The Irishman who saved Barcelona

chillian17

Interesting article that my friend wrote earlier on Patrick O'Connell, the first Irishman to play for and then captain Manchester United, before becoming manager of Barcelona and saving them from extinction.
Article here.
I just thought it was an interesting that people mightn't be familiar with, thought I'd share it!

markie29

Very good read...thanks for sharing.....enjoyed the match fixing story

Redzer7

chillian17 wrote: »

Interesting article that my friend wrote earlier on Patrick O'Connell, the first Irishman to play for and then captain Manchester United, before becoming manager of Barcelona and saving them from extinction.
Article here.
I just thought it was an interesting that people mightn't be familiar with, thought I'd share it!

A few typos, but a very interesting read, thanks

Turtwig

Goal.com actually timed this perfectly for St. Patricks day. Very interesting read.

chillian17

Jernal wrote: »

Goal.com actually timed this perfectly for St. Patricks day. Very interesting read.

Ha, nicely played on their part.

Where To

I must be missing something.

How did he 'save' Barcelona exactly?

Jesus Shaves

Great read

Oat23

Remembered this thread and thought I'd bump it for this.

TG4 have made a documentary about Patrick O'Connell and it will air tonight at 21.30.

Paddy Don Patricio (OS)
21:30
(1/1) Paddy Don Patricio, real name Patrick O Connell, the Dublin man history almost forgot. A former Belfast Celtic player, who later captained Man Utd during the first world war, his career culminated in him saving FC Barcelona from extinction as it's club manager during the Spanish Civil War.

Kerrydude1981

Oatesy23 wrote: »

Remembered this thread and thought I'd bump it for this.

TG4 have made a documentary about Patrick O'Connell and it will air tonight at 21.30.

Heard the ads on the radio about this,going to be an interesting watch

losthorizon

I dont know how much boards football posters follows politics in Spain but in Catalonia things are changing fast at the moment. There is a growing movement for independence. It might not be so far fetched that Barcelona might end up in a Catalonian league in the years ahead. A giant among minnows. And, when that happens the giant gets smaller.

dreamers75

losthorizon wrote: »

I dont know how much boards football posters follows politics in Spain but in Catalonia things are changing fast at the moment. There is a growing movement for independence. It might not be so far fetched that Barcelona might end up in a Catalonian league in the years ahead. A giant among minnows. And, when that happens the giant gets smaller.

Would explain them being at the forefront of a Euro Super League.

Kerrydude1981

Watched the documentary,it was very well done and well worth watching,Im surprised there hasn't been more about Patrick O Connell,captained Utd and Ireland,wins La Liga with Betis and then manages Barca kept them going during the Civil War,them achievements alone must put him up there with the best this country has produced in football

Pro. F

Where To wrote: »

I must be missing something.

How did he 'save' Barcelona exactly?

Yeah I don't get it either. It's a cool story and he deserves respect for impressive achievements. But I don't understand the claim that he saved Barca.

Kerrydude1981

When he took the Barca team to America during the Civil War,that tour managed to raise $5k for the club,this money was put into a Swiss bank so Franco's regime couldn't confiscate it,this money was then used to get the club back on track when the war ended.

Pro. F

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

When he took the Barca team to America during the Civil War,that tour managed to raise $5k for the club,this money was put into a Swiss bank so Franco's regime couldn't confiscate it,this money was then used to get the club back on track when the war ended.

But from the article it doesn't seem like he was the one who particularly made that tour happen. He just happened to be the manager at the time they went on the tour.

Hazys

Pro. F wrote: »

But from the article it doesn't seem like he was the one who particularly made that tour happen. He just happened to be the manager at the time they went on the tour.

Thats what i took from it also.

Maybe he was the one who came up with the idea of the trip or was the driving force behind them going but the article doesnt say that.

Mr.Nice Guy

The documentary was excellent. I respect him for going back to the club even after they told him they'd understand if he didn't want to return to the country with what was going on. He said he signed a contract and he wanted to honour it. How times have changed in football, eh?

Lumbo

Does anyone know if this is on the TG4 player? I've had a look but can't figure it out.

ni thuigim me

Kerrydude1981

Lumbo wrote: »

Does anyone know if this is on the TG4 player? I've had a look but can't figure it out.

ni thuigim me

Ya just click on Documentaries on the player home page.

UpTheSlashers

Lumbo wrote: »

Does anyone know if this is on the TG4 player? I've had a look but can't figure it out.

ni thuigim me

http://www.tg4.ie/en/tg4-player/tg4-player.html

Under "Documentaries".

Lumbo

Thanks lads.

Mr.Nice Guy

I thought this thread was worth a bump as there's a great article in today's Guardian about the efforts made to remember Patrick O'Connell.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/may/07/patrick-oconnell-barcelona-real-betis-campaign-film-recognition

A lot of good things have come from the campaign. Fair play to those involved. Love the anecdote about Roy Keane hearing the story.

Kingdom Bhoy

https://shows.acast.com/celtic-soul-podcast/episodes/celtic-soul-podcast-episode-66-fergus-dowd

Excellent interview about Patrick.

Also updates on the disgraceful way Debenhams workers have been treated in Ireland.

Kingdom Bhoy

Part two of the interview and excellent listen.

https://shows.acast.com/celtic-soul-podcast/episodes/celtic-soul-podcast-episode-67-fergus-dowd-part-2