John "Kruger" Fagan also known as Jackie Fagan, was an Irish football player and prominent member of the

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

team during the 1920s. He also played for the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. His son Paddy Fagan played for the Republic of Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s. They were the first father and son to play for an Ireland team selected by the FAI''The Complete Who's Who of Irish International Football, 1945–96'' (1996):Stephen McGarrigl

/ref>

Shamrock Rovers

Fagan came from the Markets area of Dublin and was just under 5'2" in height. Sean Ryan refers to him as veteran of the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

. In 1922–23 he helped

win their first

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

title. During the 1924–25 season, together with

Bob Fullam Robert "Bob" Fullam (1895–1971) was an Irish footballer and one of the best-known players in the League of Ireland in the 1920 A versatile attacking player, he was skilful but also had a tough-man image. Born in Ringsend, the son of John and ...

John Joe Flood John Joe Flood, also referred to as Jonjo Flood or John Flood, was an Irish footballer who played as a forward for Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers, Leeds United and Crystal Palace. As an international, he also played for and captained the Irish Fre ...

and Billy Farrell, he formed part of a legendary forward-line known as the ''Four F's''. He had a particular good partnership with Fullam. The season also saw Rovers win a League of Ireland,

League of Ireland Shield The League of Ireland Shield ( ga, Sciath Sraithe na hÉireann) is a defunct Irish football tournament which was introduced when the League of Ireland started in 1921 and ran uninterrupted until 1972. It was played before the league season began ...

and

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

treble. They won the 1924–25 FAI Cup after beating Shelbourne 2-1 at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known as D ...

before an attendance of 25,000. Rovers went through the 1924–25 season undefeated and thus became the first side in the brief history of the League to win the title twice. Fagan also played and scored for Rovers in the

1925–26 FAI Cup The FAI Cup 1925-26 was the fifth edition of Ireland's premier cup competition, The Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup or FAI Cup. The tournament began on 9 January 1926 and concluded on 17 March with the final held at Dalymount Park, ...

final defeat to Fordsons. He helped Rovers win a third League of Ireland title in 1926–27. During the summer of 1929 he suffered a serious illness which effectively ended his Rovers career. He left the club in December but shortly afterwards featured as a left half for Kingswood in the Leinster Senior League Second Division.

International career

League of Ireland XI

Between 1924 and 1927 Fagan also made five appearances for the

. On 9 February 1924, he played in the selection first official game when they made their debut in a 3–3 draw against the Welsh Football League XI at

. Among his teammates were Frank Collins,

Ernie MacKay Ernest MacKay (7 October 1896 – November 1995) was an Irish footballer who played in an international tournament representing Ireland in 1924. Personal life MacKay was born in Tipperary as the second son and fifth child of John and Mary Eliza ...

Bertie Kerr Herbert William Joseph Kerr (19 October 1896 – 23 November 1973), also known as Bertie Kerr or Bert Kerr, was an Irish association football player during the 1910s and 1920s. Kerr played for Bohemians, the League of Ireland XI and Irelan ...

, Dave Roberts, Johnny McIlroy and

Christy Robinson Christopher "Christy" Robinson (1902 – 21 February 1954) was an Republic of Ireland, Irish soccer player during the 1920s and 1930s. Robinson was a skilful inside forward during this era in the League of Ireland and was part of the All-Conq ...

. Fagan provided two assists, with MacKay and Roberts both scoring from crosses he provided. On 13 March 1926 he also featured when the League of Ireland XI played the

Irish League XI The Irish League representative team was the representative side of the Irish Football League, the national league for football in Northern Ireland from 1922 and, prior to that the league for Ireland. The Irish League was suspended from 1941–42 t ...

for the first time. His teammates this time included Collins, Frank Brady,

Val Harris Valentine Harris (Irish: ''Vailintín Ó hEarchaí''; 23 June 1884 in Ringsend, Dublin, Ireland – 9 November 1963), commonly referred to as Val Harris, was an Irish footballer who played Gaelic football for the Dublin county team and soccer f ...

Charlie Dowdall Charles Dowdall (7 April 1898 – 7 November 1987) was an Irish footballer. He played for several clubs in both the League of Ireland and the English League and was also capped at international level by Ireland. He was born in Dublin. Club car ...

and the other three ''Four F's''. The League of Ireland XI won this game 3-1.

FAI XI

On 23 February 1924 Fagan also played for an FAI XI in a prestige friendly against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. 18,000 turned up at

to see Celtic win 3-0. The game was used by the FAI to raise funds to help send a squad to the 1924 Olympic Games. His teammates for this game included Jack McCarthy,

and

.''Freestaters - The Republic of Ireland Soccer Team 1921-1939'' (2007): Donal Cullen

Ireland

Fagan made his only appearance for

in a 3-0 away defeat against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 21 March 1926. His teammates on this occasion included

Harry Cannon Henry James Cannon (11 July 1897 – 16 March 1944) was an Irish football player during the 1920s and 1930s. Bohemians Cannon was a goalkeeper during this era in the League of Ireland and spent most of his career with Bohemians. He captained ...

, Frank Brady, Jack McCarthy,

Dinny Doyle Denis "Dinny" Doyle (born 1900, date of death unknown) was an Republic of Ireland, Irish football midfielder, wing half who played professionally in Ireland and the United States. He earned one cap (sport), cap with the Irish Free State nation ...

and

. www.soccerscene.ie
/ref>

Honours

: 3 ** 1922–23, 1924–25, 1926–27 *

: 1 ** 1924–25 *

: 2 **1924–25, 1926–27 * Leinster Senior Cup: 2 **1923, 1927

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fagan, John Republic of Ireland association footballers Irish Free State international footballers Shamrock Rovers F.C. players League of Ireland players League of Ireland XI players People of the Irish War of Independence Leinster Senior League (association football) players Association football outside forwards 1900 births 1966 deaths