The Athlone Town squad at the Pooch Cup walking football tournament. Back row, L-R: John Joe Egan, Padraig Igoe, Gerry McHugh, Pauric Nicholson, Padraig Gaffey, David Dully. Front row, L-R: Aidan Hand, Jimmy O’Callaghan, Dennis Clarke, Ciaran O’Callaghan.

A walk in the park as Athlone claim Pooch Cup

Published: Wed 16 Jul 2025, 1:41 PM

The Athlone Town AFC walking football squad traveled to Sallynoggin in Dublin recently to play in the Pooch Cup and they duly came away with the silverware.

The tournament is played in memory of legendary former Athlone player Eugene ‘Pooch’ Davis.

The Town started brightly with an impressive 2-0 win over Bray Wanderers, some small revenge for Athlone's defeat to Bray in the League of Ireland First Division fixture the previous night. John Joe Egan and Aidan Hand scored the goals.

The second game pitted Athlone against Shamrock Rovers and this went the midlanders' way courtesy of a goal by Dennis Clarke, who ironically played for both clubs in the League of Ireland back in the day.

The final game was a tight affair that resulted in a 0-0 draw with St Joseph’s FC, with whom Pooch played walking football. This was enough to secure the Pooch Cup for Athlone.

Pauric Nicholson, who played with Eugene in the San Siro versus AC Milan in 1975, fittingly accepted the Pooch Cup to round off a great day for the Town squad. The Pooch Cup will be hosted in Athlone next season.

The Athlone side played with great skill and discipline especially defensively, and great compliments were received from the other three squads in the competition. Ciaran O’Callaghan was on hand to cheer the Athlone lads to success.

The front of the Athlone shirt (a retro version of the 1980-81 League winning jersey) featured the logo of the Irish Professional Footballers Benevolent Association.

Athlone Town squad: Dennis Clarke, John Joe Egan, Gerry McHugh, Padraig Igoe, Pauric Nicholson (captain), David Dully, Padraig Gaffey, Aidan Hand, Jimmy O’Callaghan.