A couple of months after Ireland last played in the Czech Republic, Karl McGrath ambled through the doors of his local bank only to be greeted by an enlarged image of himself – two cigarettes dangling from his mouth, a Tricolour painted across his face and an Irish-themed Viking hat perched upon his head. Ah, yes, Prague.
Steve Staunton’s Ireland lost that Euro 2008 qualifier 1-0, in effect ending their ambitions of playing in the tournament.
As visiting photographers scanned the stadium for Ireland fans in September 2007, David Maher of Sportsfile spotted one – in the Czech section – with two cigarettes hanging from his teeth.
“It looks like I’m staring right down the lens of the camera, but I had no idea there was even a photographer there. That photo gave me my 15 minutes of fame,” McGrath says.
The photo would later be shortlisted in the Press Photographers Ireland awards – hence why months later McGrath’s mush was staring back at him in the bank.
What the image doesn’t show though, just out of shot, is McGrath’s friend Jimmy Sloan – affectionately known as Jimmy the Gap – waiting for a smoke.
“I’ve got two fags in my mouth because I was about to light them both and give one to Jimmy. They weren’t both for me,” says McGrath, who is originally from Dublin but lived in Galway for years before setting off on his travels.
“That photo was taken just at the end of the match. Our chances of qualifying were gone and that’s why I have the glum expression on my face.”
The following morning, unaware the photo even existed, McGrath got himself to the airport for an early flight home. On landing, his trip continued across the midlands until a pit stop in Tullamore, Co Offaly.
“My mate comes out of the shop with three of the tabloid papers,” McGrath recalls. “He says, ‘Well done, langer, you are after getting yourself on page three and you didn’t even have to take your top off’. I started getting texts saying, ‘Have you seen the paper today?’. Turns out that picture was used nearly everywhere.
“When it had all died down, I was going to make a deposit or something in the bank one day and there the photo was again. I thought the whole thing was hilarious, to be honest.”
Stephen Hunt tackles Jan Polak of the Czech Republic during the European Championships qualifier in Prague in September 2007. Photograph: Donall Farmer/INPHO
It emerged there was also another photo, which appeared in one of the Czech papers and shows both protagonists. And in that picture, McGrath’s friend Jimmy is holding the two cigarettes.
It is 19 years since Ireland last played in Prague and indications are that several thousand ticketless Irish supporters are making their way to the Czech capital for Thursday’s World Cup playoff.
Ireland only received an allocation of 1,024 tickets for the 19,730-capacity Fortuna Arena.
In 2007, the Czech game was part of a double fixture window, with Ireland having played in Slovakia four days earlier. McGrath and co spent three days in Bratislava, three days in Vienna and three days in Prague.
“Some of the lads still shudder when you mention that trip.”
Yet, naturally, it produced a sackful of memories. In particular McGrath remembers Irish fans congregating on Staromestske Namesti – Prague’s Old Town Square tourist hotspot.
One imaginative supporter somehow got hold of an umbrella and immediately began a new, impromptu career as a tour guide. A couple of fellow mischievous Irish supporters got in on the act by congregating around the umbrella-wielder, fawning attentiveness and pseudo-amazement at the pearls of Prague wisdom being dispensed by the leader of the pack. The procession grew larger.
Soon, an eclectic collection of merry Irish fans and confused tourists were traipsing around the square, nodding in fascination as Swanlinbar Seán sagely outlined the difference between the Baroque and Gothic architectural styles.
Karl McGrath during the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France
“He was just some Irish lad with an umbrella. I mean, he’d probably never been to Prague in his life before,” McGrath says with a smile.
“And yet there was a bunch of people following him around the square listening attentively. He’d point at a building, mutter something and they’d all go, ‘Ah, okay’. Then he’d just carry on walking and they’d follow.”
Until the charade eventually reached a cultural crossroads.
“At one of the corners of the square, they came across a group of Hare Krishnas coming in the opposite direction. They were chanting their mantra.”
The Irish fans quickly considered the potential of this encounter before dutifully tucking in behind their new pals and filling the square with an impromptu melody.
“They all started singing, ‘There’s only one Hare Krishna, there’s only one Hare Kirsihna’.”
Swanlinbar Sean’s Prague Tours officially ceased trading soon after.
As for the game itself, Ireland needed to win. Slovakia had snatched a 2-2 injury-time draw in Bratislava, so Prague was a last stand.
It was an Ireland team that included Shay Given, Richard Dunne, John O’Shea, Kevin Kilbane and Robbie Keane. But the Czechs, who had Milan Baros and Tomás Rosicky playing, won courtesy of Marek Jankulovski’s early goal.
Like many supporters of a certain vintage, McGrath’s flame for following Ireland teams across the globe was ignited during the Jack Charlton era. He reckons his away trips are somewhere north of 50 at this stage. His first was USA ’94.
“I was actually heading over there at the time to live in Boston, but of course we flew into New York for the first couple of weeks. When I finally moved up to Boston, most of the money had already been spent,” he says.
McGrath didn’t have a ticket for Giants Stadium, but watched Ireland’s 1-0 win over eventual finalists Italy in Manhattan’s much-loved Irish watering hole McCormack’s Pub on Third Avenue. It closed its doors in 2012.
“The throngs of Irish in New York that day was a sight to behold. I still say it’s one of the best days of my life. I suppose that’s the high I’ve always been chasing ever since. Those games, they kind of give you landmarks in your life: you remember where you were and who you were with.”
McGrath has been living in the Spanish seaside town of Palamós, north of Barcelona, for more than a decade now. But he won’t be there for the next few days. Instead, you’ll find him in Prague.
“You’d better believe it,” he says with a smile.
He is not one of the fortunate 1,024 Irish supporters to get a ticket, but McGrath will still be there. He will be joined by many of his seasoned travelling comrades – some coming in from Amsterdam, others from Vienna, Dublin, Dubai, all over.
“I would have started off travelling with a group of lads, but as the years go by and lads start getting married and having kids, they sort of drop out for a bit. So you get to know other people, it keeps evolving and changing.”
That’s life.
For while it’s back to Prague this week, much remains the same, but much is also different. Everything is once again on the line for Ireland against the Czechs, but the fans travel with giddy excitement on this occasion rather than gloomy resignation.
As for the smokes, Karl McGrath gave those up years ago.