‘Skipper’ spent 60 years involved with St Francis

A LEGEND of St Francis football club, Christy ‘Skipper’ Maguire passed away recently.

A stalwart of St Francis football club, Skipper spent 60 odd years of his life involved with the club. Both as a player and then behind the scenes as chairman.

Skipper saw St Francis rise to being one of the top teams in the country, including that memorable 1990 FAI Cup run which saw non league St Francis shock the status quo and reach the final against Bray Wanderers in Lansdowne Road.

The Echo spoke to his former teammate and manager of St Francis in that FAI Cup final Pete Mahon.

“The first time I came across him was I think in 1960. He was playing against West Germany for the Irish schoolboys. I was at the match as a spectator because I wasn’t good enough to be playing and I noticed him. I remembered the name.”

The two would end up playing each other various times over the years as both joined different clubs across Dublin City.

Eventually, Mahon left Drumcondra after the club was suffering major financial difficulties.  He would then make the move to St Francis as he was living in the area at the time. When he arrived he was reunited with Skipper Maguire.

The two remained in close contact from then on till 1998 when Mahon would leave the club to try his hand managing in the League of Ireland.

Mahon took over as manager in 1982 for the club with Maguire acting as chair at the time.

“He was everything from chairman to ticket seller, he did everything that he was asked. He was a real clubman. A one club clubman.

‘When I was the manager he was a great help to me. He was very encouraging. He had a great time for young players. Loyal and just a nice bloke.”

As well as his invaluable work behind the scenes it is of course worth noting that Skipper was an accomplished player for the club spending years togging out in the green & white.

“He was a very very good player at that level, a great goalscorer.

‘I’ve lost track of the times he’s bailed us out and all the times he scored.

‘I couldn’t tell you the numbers now but all I know is it was a lot of goals. He scored a lot of goals.”

In fact Maguire holds a record that still stands today, he is the only player to score four goals in a FAI Junior Cup Final, having done so in the 1968/69 win over Talbot Utd.

The duo spent about 26 years together involved as players and then staff at St Francis.

His son Karl Maguire spoke to The Echo about how much the club meant to his father.

In fact, in order for the club to join the League of Ireland during the 1990s certain building standards must have been met. Skipper roped in his son Karl to provide the labour over the summer along with a few others including Jack Higgins.

“I remember him as chairman of Francis, I don’t remember him as a footballer. He’d be out Mondays at meetings, Tuesday, Wednesdays at training. Sundays all we ever did was get brought to football matches.”

“Up until the day he had the stroke he would’ve been with Francis every week, as long as he could walk and drive it would have been a huge part of his life.”

A St Francis man through and through. The father of Chris, Lynsey, Olwyn and Karl and loving brother of Kay, Eva, Thomas, Alan and the late Ann.

Skipper will be forever loved and very sadly missed by his loving children, grandchildren, sisters, brothers, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law, nieces, nephews, extended family, neighbours and friends especially all his friends in St. Francis Football Club.

The funeral mass was held last Thursday July 3 at 10am in St Agnes Church, Crumlin Village followed by cremation at Newlands Cross Crematorium.