In the Shadow of Benbulben

Dixie Dean at Sligo Rovers

Paul Little

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• eBook ISBN:
  9781801502665
• Year: 2022

In January 1939, just months after hanging up his boots and a few weeks into his new career as a talent scout, William Ralph 'Dixie' Dean, the former Everton and England legend, received a surprise request for assistance from the far west of Ireland. Could he find a goalscorer for Sligo Rovers - the beating heart of a small, provincial town - to drive their dreams of a lucrative cup run and help protect the club's very existence? Dean set about finding the right man, but unable to locate candidates willing to make the move across the Irish Sea, he had an idea. What if he were to answer Sligo's call? And so began the unlikely story of how one of the greatest centre-forwards ever to grace the game added an unexpected and ultimately uplifting chapter to his storied football career. In the Shadow of Benbulben is a romantic tale of divine intervention, uncanny timing and drama on and off the pitch. It's the tale of 'Dixie' Dean's four months with the Bit O'Red that was to leave an indelible mark on the player, the club and the town.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• 1. Dixie and Sligo – A Fairy Tale Almost Lost in Time
• 2. ‘Offer Accepted, Will be There Friday’
• 3. Ambitious Club and Living Legend
• 4. The 60-Goal Season
• 5. Dixie Dean Arrives in Sligo
• 6. Debut – Questions to be Answered
• 7. Two in Two, but Ringsend Defeat to the Unknowns
• 8. FAI Cup Round One – Class is Permanent
• 9. Bread and Butter But Another Injury
• 10. Five of the Best
• 11. Dundalk at Dalymount – Drama On and Off the Pitch
• 12. Goals and Golf as Dixie Prospers
• 13. Dalymount Beckons
• 14. The 1939 FAI Cup Final
• 15. No Time to Think – Dalymount and Dalymount Again!
• 16. The ‘Dean Dividend’
• 17. The Curtain Comes Down
• 18. Ties that Bind
• Dixie Dean – Goalscorer
• Sligo Rovers Results 1938/39 Season
• Acknowledgements
• Bibliography
• Photos