Greg Hayes and the Boys in Green

Waterford United’s Greg Hayes pictured here with the rest of the Republic of Ireland squad that qualified for the 1983 UEFA European Under-18 Championships in England. Ireland were unbeaten in their three games, but lost out to eventual winners France.

The full back pairing for the games was Greg alongside future Champions League winner Denis Irwin while midfielder John Sheridan (later Waterford manager for a two months in 2020) was the star of the squad. Liam O’Brien was the third player to go on to win full international caps while goalkeeper Gary Kelly was a regular in squads but never won a full cap. He was on standby for both the 1990 and ‘94 World Cups, but Jack Charlton bucked the normal trend by bringing an extra outfielder instead of a third goalkeeper.

Hayes played for the Blues from 1981 to ‘86 with his older brother Frank as a teammate. Another member of this U18 squad, Noel Bollard, joined Waterford United for the 86/87 season and played for Ireland at Under-21 level. Several of these players became League of Ireland managers later while Brian Ainscough was the owner of Kerry and Dundalk in recent years.

Liam Tuohy’s Ireland stunned the fancied Belgians in the opening game on May the 13th with Sheridan striking the game’s only goal left-footed. Belgium’s Jean-Marc Bosman had the biggest impact of anyone from the tournament on football as his failed transfer from RFV Liège to Dunkerque in 1990 led to a court case that completely changed football transfers and contracts forever.

On the 15th, Ireland would have hoped to capitalise on that win by beating Finland, but an early red card for John Neal left them relieved to take a 0-0 draw at Barnsley’s Oakwell. That meant Ireland had to beat France in Elland Road two days later to top the group and qualify for the semi-finals.

However, they went a goal down in the first half when striker Stéphane Paille (later a full international who finished his playing career at Hearts) headed past Kelly. Ireland levelled through a side-footed effort by Brian Mooney, who sighed for Liverpool that summer, but couldn’t find a winner with France defending for their lives. The 1-1 draw saw France through to beat Italy and Czechoslovakia in the semi-final and final respectively.