Jimmy Conway, leading light of his family five-a-side team, became a star for Bohemians, Fulham and the Republic of Ireland; and young brother John managed two out of three. David Lloyd caught up with John to discuss one of the greatest players to grace Craven Cottage.
It’s something of a rarity to have a pair of brothers playing for the same football club. However, five Conway brothers turned out for Bohemian FC in Dublin, although not all at once – and two, Jimmy and John Conway went on to play for Fulham.
Jimmy, originally an inside-forward, became a well established figure at Craven Cottage, playing in the old First Division alongside former England captain Johnny Haynes, future England manager Bobby Robson and 1966 World Cup winner George Cohen in the sixties and subsequently was a key member of the Second Division team that reached the FA Cup final in 1975.
Four years before Fulham’s trip to Wembley, Jimmy had been joined at the Cottage by younger brother John, a talented winger who’d won the FAI Cup with ‘the Bohs’ in 1970 before going on to make a couple of appearances in the EUFA Cup Winners Cup against Czech side FASTAV Zlin.
Former Fulham team-mate Les Strong remembers the duo well. “Jimmy remains a legend at the Cottage and was the quiet type who did his talking on the pitch. He was a mainstay of the club who provided no end of memorable moments in his ten years at Fulham. It’s a real shame that he’s not in the best of shape at the moment.
“John was in the same mould as Jimmy, an excellent wide midfielder but rather more slight in build and was unfortunate with injuries in his time with us. It was clear that John respected his elder brother for his impact in the game and for playing for his country.
“It was also evident that the pair came from a very good family background. I gather there were a dozen siblings in all – there was obviously no telly in Ireland back then!
“I became good friends with John. In fact, I went on holiday with him, a friend of his and our team-mate John Richardson. So there were all four of us squashed into a VW Beetle with four lots of luggage; let’s just say it was cosy. And boy, John could talk – oh yes, pretty much non-stop all the way from England to Southern Italy!”
The Conways hail from Cabra, a suburb to the north-west of Dublin. Little did parents James and Mary Conway realise that they would be responsible for not only raising a grand Irish family but also for establishing a footballing dynasty that would make its mark at home and abroad.
“My mother was, and is, an angel, says John Conway, these days a Master Goldsmith based in Lörrach, southwest Germany. “Unfortunately she suffers from the same type of sickness that has latterly affected Jimmy and is in a home. Back then she was not only our queen but was also the king of the family in many ways.”
James Senior ensured his boys were brought up to play football the right way. “My father was a huge influence,” confirms John. “He was always very strict about how we should play the game, and drummed it into us that we should be disciplined and do things properly.”
That approach paid dividends and Bohemian FC reaped the benefit. “Tom, a left-back, played for Athlone Town and Bohemians, Paddy was another left-back, and Roddy was a winger, while Jimmy, an inside-forward later converted to a winger, was the pick of the bunch,” adds John who joined the Bohs in 1969. “The Conway name is still talked about in Cabra West – we became popular because, even though we didn’t play our schoolboy soccer locally, the five of us made the grade in the League of Ireland.
“It was always the aim to make it in England for Jimmy. Football was in our blood, and to succeed the next step up was to go to England. Don’t forget, Jimmy was a schoolboy international and had a number of trials with English clubs, including one with Manchester United I believe, so he had that footballing mindset from a young age.
“Jimmy started it all for us; seeing him playing for his country from the age of
14 gave us an immense source of pride. As a teenager he played for Stella Maris, who also nurtured the talents of Johnny Giles, Eamon Dunphy, Eoin Hand and Gery Daly among others. He then had three years with the Bohs before moving to London. Make no mistake, by the time Jimmy Conway joined First Division Fulham in 1966 and broke through into the first team he was a big, big star in Ireland.”
Jimmy scored a spectacular goal on his Fulham debut as the Whites secured a 5-1 victory over Wolves in the League Cup in October 1966, and retained his place to make his first League appearance in a 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield.
“Jimmy became a regular,” recalls John. “Unlike today, there was no wall-to-wall football coverage. In fact, back in Ireland, although we were able to tune in to the radio we had to wait until the following Friday to get a full round-up in the news-papers of the previous weekend’s games in England.”
John, five years Jimmy’s junior, was following in his footsteps. “People said at the time that I was just as talented as Jimmy, but I guess I’m made a little differently. Jimmy was totally focused and committed to football and his career, whereas I didn’t quite have that level of commitment; even then, I was keen to do other things in life.
“Don’t get me wrong, get me on a football pitch, even at training, and I would be as dedicated as anyone. It’s just that I wasn’t as single-minded as Jimmy. My approach was to use football to attain other things. I got the offers, and was happy to take them – but football was never the be-all and end-all for me.
“Let me explain it this way. When I was at Fulham I shared digs with a seasoned centre-back called Reg Matthewson. Or to put it another way, Reg thought I was popping down to the pub rather too often and, after having a word in my ear, he suggested I move in with him! Reg was a lovely and genuine chap and they were great times. Jimmy, meantime, was famously teetotal.”
It wasn’t long before Jimmy gained his first cap for the Republic of Ireland, against Spain in the European Nations Cup. “It was quite moment for the family, let alone for Jimmy himself,” says John. “There were a number of top Irish players in the English top division – Charlie Hurley, Johnny Giles, Noel Cantwell and Tony Dunne for example. And at Fulham there was Turlough O’Connor, who’d travelled over with Jimmy, John Dempsey, who also made his senior debut in that match against Spain, plus Jimmy Dunne, a hugely under-rated centre-back (who, by my reckoning got two Irish caps: his first…and his last!).
“Jimmy became a firm part of the Irish scene, one of the first names on the teamsheet, at least until Johnny Giles took over as manager. It was difficult to ruffle Jimmy – he was so professional in his approach that he would go along with any team instructions. But he found things difficult under Giles.”
Even so, in a 12-year international career during which the Republic played far fewer matches than nowadays, Jimmy made 23 senior appearances for his country (that total includes a couple of amateur/ unofficial fixtures). Along with John Dempsey and Turlough O’Connor, he was in the Irish side that scored a shock 2-1 away win in Czechoslovakia in November 1967. Jimmy scored a belter in West Berlin against West Germany in May 1970 and was also on target against Italy at Lansdowne Road a year later, although the Irish lost both games 2-1. By the time finally he stepped down from international football in 1977, Jimmy was his country’s 18th most capped player.
Fulham, meantime, slipped out of the top flight – Jimmy scored their last First Division goal in a 5-1 defeat at Everton. And a season later they were in Division Three! Fulham manager Bill Dodgin converted Jimmy into an out-and-out right-winger at the start of the 1969-70 campaign and unleashed him and left-winger Les Barrett down the flanks.
Striker Steve Earle was a major beneficiary – the trio were know as the ‘Three Musketeers’ – and both Earle and Conway scored 23 times that season. For the second time in three campaigns Jimmy Conway was ever-present for the Cottagers.
During an eight-game run early in that campaign Jimmy netted 11 times – the run included an 8-0 away win at Halifax in which Earle scored five and Conway twice. As a consequence the talented musketeers were targeted by rugged Third Division defenders and Conway suffered as much as anyone. A knee injury resulted in three months on the sidelines and a cartilage operation. In due course, Fulham won promotion in 1971, gained another Conway (John) that summer and appointed a new manager, Alec Stock, within 12 months.
“Fulham was a happy-go-lucky club,” admits John Conway. “A couple of good wins here and there to keep us in the middle of the Second Division pack and some entertaining performances seemed to be the main goals. No one talked about promotion; that sort of ambition wasn’t there, not even when Bobby Moore came to the club. It was a homely club and a lovely place to be playing your football, but without any real direction.”
Jimmy Conway racked up 360 appearances for Fulham – during which he was never cautioned or sent off. He weighed in with 76 goals and was a huge favourite of the Fulham fans. Many seasons later you’ll still hear the occasional rendition of “We’ve got Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy Conway on the wing, on the wing…” from the Fulham faithful at Craven Cottage.
Jimmy had a 13-game stint at Manchester City before heading with wife Noeleen to Portland Timbers in Oregon in 1978, first as a player but ultimately as a coach. The couple have three children, Paul, Laura and Mark – Paul played over a hundred games for Carlisle United in the 1990s before finishing his career at Portland in 2005, Jimmy’s final season as assistant coach at the club.
John never made the same impact at Fulham as his big brother – mainly due to injuries and the fact that he was often competing for the same shirt. “I made 37 starts for Fulham [plus eight outings as a sub],” he recalls, “and remember scoring twice at Portsmouth to secure a 2-1 win in 1975, but I think my best game was one of my last – in the FA Cup third round replay at Hull. I was buzzing at that time and full of confidence having had a decent run of games. It was great to know that I was likely to be in the team each week, and it was also great to be playing in the same side my big brother. I set up our first goal for Viv Busby at Hull and could have had a hat-trick. The match finished 2-2; another replay on the road to Wembley. But that was my last game in the FA Cup.
“I had another good game in December 1973 away at Sheffield Wednesday. I scored the first goal as we ran out 3-0 winners. But things didn’t always go to plan – I broke my arm at Bristol City and as soon as I came back got a bad knee injury at Cardiff. I suppose I should be flattered that the Cardiff player went out to get me – and he got me all right!
“I did well enough at Fulham to be invited along by Johnny Giles to the Republic of Ireland training sessions but he never picked me for any squads, more’s the pity. We clashed to be honest. I could see why Jimmy, who’s so much calmer than me, had been upset by him previously. As my later business life has proved I’m more of an
individual than an integrated team player – that’s my character, that’s how it is.
I was more than happy to do my bit and more for any team, but I was never keen on being dictated to.”
“Even at Fulham I was looking further ahead; I needed to look after myself beyond football. The club encouraged this and set me up at a college in London – and while I was at the Cottage I got my diploma as a Goldsmith Master.”
John’s time in the Fulham first team came to an abrupt end. “I’ve been dying to tell this particular tale for 30 years!” he says. “I’d been out injured – again! – but I was then named in the side for an away game. We were losing at half-time and when we came back into the dressing-room Alec Stock was far from happy. Fair enough. But he started to single out me for criticism, which I thought was unjust.
“I lost my head a little and reacted: ‘I’m trying to find my feet out there, it’s my first game back, I’m trying my best,’ that sort of thing, but with maybe one or two other choice words thrown in for good measure! I had a plastic cup of tea in my hand and, in the heat of the moment, it went in Alec Stock’s direction. It was Jimmy Dunne who pulled me into the showering area so I’d quieten down.
“It was one of those spats that often happens behind closed doors, but Alec told me bluntly there and then that I’d never play for the club again. And I never did. It broke my heart as I loved my time at Fulham and, with the club progressing towards the Cup final I never even made it into the overall squad for Wembley.
“I confess I wasn’t one of those with a ‘direct line’ to Alec Stock, in fact I found him a bit aloof. But he was the manager and I fully respected that. I wasn’t a troublemaker; that spat was just one of those internal things that happen at a football club now and then. I didn’t think that the criticism was justified, and said so. One silly incident and I was out.
“Jimmy Dunne was one of the best centre-backs I’ve ever played with; massively under-rated. But he could be a difficult so-and-so, and ultimately he went the same way as I did – out for crossing swords with Alec Stock, but in his case it was far from the first time.”
After a spell at Manchester City Jimmy Conway went to Portland. John explains: “What helped Jimmy was that football in the States was not simply a sporting matter but it was a real social thing – it was a community sport that demanded a community spirit. Jimmy blossomed in that environment; he loved working with the kids and he soon earned the locals’ respect. I’m proud to say that Jimmy Conway remains a legend in Portland and well beyond in the States.
“Nowadays Jimmy is struggling with Trauma Induced Dementia, and it’s such, such, such a shame. Take the brotherly thing out of the equation: if there’s one guy who deserved to get older gracefully and enjoy his later years then it’s Jimmy Conway. He’s always been ‘the good guy’, the genial, likeable fella who’s lived his life by the rules, the ultimate footballing professional who kept himself in fantastic shape – he’s always been ready and willing to help out anyone, any time, and despite being brilliant at what he did, he’s always shunned the spotlight. To see Jimmy in his current state is devastating. He’s unable to communicate now. The nerves, the muscles… there’s no coordination any more. It’s horrible.
“I know I keep coming back to this, but Jimmy’s professionalism and determination were second to none – and he let his feet do the talking on the football pitch. He showed that same level of professionalism and dedication in his family life too.
“Jimmy suffered some horrific injuries, and had lost some of his lightning speed in his last few seasons at Fulham. But he readjusted, went back to his original position of inside-forward, and just got on with it. He had quick feet for most of his career, but he was also blessed with a quick mind – honed by that determination to succeed – and could make instant decisions on the field.
“The shame was that we didn’t play too many times in the same Fulham side. But when we did we enjoyed it. Now and again we’d link up almost magically – one of us would do something ‘blind’ and it would come off because of an innate understanding.”
Noeleen Conway, Jimmy’s wife, says: “Jimmy’s diagnosis is Trauma Induced Dementia. It became apparent in his 50s and was caused by injuries he received while playing football. I don’t think there is enough research being done to look into this. Traumatic brain injury is very, very real – the main causes are concussion and repeated blows to the head. Hopefully, some time soon, the football community will address this issue more seriously and publicly. The American NFL have had to acknowledge this and there is certainly a case to be made for football (soccer) to do so too.
“Jimmy enjoyed every minute of his football career – minus the injuries of course – and I don’t think that even given a crystal ball he would have changed anything. I will always be grateful that football gave us opportunities we might never otherwise have had, however the toll it had taken on us had been devastating. Dementia, Alzheimer’s, call it what you will, is generally associated with older folk; clearly with traumatic brain injury this is not the case.
“We still to the Walk to End Alzheimer’s event here in Portland each year. Mick Hoban, a friend and former team-mate of Jimmy’s, spearheads this effort magnificently. He keeps the Facebook page – Fans of Jimmy Conway – current with details. You can also check out the Timbers website [http://www.timbers.com/blog/post/2013/07/26/join-friends-jimmy-conway-2013-walk-end-alzheimers] to see a video of Jimmy and his pals at last year’s walk.
“Our own children and grandchildren are what keep me going. Jimmy is currently in hospital and his condition varies from day to day. Next month we will have been married 45 years; he will always be my funny, handsome guy.”
• This article first appeared in the matchday programme for the Italy v Republic of Ireland encounter played at Craven Cottage on 31 May. Huge thanks to John Conway and to Jimmy’s wife, Noeleen.
David Lloyd
David is editor of There's Only One F In Fulham- find out more at
http://www.sportingmemoriesnetwork.com/latest-smn-news/theres-only-one-f-in-fulham/
Memory added on October 23, 2014
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