances beforehand.”
“On reflection, it was probably the highlight of my career,” adds Henderson. “That moment, at that age, getting in and getting an opportunity in a qualifier like that, with a group of players like that.
“And Stan was somebody who had been at Villa when I was there as a kid as well. So I’d known Stan through that period.”
Neither Douglas nor Henderson had long international careers. They retired with eight and six caps respectively — a reminder that playing at such heights can be fleeting, and for some of those involved in Prague this week, it might be as good as it gets at international level.
For a goalkeeper in particular, coming in for such a big game is a tough ask. Shay Given was unavailable, so Paddy Kenny played in the Cyprus debacle. The latter sustained an injury, paving the way for a 23-year-old Henderson to get the nod in the ensuing fixture.
“I honestly sat up thinking about him that night, the goalkeeping union never leaves you,” the former Ireland international says.
Advertisement
Fortunately, Henderson had no such setbacks on his debut and didn’t have too much to do bar a couple of early saves, as the Irish defence proved considerably more solid than it had been in Nicosia four days previously.
And he was relatively unaffected by the magnitude of the occasion.
“It’s funny, the bigger the game, the less nervous I was. It was really strange. I was just so excited because all the hard work that had gone in up to that point, with different coaches, for some reason, it didn’t feel as nerve-wracking as it probably should have.”
Jonathan Douglas of Ireland and Samuel Ricketts of Wales during the first-ever international soccer match at Croke Park. Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO
Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO / INPHO
It was an equally big moment for Douglas, who was 24 at the time and playing in the Championship with Leeds.
He was thrust into the starting XI with the more experienced Lee Carsley, who had made himself unavailable at international level for the previous two years but returned for the Czech match. It was a big change from the previous game when Stephen Ireland and Kevin Kilbane had been the midfield pair.
“I was always nervous anyway, before any game, it didn’t really matter what it was,” he says. “I think nerves are good, once you get your first touch of the ball out of the way, once the adrenaline really kicks in, then you soon really forget about it.”
While the Czech match was the pinnacle of Henderson’s career, for Douglas, it was eclipsed by the 1-0 victory over Wales a couple of months later — Ireland’s first-ever fixture at Croke Park.
“A soccer game played in a Gaelic ground for the first time in over 100 years. There were over 70,000 people at it. And, you know, I’m a Clones man, Monaghan, big GAA head, so I didn’t expect to be playing at Croke Park, with a soccer team, when I was growing up.”
Ireland got their qualification campaign back on track following the morale boost against the Czechs, winning their next four qualifiers.
But it unravelled thereafter, with a loss in the reverse fixture to the Czechs and a draw at home against the Cypriots among the low points.
That sequence of results cost Staunton his job, but Douglas, who he had previously known from their time working together at Leeds, feels the former Liverpool star was harshly treated.
“He’s a guy that I really respect, and I still respect him,” he says. “I [still] bump into him now and again. I was at a Liverpool game there last year, and I saw him there, and I actually bumped into him at the Leopardstown racecourse one day as well.
“I think a lot of people look back at it now and think he did get a raw deal, especially for somebody with the background he has playing-wise, playing at World Cups for Ireland. And he’d probably say that himself.
“Some of the stuff that was said about him and reported on, I think, was terrible.”
Henderson agrees: “It felt like there was a real change in the way things have been reported at that point. I remember him being quite upset, because somebody turned up at one of his family’s houses at some point, some sort of reporter, it just felt like it had gone in a direction that it had never gone before back home.”
Steve Staunton was manager during a difficult period for the Irish team. Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
The Czech game was a special moment not just for Henderson but for his family of goalkeepers. His late father, Paddy, played for Shamrock Rovers, while brothers David and Stephen had lengthy League of Ireland careers, and nephew Stephen represented several clubs in England, including Portsmouth, Charlton Athletic and Nottingham Forest. However, he was the only one of the contingent to win senior Ireland caps.
“Whether I was the most talented out of us all, I don’t know, because the others were very good as well. And I had the benefit of their experience coaching me, and my dad as well. The three of them were just so heavily involved with me growing up. And I just don’t think I had any other choice than to be a goalkeeper. To be quite honest with you, I’m fairly handy outfield, but you want to follow in your dad’s and your brothers’ footsteps. So it just felt natural for me to go in goal.”
Henderson’s next competitive appearance for his country was not as assured or memorable.
Ireland travelled to San Marino and took the lead in the 49th minute, with Kilbane on target.
However, a defensive mix-up involving Henderson and Richard Dunne led to the hosts scoring a shock equaliser in the dying minutes.
It took a Stephen Ireland goal five minutes into stoppage time to spare their blushes.
“That was a real crescendo, I think, obviously, for Stan as well, I seem to remember, we turned up really early in the stadium where the game was played. And it was an absolutely shocking stadium.
“You talk about pressure, and it was just a totally different feeling about that game for some reason. Whether it was just the way things were being reported at the time, everything just felt really sharp with the manager.
“I made an awful mistake late in the game, and thankfully, Stephen Island rescued me. But we should never have been in that position.”
Now 44, Douglas retired in 2017 after 17 years of senior football, briefly returning to action with non-league side Richmond & Kew in 2020.
He found life after playing to be a difficult transition.
“You usually have your own set routine where you’re up, and you’re going into training, going for breakfast and stuff, and all of a sudden that’s all stopped. So you have to get your head around it.”
He initially worked as an agent, but didn’t really enjoy it, and now operates as a scout for a Championship club — he would rather not say which one, as he doesn’t want the pressure of being blamed for signings if they go awry. These days, he frequently travels around Europe and also attends some League of Ireland games.
Recently, Douglas has gone back to playing GAA with Clones Junior Bs and also manages Clones Town in the Monaghan Cavan League.
“The league’s actually over, but we won one of the cups, and came second in the league.
“Nobody was going to take them… So I decided that I was back anyway, I might as well do something with my time.
“It’s good craic. I was playing with my younger brother and boys that I’ve known for years.
“So, mainly to keep fit and keep going and training and playing with the Gaelic team as well.”
Related Reads
'We will qualify for the World Cup' - Czechs bullish ahead of Ireland clash
This father-son team has brought along homemade Saint Troy Parrott candles for a Prague miracle
Do you agree with our Ireland team to face Czechia?
He holds a Uefa B coaching licence but currently has no desire to coach at a higher level, preferring the relative reliability and anonymity of scouting to the turbulent world of management.
Meanwhile, Henderson, unlike Douglas, did not have the good fortune to enjoy a long career at club level.
The goalkeeper was just 27 when Preston cancelled his contract, and he announced his retirement the following week.
Multiple unsuccessful surgeries and a recurring spinal injury had left him with little choice.
“It was wear and tear,” he says. “And I think there’s a bit of genetics in it as well. My father and my two brothers also had bad backs.
“It was devastating when that moment of realisation that it had ended had come. But I’ve got memories that will live with me forever.”
The injury left him in great pain, though the situation has improved with time.
“At my worst, I couldn’t stand up for longer than 10 minutes. So it was unbearably painful towards that point where I knew it was time to pack it in. The last operation that I had was all about getting the quality of life after football. I had accepted that the two previous operations I’ve had weren’t as successful as we had hoped.
“I didn’t have kids at the time, but I quite liked the thought of being able to pick my own kids up when I grew up, so I got a bit older, and the operation definitely gave me a quality of life back. I play a lot of tennis now, which I never thought I’d be able to do, so it’s a lot better than where I was, that’s for sure.”
Unlike many players who face similar predicaments, Henderson was well prepared for life after football, having undertaken a degree in Business Studies.
“There’s so much downtime. When I started studying, I was still playing; it had a massive impact on how I was actually playing at the time, because I was focused on other things, and really, the problem with football, it can become so insular.
“You focus so much that it’s difficult to focus, if that makes sense. Having something else to focus on really helps free you up, because so much of football, I certainly found, as a goalkeeper anyway, is done on instinct, and the sharper your mind is, the better player you are. So I would highly recommend that all players do something to take their mind away from football in a positive sense.”
Henderson’s back issues meant he felt incapable of following in his brothers’ footsteps into the world of coaching and the physical work that entails. Instead, he now operates as a football agent. Last week, he was at the Vitality Stadium. He got excited and leapt out of his seat when one of his players, Alex Scott, hit the bar in the dying stages of Bournemouth’s thrilling 2-2 draw with Man United.
“It [all] happened for a reason,” he says. “I do firmly believe that the line of work I’ve gone into these days is a direct result of the career that I had. I’ve got a hell of a lot of experience playing football, and I loved every second of it.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
'At my worst, I couldn't stand up for longer than 10 minutes'
IRELAND’S MATCH against the Czech Republic on Thursday is the country’s biggest game for a long time.
And 20 years ago, the Boys in Green faced another high-stakes fixture against the Czechs.
Back then, the team were under pressure of a different sort.
They had just suffered a humiliating 5-2 defeat away to Cyprus. Steve Staunton’s reign as manager, as well as the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, was in danger of ending when it had barely begun.
While it is a largely experienced squad, Heimir Hallgrímsson could potentially hand international debuts to Harvey Vale, James Abankwah, Bosun Lawal and (in the unlikely event of a Caoimhín Kelleher injury) Josh Keeley tomorrow.
Back in 2006, Steve Staunton’s squad were depleted due to injuries, meaning ahead of the vital qualifier, the embattled manager handed first competitive starts to four players: Wayne Henderson, Jonathan Douglas, Stephen Kelly and Paul McShane.
With the team’s inexperience, coupled with the disastrous Cyprus result, some feared that Ireland may be on the end of a second successive embarrassing result.
Instead, the side rallied, earning a 1-1 draw against a team that featured Premier League stars Petr Cech and Milan Baroš.
“To play any game like that was always special. I think it was a couple of minutes into the game, maybe I could have scored. It was a good save by Cech,” Douglas tells The 42.
“Lansdowne Road was rocking that night. And the pressure was on. We had a couple of poor performances beforehand.”
“On reflection, it was probably the highlight of my career,” adds Henderson. “That moment, at that age, getting in and getting an opportunity in a qualifier like that, with a group of players like that.
“And Stan was somebody who had been at Villa when I was there as a kid as well. So I’d known Stan through that period.”
Neither Douglas nor Henderson had long international careers. They retired with eight and six caps respectively — a reminder that playing at such heights can be fleeting, and for some of those involved in Prague this week, it might be as good as it gets at international level.
For a goalkeeper in particular, coming in for such a big game is a tough ask. Shay Given was unavailable, so Paddy Kenny played in the Cyprus debacle. The latter sustained an injury, paving the way for a 23-year-old Henderson to get the nod in the ensuing fixture.
A few weeks ago, Henderson watched in horror as Czech goalkeeper Antoine Kinsky was substituted 14 minutes into a disastrous Champions League debut with Spurs — a stark example of how badly things can go in these types of circumstances.
“I honestly sat up thinking about him that night, the goalkeeping union never leaves you,” the former Ireland international says.
Fortunately, Henderson had no such setbacks on his debut and didn’t have too much to do bar a couple of early saves, as the Irish defence proved considerably more solid than it had been in Nicosia four days previously.
And he was relatively unaffected by the magnitude of the occasion.
“It’s funny, the bigger the game, the less nervous I was. It was really strange. I was just so excited because all the hard work that had gone in up to that point, with different coaches, for some reason, it didn’t feel as nerve-wracking as it probably should have.”
It was an equally big moment for Douglas, who was 24 at the time and playing in the Championship with Leeds.
He was thrust into the starting XI with the more experienced Lee Carsley, who had made himself unavailable at international level for the previous two years but returned for the Czech match. It was a big change from the previous game when Stephen Ireland and Kevin Kilbane had been the midfield pair.
“I was always nervous anyway, before any game, it didn’t really matter what it was,” he says. “I think nerves are good, once you get your first touch of the ball out of the way, once the adrenaline really kicks in, then you soon really forget about it.”
While the Czech match was the pinnacle of Henderson’s career, for Douglas, it was eclipsed by the 1-0 victory over Wales a couple of months later — Ireland’s first-ever fixture at Croke Park.
“A soccer game played in a Gaelic ground for the first time in over 100 years. There were over 70,000 people at it. And, you know, I’m a Clones man, Monaghan, big GAA head, so I didn’t expect to be playing at Croke Park, with a soccer team, when I was growing up.”
Ireland got their qualification campaign back on track following the morale boost against the Czechs, winning their next four qualifiers.
But it unravelled thereafter, with a loss in the reverse fixture to the Czechs and a draw at home against the Cypriots among the low points.
That sequence of results cost Staunton his job, but Douglas, who he had previously known from their time working together at Leeds, feels the former Liverpool star was harshly treated.
“He’s a guy that I really respect, and I still respect him,” he says. “I [still] bump into him now and again. I was at a Liverpool game there last year, and I saw him there, and I actually bumped into him at the Leopardstown racecourse one day as well.
“I think a lot of people look back at it now and think he did get a raw deal, especially for somebody with the background he has playing-wise, playing at World Cups for Ireland. And he’d probably say that himself.
“Some of the stuff that was said about him and reported on, I think, was terrible.”
Henderson agrees: “It felt like there was a real change in the way things have been reported at that point. I remember him being quite upset, because somebody turned up at one of his family’s houses at some point, some sort of reporter, it just felt like it had gone in a direction that it had never gone before back home.”
The Czech game was a special moment not just for Henderson but for his family of goalkeepers. His late father, Paddy, played for Shamrock Rovers, while brothers David and Stephen had lengthy League of Ireland careers, and nephew Stephen represented several clubs in England, including Portsmouth, Charlton Athletic and Nottingham Forest. However, he was the only one of the contingent to win senior Ireland caps.
“Whether I was the most talented out of us all, I don’t know, because the others were very good as well. And I had the benefit of their experience coaching me, and my dad as well. The three of them were just so heavily involved with me growing up. And I just don’t think I had any other choice than to be a goalkeeper. To be quite honest with you, I’m fairly handy outfield, but you want to follow in your dad’s and your brothers’ footsteps. So it just felt natural for me to go in goal.”
Henderson’s next competitive appearance for his country was not as assured or memorable.
Ireland travelled to San Marino and took the lead in the 49th minute, with Kilbane on target.
However, a defensive mix-up involving Henderson and Richard Dunne led to the hosts scoring a shock equaliser in the dying minutes.
It took a Stephen Ireland goal five minutes into stoppage time to spare their blushes.
“That was a real crescendo, I think, obviously, for Stan as well, I seem to remember, we turned up really early in the stadium where the game was played. And it was an absolutely shocking stadium.
“You talk about pressure, and it was just a totally different feeling about that game for some reason. Whether it was just the way things were being reported at the time, everything just felt really sharp with the manager.
“I made an awful mistake late in the game, and thankfully, Stephen Island rescued me. But we should never have been in that position.”
Now 44, Douglas retired in 2017 after 17 years of senior football, briefly returning to action with non-league side Richmond & Kew in 2020.
He found life after playing to be a difficult transition.
“You usually have your own set routine where you’re up, and you’re going into training, going for breakfast and stuff, and all of a sudden that’s all stopped. So you have to get your head around it.”
He initially worked as an agent, but didn’t really enjoy it, and now operates as a scout for a Championship club — he would rather not say which one, as he doesn’t want the pressure of being blamed for signings if they go awry. These days, he frequently travels around Europe and also attends some League of Ireland games.
Recently, Douglas has gone back to playing GAA with Clones Junior Bs and also manages Clones Town in the Monaghan Cavan League.
“The league’s actually over, but we won one of the cups, and came second in the league.
“Nobody was going to take them… So I decided that I was back anyway, I might as well do something with my time.
“It’s good craic. I was playing with my younger brother and boys that I’ve known for years.
“So, mainly to keep fit and keep going and training and playing with the Gaelic team as well.”
He holds a Uefa B coaching licence but currently has no desire to coach at a higher level, preferring the relative reliability and anonymity of scouting to the turbulent world of management.
Meanwhile, Henderson, unlike Douglas, did not have the good fortune to enjoy a long career at club level.
The goalkeeper was just 27 when Preston cancelled his contract, and he announced his retirement the following week.
Multiple unsuccessful surgeries and a recurring spinal injury had left him with little choice.
“It was wear and tear,” he says. “And I think there’s a bit of genetics in it as well. My father and my two brothers also had bad backs.
“It was devastating when that moment of realisation that it had ended had come. But I’ve got memories that will live with me forever.”
The injury left him in great pain, though the situation has improved with time.
“At my worst, I couldn’t stand up for longer than 10 minutes. So it was unbearably painful towards that point where I knew it was time to pack it in. The last operation that I had was all about getting the quality of life after football. I had accepted that the two previous operations I’ve had weren’t as successful as we had hoped.
“I didn’t have kids at the time, but I quite liked the thought of being able to pick my own kids up when I grew up, so I got a bit older, and the operation definitely gave me a quality of life back. I play a lot of tennis now, which I never thought I’d be able to do, so it’s a lot better than where I was, that’s for sure.”
Unlike many players who face similar predicaments, Henderson was well prepared for life after football, having undertaken a degree in Business Studies.
“There’s so much downtime. When I started studying, I was still playing; it had a massive impact on how I was actually playing at the time, because I was focused on other things, and really, the problem with football, it can become so insular.
“You focus so much that it’s difficult to focus, if that makes sense. Having something else to focus on really helps free you up, because so much of football, I certainly found, as a goalkeeper anyway, is done on instinct, and the sharper your mind is, the better player you are. So I would highly recommend that all players do something to take their mind away from football in a positive sense.”
Henderson’s back issues meant he felt incapable of following in his brothers’ footsteps into the world of coaching and the physical work that entails. Instead, he now operates as a football agent. Last week, he was at the Vitality Stadium. He got excited and leapt out of his seat when one of his players, Alex Scott, hit the bar in the dying stages of Bournemouth’s thrilling 2-2 draw with Man United.
“It [all] happened for a reason,” he says. “I do firmly believe that the line of work I’ve gone into these days is a direct result of the career that I had. I’ve got a hell of a lot of experience playing football, and I loved every second of it.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Interview Jonathan Douglas Looking Back Soccer Czech Republic Ireland Republic Wayne Henderson