1955 FRANKFURT SELECT X1 v IRELAND Friendly

[blueshearer]

Hi Everyone
This item is listed at this weeks Sportingold auction. Could anyone let me know the Ireland line-up that played in the game

Many thanks

Bernie

[Fishy]

Bernie,
If you drop Chris Williams a line at Sportingold he will tell you. may be easier if you had a particular player in mind......
Ian

[garyspain]

It is actually an Inter League team.

So players from the League of Ireland clubs. We list it as Hessen League v League of Ireland.

There should be no Blackburn interest but happy to confirm the lineup.

[garyspain]

Frankfurt XI or Hessen League won 7-2. Jack Fitzgerald and Gannon scoring for the League of Ireland.

Team O'Callaghan (Shamrock Rovers), Noonan (Drumcondra) , Casey (Waterford) Gannon (Shelbourne) Keogh (Shamrock Rovers) Nolan (Shamrock Rovers) D. Fitzgerald & J. Fitzgerland (both Waterford), Gibbons( St Pats), McIlvenny (Waterford) Horgan (Cork Athletic).

They played in Kassel 5 days later and it was 5-0 to the Hessen League.

Although we class both games as Hessen League v League of Ireland they were separate teams.

[seand]

Cheers Gary, same Irish line-up in both games?

[garyspain]

Crawford (St Pats) for Noonan and Glynn (Drumcondra) for Gibbons in the 2nd game.

A 4 page issue was done for the 2nd game.

[blueshearer]

Thanks for all the responses, very helpful as always

[Sir Moses Hill]

Chelmer Programmes has the following item in their current catalogue: IRISH LEAGUE v Hesse F A 1956(r/s) £8.

[garyspain]

Sir Moses Hill wrote:

Chelmer Programmes has the following item in their current catalogue: IRISH LEAGUE v Hesse F A 1956(r/s) £8.

That is obviously the League of Ireland and most likely for the game in Dublin which is priced about right if not a little expensive.

[Sir Moses Hill]

Yes, clearly the LOI.

So two games were played in Germany in 1955 and a return game in Dublin in 1956. What was the link with Hesse/Frankfurt?

The Irish League representative side has played some weird and wonderful opponents down through the years. Aside from the obvious games against the Football League, Scottish League, Welsh League and League of Ireland, there have also been games against Canada, Everton, Football Conference, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Hibernian, Italian Semi-Pro League, Kilmarnock, Liverpool, Manchester United, OFK Belgrade, Penn-Jersey Spirit, Ruch Chorzow, United States of America, and Western Command (British Army).

[garyspain]

2 games in Dublin at least v Hessen League.

53/4 2/5/54 won 1-0
55/6 12/2/56 won 4-1.

I don't know the connection.

[HibeeJibee]

League of Ireland hosted the Hessen League on St Patricks Day 1951 but it was billed as 'the German League'. Maybe that made things a bit better when the visitors thrashed them 7-0! All the visiting players came from 2 clubs, FSV Frankfurt and OFC Offenbach.

Normally the LofI hosted the Irish League on St Patrick's Day - the return in Belfast following on Easter Monday - but not that season. Perhaps they got the Hessens over after the Northern Irish declined to play or perhaps they cancelled the Ulstermen to play the Hessens.


They returned to Dublin on the May Day weekend in 1954, in a match for the 'An Tostal' festival. This time a third club HSV Hessen Kassel also had some representation and the Irishmen won 1-0.

LofI made a return visit of 2 games in May 1955 as noted above.

Back to Dublin in February 1956, LofI won 4-1. Although maybe just part of what was becoming an annual fixture - it seems to have coincided with the unveiling of a statue from the German people to the Irish people that features on the programme cover, marking a post-war orphans scheme:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Shamrock


However the only subsequent fixture was again in Dublin - on St Patrick's Day 1960, LofI winning 5-2.


Frankfurt XI also played in the inaugural Fairs Cup.