By Rosalyn Horan
Transcript
Mr Cashel Town FC – how does one even begin to put into words everything Dixie has done for football in Cashel, the word legend doesn’t even begin to cover it. He was without a doubt a true clubman who devoted his whole life to Cashel Town FC. Many, including myself, would say that Palmershill was his second home. Each and everyday Dixie would spend hours on end above in the field ensuring that everything was up to scratch. On match days it was Dixie who would have tea and biscuits bought in for the referees and he was always the first man you would meet at the gate on your way in.
It was fitting that just before he passed away the loan for the field was paid off. I myself believe that the soccer field was Dixie’s child in a way and knowing that he was going to leave the club in a better position than what it had started out in truly allowed him to rest easy.
It was an absolute honour to have the field named after Dixie and the opening of Dixie Currivan Park was an immense day of pride for us, Dixie’s family and friends. Despite knowing that Dixie would have tutted about the field being named after him and all the fuss that went into organising that fantastic day, I feel as though he would have been profoundly honoured and proud.
One of my fondest memories of Dixie is helping to count the tickets for the Cashel Town FC lotto draw at bingo on a Saturday night. Myself and Dixie would be sat around a table in the back room of Halla Na Feile along with other members of cashel town fc. I still recall the silence in that room as I watched Dixie counting the money from the tickets and how I waited eagerly for the half-time interval at bingo so I could go buy a can of Cidona and some sweets, not with my own money of course. I distinctly remember how Dixie would make his way downtown with his ‘Saturday night gang’ for a couple of pints around the town. Myself and my uncle Joe knew he was home when we heard him plodding up the stairs to ‘the bunker’ quite a few hours later.
During Dixie’s battle with cancer, I vividly remember visiting him in Dublin hospital. Myself and my brother Michael would head off on a walk down to the closest spar with Dixie for a bottle of lucozade or some sweets. However it wasn’t really a walk, it was more of a sprint down as Dixie wasn’t one for strolling. I recall one of the doctors questioning him as to why he walked so briskly and if he walked greyhounds for a living!
I don’t think we will ever truly know about all the achievements of this private, modest man nor will we ever understand the extent to which Dixie diligently dedicated himself to Cashel Town FC and the work he completed behind the scenes. Dixie was unquestionably a football man to the core.