'We were seen as total underdogs but that suited us' - how Longford Town became FAI Cup kings in 2003

When Sean Prunty returns home to Longford, he is often reminded of the role he played during Longford Town’s golden era in the early to mid-2000s.

Prunty – who was born in Dublin but moved to Ballinalee at the age of 9 – joined the Red and Black in 2001 under Stephen Kenny at a time his local side were on the rise.

They won promotion to the Premier Division at the turn of the century, qualified for Europe for the first time in 2001 and had just built a new stadium on Strokestown Road.

Life was good in the Midlands.

But when it comes to the 2003 campaign and the FAI Cup final win against St Patrick’s Athletic, few achievements come close.

“Every so often my mam or dad would show me clippings of the Longford Leader and there would be pictures of us with the Cup. You just think, ‘oh my god, so much has happened since then’,” Prunty tells extratime.com.

“I probably have my kids' heads blown off at this stage telling them stories about it. My three boys are all big into football – and my eldest lad has said to me: ‘Will they be building a statue for you there at Longford Town?’ And I just go with it!

“It was a fantastic journey for not only the players but the fans too. When you meet fans now they still talk about it. It feels not so long ago, but it is. It’s great to have the memories.”

And that’s what it is all about, the memories.

“You might get some so-called mercenaries every now and then – but we had none of them...”

Following the end of the Kenny era at Longford Town, De Town flirted with relegation under Martin Lawlor during the 2001/02 campaign before Alan Mathews took over as boss to turn the club’s fortunes around again.

“There was a huge transition when Alan came in and we were very lucky with the players who arrived at the club,” Prunty explains.

“Sean Dillon, Barry Ferguson, Brian McGovern and Stephen Paisley all came in – you could name so many others.

“There were lads who came back from England with something to prove and we were very lucky because they had that appetite. We were a hard team to play against and we were lucky enough not to be fighting relegation up until the last season.”

But it was not only on the pitch where Longford were willed on from. In 2001 they suffered an agonising defeat in the FAI Cup final against a then-Roddy Collins led Bohemians – although they still qualified for Europe.

And that success helped galvanise the club off the pitch under Kenny, Martin Lawlor and then Alan Mathews.

“You've got to have your fans on side,” Sean Francis – who was Longford’s top scorer during their famous 2003 FAI Cup run – explained. “We trained in Dublin sometimes but we went to Longford as well.

“We went into the clubhouse straight after the matches before heading into town to meet up with the supporters. You didn’t want to be seen as a team coming from Dublin just to collect your money.

“It was important to build relationships. You might get some so-called mercenaries every now and then. But with the team Alan built, there were none of them there. It was important for us to go out and bond with the fans.”

“We were absolutely in stitches. Alan's face, he couldn't believe what was going on…”

However, Longford Town’s cup run was far from straightforward.

After an early scare against Tolka Rovers in the first-round, De Town just about saw off Limerick in the last-16, 2-1.

They then knocked out Waterford in the quarter-final thanks to a 3-1 victory, which set up a mouth-watering last-four showdown with Galway United.

And in that tie they had to rely on a last-gasp winner from Francis to seal their place in their first ever Lansdowne Road FAI Cup decider.

But even for Longford’s hero against Galway it was the Tolka Rovers tie – which they won 4-1 – that stood out.

“That game against Tolka Rovers… It was so hot!” Francis reflected. “Brian McGovern came in after the warm-up and he said, ‘Jesus, we've got to do something about these tops. It's too hot, can we cut the sleeves off a little bit?’

“And Alan said, ‘yeah, go on, just cut a little bit off’. Well, he cut a load of it off! I swear to God, and we were absolutely in stitches. Alan's face, he couldn't believe what was going on. It was absolutely hilarious.

“We played Limerick in the next round and then the semi-final against Galway was nice…”

“I lived in a village called Ballinalee and for them it was great to see their village being named on the TV.”

Longford qualified for the FAI Cup final on October 3rd 2003, meaning they had a near-23-day wait to play in the final.

And naturally, the excitement in Longford was at fever-pitch level.

While they had reached the FAI Cup final before, this was the first time they were going to play at Lansdowne Road – and the town bought into the excitement.

“I remember going to the cinema a couple of nights before the match with the team,” Francis revealed. “We went to see Kill Bill, if memory serves me correctly. But Alan just kept us all together for most of the week.

“There was a massive buzz about the game to be fair. The team had never been there before. Well they were in an FAI Cup final – but it was not at Lansdowne Road. It was another good chance to make history and all the talk was around that.

“We were playing good football and our crowds started to increase. We went on a really good run as well so we were building momentum.”

And for Prunty, the build-up to the final was something he was not used to. “I moved to Longford when I was nine – and I still have a Dublin accent – but I knew what it meant to the people having lived there,” he added.

“Alan put me forward for interviews that needed to be done before the final as well so I was at the forefront of it. Even in the town people were asking me questions all the time so I was caught up in it. It got to the point where I didn’t even go into the town.

“If I needed something I just sent someone else in. But it was great though for me and the club. I lived in Ballinalee and for them it was great to see their village being named on the TV.”

“We got the letter ‘H’ printed into our numbers and they signalled words like heroics, hard-work and history – we spoke about them a lot…”

But it was the meticulous preparation for the final that is still etched into the mind of Francis – almost 20 years on from the final itself.

“Alan put this little ‘H’ on the back of our numbers,” he said. “We got it printed into our numbers and they signalled words that began with ‘H’. Heroics, hard work and history – we spoke about them a lot.

“They were buzzwords. The letter H was synonymous with heroes and we said that we were going to be the heroes. It was little things like that.

“We visited Lansdowne Road the day before and we went to the dressing room and got used to the place. The preparation was just brilliant. But it was all those moments wrapped up into one, coming together in the actual performance.

“But from a football game perspective, Charles Livingstone Mbabazi got very ill before the match and I think that upset St Pat’s a little bit with their momentum going into the game.”

Granted, it was not only buzzwords that were used by Mathews, as Prunty explains.

“The week before the game Alan told us all to get to bed an hour earlier every night – and that was going to give us an extra day's rest for the final,” he said. “We bought into it – well I did anyway.

“He also gave us all a book on Lance Armstrong as well and he just told us to read it. It has obviously come out now what Armstrong was doing but it was one of those where he had this challenge in front of him and you take your own bits from it.”

“Going from the hotel to the stadium along the canal was amazing. You could see the Red and Black flags everywhere…”

Before Longford knew it, the 26th of October arrived and their date with destiny was set.

Just over 5,000 fans travelled from the midlands to Dublin 4 for the game, with many descending on the capital by supporter-run buses.

“The build-up was extreme for the match,” Eric Lavine tells extratime.com. “We stayed in one of the top hotels in Dublin before the final and then we were training the day before.

“We had a police escort to the game from the hotel to Lansdowne Road. We were like superstars with every car going off the road and it was amazing to see this for the first time.

“We were driving 150 on the road when it should have been 50! Those things caught my eye.”

For Prunty, it was even more special as the Longford Town support enjoyed a rare big day out in Dublin.

“My mam and dad came up for the game and so did my grandad, uncles and so on,” he revealed. “There were busloads coming from the Town and it was great.

“Even going in from the hotel to the stadium along the canal was amazing.

“You could see the Red and Black flags everywhere. When I look back, any player that experiences that has such a good feeling.”

“Someone then told us that St Pat’s had jerseys made of being FAI Cup winners.”

Prior to the game itself, it was not just Longford Town who had history to make, St Patrick’s Athletic were looking to do the same.

The Saints had not won an FAI Cup since 1961 at that point – and they were favourites to come out on top. National papers tipped them to win with ease, but Longford were determined to ensure that would not happen.

“St Pat’s had players like Paul Osam, Chris Adamson and Keith Fahey playing that day – but it just went for us,” Prunty said. “Not many people gave us a chance.

“I remember reading a paper on the morning of the game and there was a piece by Dermot Keely – I think – and he wasn’t giving us a chance. We were seen as total underdogs but that suited us. I thought we played better football on the day and there was no pressure.

“Someone then told us that Pat’s had jerseys made of being FAI Cup winners – and that spurred us on a bit more. But the whole experience of the day, I don’t think I will ever forget that.”

While they may have been spurred on by some paper talk, it was the actions of Stephen ‘Digger’ O’Brien that gave the passionate Town support a lease of life with one simple play.

“When we went out and we came up to the pitch for kick-off, Stephen O'Brien said, ‘lads, let's go over to the fans’. But we just stood there and we applauded them," Francis revealed.

“They all just went crazy. That set the tone and it gave everybody a lift. We were buzzing anyway but I think it just brought it to a new level.”

“Keith Fahey would have been playing that day and I hadn’t realised he did me with a two-footed tackle and was sent off…”

Longford Town started the game the better of the two teams – and ought to have taken a 16th minute lead through Vinny Perth, but he headed wide.

Yet, just minutes later Longford took the lead through Francis – albeit in fortuitous circumstances.

Alan Kirby’s cross-field ball found the striker, whose shot across the face of goal took a wicked deflection off Colm Foley and looped over Saints keeper Chris Adamson.

But Longford did not care one bit.

“If you don't shoot, you don't score. If you look carefully at the back of the video, it was going to curl into the far stick,” Francis laughed.

“I had a bit of luck but you've got to have a bit of luck in the Cup.

“I tried to smack it into the far corner but it was with my left peg. I've got a decent left foot if I'm being honest, but I didn’t have a great connection. It was a nice feeling seeing it go in.”

Longford then ought to have made it 2-0 through Barry Ferguson – the father of current Ireland international Evan – but he missed his spot-kick eight minutes before the interval.

However, Mathews’ side were in control and looked at home in Dublin 4.

“It was just about doing the simple things right,” Prunty explained. “I remember that feeling of one point on the ball – and it was just pure enjoyment. As the game went on there was so much adrenaline going through me, and I thought we were by far the better team.

“There was no pressure on us – it was all on St Pat’s. They had a really good squad. Keith Fahey would have been playing that day and I hadn’t realised that Keith had done me with a two-footed tackle and was sent off.

“It was only five minutes after and I was talking to Philip 'Pip' Keogh and I was like ‘they are down to ten, where is the other player’, and he said ‘Keith Fahey was sent off five minutes ago’. I never realised he was off until then…”

“Why Lavine didn’t shoot I will never know….”

While Town dominated proceedings, they were still only 1-0 to the good as the game progressed – and the Saints began to put Longford under pressure as the game neared its conclusion.

David Freeman and Paul Osam both went close for the Athletic – yet neither could score as the set-piece count rose for the Inchicore side.

But Longford defended well, and the game could – and should – have been over when Eric Lavine raced in on goal after Adamson left his goal empty after going up for a late corner-kick.

Instead, Lavine opted to cut inside and play the ball across the edge of the penalty area to Philip ‘Pip’ Keogh – with the Bray native only able to see his low effort crack off the butt of the post and away from danger as the Saints attacked again.

But why did Lavine not shoot?

“A lot of people have asked me about why I didn’t score,” Lavine jokingly reflects. “I came on in the last few minutes of the game so my bearings weren’t where they were supposed to be.

“Everyone in the stadium might have been telling me to shoot but I couldn’t understand it – at the end of the day we won but I sometimes just laugh and ask why I didn't shoot! I tried to play the ball and the other player hit the post.”

The former Galway United man was not the only one to ponder why he did not opt to shoot.

“I remember I was absolutely knackered at that stage,” Francis said. “I'd say most of us were because we worked so hard to get one goal. We were under the cosh a little, not too much, but one slight mistake would make it 1-1 and then momentum swings.

“Eric got a bit of a slagging in the dressing room afterwards but it was all good in the end. Sean Francis was running around with the cup and we were just taking it in.”

And it was Shane Barrett who averted the crisis when he rolled the ball home into an empty net – making up for Lavine’s earlier miss.

Longford Town were then, finally, FAI Cup winners for the first time in their history.

“When Shane Barrett scored, the feeling of us just getting it done was amazing,” Prunty added. “It was amazing celebrating the cup with friends who I went to school with in Longford.

“Sean Francis was running around with the cup and we were just taking it in. We had been on such a journey that season and I was lucky enough to play in the cup final that we lost in 2001 against Bohemians but to be able to go and win it against St Pat’s was just great.”

And Francis said: “It was relief, pure relief. It was done. There's no two ways about it. It took a little while to settle in and then you realise that you've won. But I remember being too tired to celebrate Shane’s goal!”

“We were better than a cup team.”

Remarkably, Longford backed up their first FAI Cup win in 2003 with another in 2004 – and they also claimed the League Cup that year too.

That gave them the tag of being seen as a ‘cup team’ – but the players from the time disagreed that they were ‘just’ that.

In fairness, they reached four cup finals in a row during that two-year period - but they were also competitive in the league. They came fourth in the 2003 season and sixth during the 2004 campaign.

“We were better than just being a cup team,” Francis insists. “We got this reputation of being a cup team because we could beat anyone on our day.

“We did well in the league as well but Alan built a good team. There was a good camaraderie and spirit there. But we were better than just that. That terminology was used by the media in the sense of ‘they're not great but they've got a good heart’.

“But we were much better than that. We outplayed teams so many times.”

And Prunty agreed with that. “We were known as a cup team – but I 100% agree.

“There were really strong teams in the league then like Bohemians, Shelbourne, Derry City and St Pat’s. But I would have said back then why could we not challenge?

“We had a strong squad and we were called the cup specialists – and that was just on the basis that we won the cup in 2003 and 2004 – and were in the League Cup finals both years. That’s probably where it stemmed from.”

“Longford is a special place to play in when you are involved in the community. You get to know the people around the club and it is like a family…”

But frustration aside, memories from the time that are still held so dearly by the players and supporters.

Bishopsgate’s clubhouse houses memorabilia and pictures from the clash, while the club’s loyal – yet small – band of supporters would still talk about the win amongst themselves with a sense of pride.

“Every time I played for Longford was my favourite moment,” Lavine admitted.

“They treated us all very well and with respect. People still came out to support us no matter how bad we were or if we won.

“Longford is a special place to play in when you are involved in the community. You get to know the people around the club and it is like a family. The people there are great and they always looked after the team.

“It is not only the cups that stand out, it is the people on and off the pitch. The fans still love you even if you are not at the club anymore, they will always remember you with those things. They made us all feel so welcome.”

In all, Longford Town have been to four FAI Cup finals in their history – winning two and losing two.

However, they are one of the few sides to have never lost a cup final at Lansdowne Road with their two losses coming at Tolka Park in 2001 against Bohemians and the RDS in 2007 against Cork City.

But even those losses are memorable in their own right.

And it is not just the newspaper clippings in the Longford Leader where the memories are held from their glory days – they are also housed in the heart and minds of their passionate support too.

Those were the glory days in the midlands – if you come from a Red and Black persuasion of course.

Those were the glory days in the Midlands – if you come from a Red and Black persuasion of course.