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We discover the real start date of Moville Celtic FC

Posted Monday, August 13, 2007

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Moville Celtic Start Date

About a year ago I got a visit to my house from representatives of Moville Celtic.

They came down as my father, Gerry Snr, had diaries written by his Uncle Joey McLaughlin which showed the start date of Moville Celtic.

Centenary Year

It was thought to be 1907 so they wanted to be able to celebrate their centenary year.

My father was over in Scotland so I called him to find out and he said it was 1904.

This meant that they had missed their anniversary year by two years.

They would have a further 98 year wait before they could celebrate another centenary.

Club Crest

So they went ahead and printed the club crest with 1904 on it.

However, recently I spoke to my father and he said that he thought it was 1907 - which meant that this was their anniversary year and they didn't even know it.

I asked him if he could bring across the diaries so I could verify it for myself.

Diaries Arrived

I told representatives of Moville Celtci that the diaries were over and that I would be consulting them and coming up with the actual date saying I thought it was 1907 and not 1904.

"That'll be great" they said "except that we've printed everything and had the crest made with 1904 on it".

So today my father got the diary out and we now know the real date.

Real Start Date

There is an entry in the diary which states "23rd 12-1909 - Football Team Started".

It even gives the team for the first game - which they lost 4-3 to Carndonagh.

It took place on the 1/1/1910 so that might be a rival date for when the club started.

First Ever Moville Team

The team was:-

Packie Smith
Joe McLaughlin (my great uncle and writer of the diaries), Ned Harold
Bernard (Barney) Harold, Dan Harvey, Dan McCartney
Joe McKinney, Jim Larkin, William McDaid,
Bernard Smith, John Smith

There's a lot of well known Moville surnames in that team.

2nd Team

Their team for thr 2nd game was as follows and involves my Grandfather Mick McLaughlin. It was:-

Packie Smith
Ned Harold, Dan Harvey
William Glacken, Willie Hunter, Bernard Harold,
Dan Moore, Pat Logue, Mick McLaughlin
Joe McLaughlin, Dan McCartney

Advanced Formation

The first thing to notice is the formation which was 2-3-3-2, with twin strikers, as opposed to the 2-3-5 which was common in those days.

Another thing to notice is how Joey McLaughlin started the first game at full back and the second as a striker.

This may have been an earlier version of the Total Football that the Ajax and Dutch teams introduced (or thought they had) in the 1980s.

Rotation System

Another point to notice is the Rotation System - which was supposed to have started in the last 5 years or so and which all the top managers like Rafa Benitez and Mourinho are now using.

There were 7 changes from the Carndonagh game and only the goalkeeper played in the same position.

Football Rooms Opened

Another diary entry shows that the Football Rooms were opened on 11-1-1910.

It is not known where they were but the back of McNamara's is my father's educated guess.

Different Name

It also must be pointed out that they weren't called Moville Celtic in the beginning but Moville something else and metamorphosed into Moville Celtic at a later date.

However, it is the same team.

Upside and Downside

On the down side for the Moville Celtic officials and team they now have a crest that is redundant.

On the up side they can look forward to their centenary celebrations in two years time.

Sorry guys about the original 'bum steer' but I think we now have the actual date nailed down and the celebrations (and crest change) can begin.

None of the Moville Celtic officals or players know this yet as my father has just extracted it from the diaries so I'd better tell them before they 'read about it in the press first' as they say.