Rossin Rovers and their part in a sporting revolution

It was, remembers Noel Walsh with impressive crystal-clear clarity, a Sunday. The 26th August, 1984 to be exact. The day the good ship Rossin Rovers FC set out on its maiden voyage.

A group of young men gathered together in Rossin, not far from Slane. They squeezed into a few cars driven by some of the pioneering players and made the trip up to Dunshaughlin to take on Archers on their patch. It was Rovers' first outing; their first tentative step into the unforgiving world of competitive football.

"It was a Shield game I remember and we drew 4-4," recalls Walsh. "I was the Rossin goalkeeper and they got a penalty in stoppage time. We were winning 4-3. I got my hands to the ball from the penalty kick, saved the shot, but unfortunately for me and the team Archers scored from the rebound and it finished 4-4."

It would have been understandable if the Rovers didn't feel a twinge of disappointment at not winning but at least they were up and running. They were on their way.

Forty years later they are still running; still chasing glory on the playing fields of Meath and beyond and in June they will hold an anniversary dinner dance in the Ardboyne Hotel - and the hope is the team that played that day against the Archers can once more get back together again. The Rovers united.

It was a Friday morning when the Meath Chronicle called to have a brief chat with Noel about his early days with Rossin Rovers. He did well to spare some of his precious time because he was gearing up for the start of the new League of Ireland season. That same night his employers Dundalk were due to play another Rovers who have made their mark in Irish soccer - Shamrock Rovers.

This is his 13th year as Dundalk's kitman. It's a job that brings with it plenty of demands especially once the soccer season gets going, but lots of benefits also. He has visited many countries in Europe during his time in the job and as the full-time kitman it means he's in the relatively privileged position of being able to say he makes his living in the beautiful game.

It was Walsh's passion for football that kicked off the series of events that led to the formation of Rossin four decades ago now. "A group of us from the area used to enter a team in a soccer tournament that was played on the beach in Laytown," he recalls warming to the subject and tapping into his prodigious memory.

"We'd go over on an evening and play three games and most years we'd lose all three. In 1984, however, we went out and qualified from our group. We got to the quarter-final, where we lost to the Army. That's what put the seed in my head, we thought we were footballers then."

The local soccer league was running for a few years and Walsh felt it was time to take things further. He consulted another passionate soccer man from the area whose opinion he trusted - Frank Taaffe. "I worked in the local pub (Dolly Mitchell's) and Frank who was on his way home from work called in and I said to him: 'will we start a team Frank?'

"If he said no that was it, we wouldn't have gone ahead but he said: 'Yeah, why not' and that's how it all started." In such modest beginnings can big projects evolve.

Frank Taaffe also remembers the moment. "The soccer league in Meath was not long started and we said if we could get enough players we would enter a team. We had a meeting up in the hall. Noel was friends with Gerry Gorman so we contacted Gerry and he gave us all the advice we needed to set up a club."

The name 'Rossin Rovers' had a certain ring about it so they went with that. It was also decided the colours would be red and black (had that something to do with a certain Man U?!)

"We were a rural club but it was all local players who turned out for us," recalls Taaffe now with a note of pride. Rovers were among many clubs that sprouted and blossomed all over rural Meath at the time in what was a genuine sporting revolution.

FRANK TAAFFE PARK

Sometime, somewhere the story might be written of the essential role farmers and landowners played in the spread of soccer in rural Ireland in the 1970s and '80s. Without their contribution many clubs simply wouldn't exist. They were benefactors who played as crucial roles in many clubs' early days. As crucial as any prolific striker or stalwart defender or budding Alex Ferguson or Jurgen Klopp.

Wembley they weren't but the pitches at least were local theatre of dreams where players could express themselves. Places the host club's players became familiar with and could call home.

Rossin's land benefactor was local farmer Paddy Halpin. Both Noel Walsh and Frank Taaffe pay tribute to him and the crucial role he played. "Paddy gave us a pitch in a field. It was a huge field and the best bit of ground was in the middle of the field," added Noel. "Frank and myself and a few other lads went up with lawnmowers and that's how we cut out a pitch for the first time.

"Paddy had 40 or 50 bullocks in the field so the pitch had to be cleared of cow dung before games but, on the positive side, we could never kick the ball into a hedge because the field was so big. We eventually got an electric fence we could put around the pitch."

Another crucial role was played by local publican Lev Mitchell who sponsored Rovers' first set of red and black jerseys. The club's first match ball was sponsored by another businessman, Billy MacMonahan.

The club played in Halpin's field until 1999. Later they moved to nearby Millifont before moving back to Rossin where they are now based. In 2019 during the FAI Festival of Football the home pitch was named the Frank Taaffe Park in recognition of the work the self-same Frank has put into the club over the years. The same day another great clubman, Brendan Reid, was also recognised for his contribution.

The seasons have rolled along so quickly. There were some good days for the Rovers such as in 2005 when the Fitzsimons Cup was won with Rovers defeating Bellurgan 3-0 in the final, with goals from Eoin Craven, Fergus Barnett and Declan Mullen. There were plenty of bad ones too, when it was a real struggle to field a team. Somehow they always managed.

ROSSIN ACADEMY

These days Rossin Rovers have a bustling underage sector that includes around 100 youngsters. "We've got teams from four-year olds up to 12 or 13," added PRO and Head of the Underage sector Andy McGuinniety, a Scotsman who now lives in the area.

"Now we've got a men's senior team, women's senior team and for the first time ever we've have an all-girls underage team starting off at u-8 level. That's a big step for the club, first time for the club to have an all-girls underage team and we're hope to develop that side of things, which will then be the natural pathway into the women's team."

As always there are challenges faced by a rural club such as Rossin Rovers. "I suppose the biggest problem would be getting players in, we are such a rural club, we are competing with other clubs, especially the established clubs in Drogheda, clubs like Albion and obviously Slane Wanderers are beside us," adds McGuinniety.

"It can be difficult also to get volunteers to get involved, that's a big struggle especially as the underage sector continues to grow, that's a particular problem for the club. The coaches we have are first class, very committed, but we would like to see more."

The work of those involved was recognised when Rovers earned the FAI Club Mark, an award based on best practice in governance, management and administration. The award says a lot.

Whatever way you look at the modern Rossin Rovers it's all a long way from the early days, particularly that Sunday back in 1984 when a small group of pioneering players set out on their trip to Dunshaughlin for that game with Archers.

They may not have known it at the time but they were writing the opening chapters of a story, sometimes dramatic story, that is still unfolding.