The outpouring of tributes and grief that followed Alan McLoughlin’s death from cancer was understandable. He was only 54, and as one obituarist put it, 54 is no age. His death was sad and shocking.
With one educated swing of his left foot in Belfast’s Windsor Park on the 17th of November 1993, Alan ensured his place in the sports history books. It was the Republic of Ireland versus Northern Ireland, and World Cup points were at stake.
Denis Irwin sent a free kick into Northern Ireland’s penalty area. Someone headed it clear, and it dropped onto the chest and then down to the feet of the player who had come off the bench when Ray Houghton was substituted — 5ft 8-inch Alan McLoughlin. Alan drove the ball laser-like past the goalkeeper into the net.
There was no more scoring in that game, and Alan McLoughlin’s goal proved to be the goal that qualified the Republic for World Cup 1994 in America.
He’d been invited to join the England squad at around the same time as he was invited by the FAI to join the Republic of Ireland squad. Born in England of two Irish parents, he chose the green jersey instead of the white.
I had met him a number of times at the Ireland training camps, and when I invited him to come to Galway to open the Republic of Ireland showcase in the Eyre Square Shopping Centre, he readily agreed. I went to Galway Airport to pick him up. As the flight was early, we went for coffee. Our conversation was inevitably about football, and the upcoming training camp at the Airport Complex.
That sensational goal at Windsor Park was a conversational inevitability, too. Alan said that score was, without doubt, the highlight of his playing career. The clips of the score, shown over and over on television and U-tube, make clear just how delighted he was in the moment — closed fists pumping the air.
An equally magic moment for me was when he presented me with the boots he was wearing when he scored that history-making goal. I have a photograph that shows him handing me the boots — I’ll post it at a future time.
The photos here show (1) Alan opening the Ireland showcase, and (2) at a training session.
Alan, my friend, you died so very young. May you rest in everlasting peace.
