The long and winding road

Football memories are a common part of sporting life and we all have our favourite memories of times past.

Whether it’s  a local final played in front of 50 spectators, or a world cup final watched by millions, the game means the same to us all and the passion is still the same wherever you are.

The only difference in the two games is the benefits to the outside football world. We had the death last week of the very talented and popular Eunan ‘Busty’ Blake in Letterkenny. He was a hero to many and his talent would probably have brought him across the channel had he been born 50 years later.

We will never know how he would have got on in the professional game, but what we do know is the impact he had on soccer in Donegal. He became a household name but kept his feet firmly on the ground when he worked for Donegal Oil for many years.

He was a local personality who inspired many players to look at soccer as an acceptable sport in a county that traditionally spawned great GAA players but not Irish internationals.

What would Busty  make of the shenanigans going on in soccer circles when we hear reports of alleged corruption in football? The game has been such a world wide target for fraudsters who see the game as a vehicle for making huge profits at the expense of the ordinary punter who just wants to see his team win every week with not too many consequences.

I think we have reached a crossroads in football, and I will be glad when football associations have a monitoring position in place. They know the danger and are aware of the damages caused when corruption takes a turn for the worse.

We will see soccer change in the years ahead, maybe for the better, but as long the betting and crooks see the opportunity to make the money from the ordinary punter we are in for a stormy season.

Coffee

On my travels this wee,k I had a coffee with my wife Mary in a coffee shop in Letterkenny on Sunday morning. I met a man called Anthony Kiernan as he left the restaurant.

We discussed how sad it was that Busty Blakehad passed away and we talked about how his legacy had lived and will live for many years as he brought soccer to masses in Donegal.

We recalled days in St Eunan’s College. Anthony was much younger than me, but we were in the school at the same time. His story was one of  promise and bad luck in football.

He played under age football for Ireland and was in the first team squad at Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, an injury suffered by Anthony in a match for Wolves ended his career in top flight soccer.

He went back to Ireland where he played some games for Finn Harps but he was never the same again. He probably would have been a star Irish player had circumstances not got in his way.

He told me how his son plays with Kildrum Tigers , my old team, and he enjoys his football.

It was a tragedy that Anthony did not get to the heights he could have achieved. It is a shame that circumstances went against him at that time.

What surprises me is that he has no role in soccer in Donegal. I am sure he has come to terms with how his short spell with a top club like Wolves came to an end. He was an example to others and it is a shame that his talents/thoughts on the game in Donegal aren’t utilised today. I think there is a place for him in the progression of soccer in Donegal.

His experience in football at the highest level would be an asset to any team and he has much to contribute to the game here.

He was destined to be a winner and his knowledge and passion shouldn’t be wasted.

Eunan 'Busty' Blake