Club History

Dave Ireland

Was also know as: Towny

Playing Position: Defence/Midfield

He was...a true Old Boys Legend

Profile:

Towny is a throw back to the good old days of College, when men were men and The Stumble made a profit (mainly due to his efforts). In those days Towny sported a flowing mane of golden hair, but whilst that fine example of mullet heaven has since been replaced by an all over no.1 (more due to the lack of available hair), many of the youthful attributes displayed on the hallowed Nobles turf in those sepia days remain for all to see. Towny is a man you want on your team. He never stops running, has a good touch (as long as he's not wearing the silver boots his Mum bought him) and he'll always get you a goal. The three sets of shin-pads that he straps to what remains of his legs, tell you that he likes a tackle and he's as good in the air as the next man (as long as the next man is Steve Bowles). An unswerving will to win, typified by his desire to lead the Old Boys on to the next level, mean that you have the midfield player that every club in the Surrey County Intermediate League dreams of. But beware. Give this man a bottle of wine and an ABBA LP and he'll undo all that hard work with one flick of his flared trousers. You have to know how to handle the 'ginger whirlwind' away from the pitch. There are many well documented incidents of boot throwing, punches and headbutts, as Towny tries to come to terms with life away from a football or The Happy Man. You can take the boy out of Grimsby, but you can't take Grimsby out of the boy. We wouldn't have him any other way though. Towny wouldn't be the icon of Old Boys football that he is, without the drinking and the swearing and the mis-guided beliefs that Grimsby has a football team. He's a traveller (by that I mean he follows the England team abroad, not that he's gypsy.............well..), he's a winner, he's Towny.