Mick Leech

Mick Leech, also known as “Mr. Goals” and “the Jimmy Greaves of Irish soccer”, was born in Dublin in August of 1948. Showing great promise as a Gaelic footballer, he played at corner-forward for the Dublin schools side (his club was Rialto Gaels), but having lined out for St. Brigid’s F.C. as a 14-year old, and appearing in the Leinster Senior League at the age of 16 with Ormeau, he gradually began to commit himself to soccer. His form in the L.S.L. had seen him go to the European Youth Championships in West Germany with Ireland in 1965, and also led to an apprenticeship with Northampton Town in the early part of 1966. Returning home after just four months, Leech scored three times for Ormeau in a friendly against Shamrock Rovers in October 1966, and signed for Liam Tuohy’s side in November of that year.

After spending just six weeks in the Rovers reserve team (he scored four goals on his debut for the reserve side), the young centre-forward was handed his League of Ireland debut in a 2-1 win over Dundalk on New Year’s Day 1967, and by March of that year he had firmly cemented his place in the side. Leech made a huge contribution to what was the Hoops’ fourth consecutive F.A.I. Cup success that season, scoring three goals in his side’s semi-final matches with Dundalk, and also netting in the decider against St. Patrick’s Athletic (the club he had supported as a boy), the first ever F.A.I. Cup final to be broadcast live on Irish television.

A key role in Rovers’ F.A.I. (including two goals in the semi-final and again in the final) and Blaxnit Cup wins the following year meant that Leech’s status as a Shamrock Rovers crowd favourite was assured by the end of the 1967-68 season. The striker’s sideburnt, George Best-style appearance, combined with the flamboyance and audacity of his play (epitomised by his cheekily patting a dejected Waterford goalkeeper Peter Thomas on the head after scoring past him in the 1968 cup decider) meant that by the end of the campaign, he was one of the league’s most prominent personalities.

The 1968-69 season was a truly remarkable one for Leech. Beginning with 10 goals in the Hoops’ 11 League of Ireland Shield games, the forward went on to score an incredible 56 goals in all competitions, equalling the haul of Drumcondra’s Dan McCaffrey in 1960-61. Leech’s tally included 19 in the league itself (ensuring he finished as the championship’s top scorer) and two in the F.A.I. Cup final replay victory over Cork Celtic. He was rewarded with a call-up to the Irish international team for World Cup qualifiers against Czechoslovakia, Denmark and Hungary (he would win five further caps, scoring against Iran and Portugal in the Brazilian Independence Cup of 1972), and also snared the coveted Soccer Writers’ Association of Ireland “Personality of the Year” award for 1969.

A defeat in the 1970-71 championship play-off against Cork Hibernians (Leech had had an apparently valid goal disallowed during a 0-0 draw between the sides during the run-in) meant that league honours continued to elude Leech, and even a move to Waterford in December 1973 did not change that pattern. After helping Waterford to victory in the inaugural League Cup final in 1974 (and also scoring the only goal in Waterford’s 1-0 F.A.I. Cup first round win over Rovers the same season), he returned to Milltown in September 1976, and his spectacular last-minute goal in that season’s League Cup decider against Sligo Rovers was his 250th in senior football.

The arrival of Johnny Giles to Shamrock Rovers in 1977, however, signalled an end to Leech’s Milltown career, with Giles’ full-time, professional structures not particularly appealing to the striker. A short spell at Bohemians did see Leech make a small contribution to the club’s title success, but having largely been a fringe player at Dalymount, he moved to Drogheda United for the 1978-79 season. Proving he still had a lot to offer, he registered 13 league goals to help the Louth club to their third consecutive top three finish (he scored twice in his Drogheda debut in a League Cup match), but a move to St. Patrick’s Athletic midway through the following campaign precipitated Leech’s retirement as a player in 1981.

Leech ventured into coaching in the 1982-83 season (Leech also acted as Secretary of the Players Union during the early years of his retirement) as an assistant to Jim McLaughlin at Dundalk, and under his tutelage, the Lilywhites’ reserve side stormed to the League of Ireland ‘B’ championship with 17 points to spare. Leech subsequently coached Ballyfermot United and the Garda soccer side, before taking the job as Athlone Town manager in 1990, and helping the club to prolong their Premier Division status for one more season.

Despite retiring what he himself felt was a few seasons too early, Leech’s opportunism, positioning and ball control meant that he remains high on the League of Ireland’s list of all-time highest scorers, with 132 goals. Many felt he could have enjoyed a good career in the English league, but scrutiny by West Ham in 1967 (the Cunningham family opposed the move) and Middlesbrough in 1971 (Leech was deployed in an unfamiliar midfield role on the day) ultimately came to nothing. The winner of four inter-league caps, Leech was inducted as a “Shamrock Rovers Legend” in 2006.