‘What it meant to them was absolutely unbelievable. They were just so thankful’
TWO DAYS ON, it’s only really starting to sink in for Bohemians star Lisa Murphy.
Wednesday night at Dalymount Park will live long in the memory.
Bohs hosted Palestine in an historic friendly, with a sold-out crowd of 4,390 watching on.
Palestine won 2-1, but this was about much more than football.
“It was just amazing,” Murphy, the club’s most-capped women’s player, tells The 42.
“It’s all calmed down now, but I still can’t put into words what it was like.
“It wasn’t about winning, it wasn’t about losing — and I’m really competitive. I don’t like losing! But for the first time in my life, I was actually happy they won.
“What it meant to them was absolutely unbelievable. They were crying and I was like, ‘Don’t be crying.’ They were just so thankful and I think that’s what really, really was the most important thing for them.
“We’ve made friends with these girls. They’ve added us on social media. Hopefully we will stay in touch. I really do hope that it stops, whatever has to happen to make it stop.”
The match was arranged to “highlight the human rights violations in occupied Palestine”, the Bohemians website said.
More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip — and hundreds more in the West Bank — since Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.
Both teams celebrate after the game. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
In the build-up to Wednesday’s game, several activities were organised for both teams and their respective delegations.
A morning at the Mansion House was particularly striking for Murphy.
“It was just crazy hearing how their life is… how they haven’t got to play football since October. Their season was supposed to start on the 10th of October and what happened on the 7th… they hadn’t kicked a football.
“We go out and we play every weekend, we train when we want to train. We just have that privilege of doing what we want and that has been taken away from them.”
For 90 minutes, the Palestinian women’s team could play freely.
And then, take solace in the solidarity.
Football unites, and that showed through the raw emotion and powerful scenes in Inchicore.
“I have never experienced what I felt in Dalymount that night,” Murphy says. “It was crazy.
“I have been to many matches in Dalymount, women’s, men’s… it was literally history in itself. The crowd, every stand did not stop.”
Murphy’s family and friends were there to share the occasion with her.
The Dubliner held her six-year-old son, Jackson, in her arms after the final whistle, as always — but this time was perhaps more special.
🗣 ‘We have the privilege of playing every week […] I wouldn’t have the courage to do that.’
🔴⚫ @bfcdublin midfielder Lisa Murphy speaks to @ashoreilly_ after their friendly with Palestine in a sold-out Dalymount Park. 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/bgJXfe0SbJ
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) May 16, 2024
“He comes to every game, he’s part of Bohs. Everyone knows Jackson!
“He got a Palestine jersey off the Palestine girls. He got all of them to sign his football. He actually went and ate with them [after the game] and not me. Even when [DJ] Annie Mac was playing, he was still there getting involved.
“For him to experience that at just six years old… I never experienced it. There’s no words that can describe how happy I am.”
Murphy’s passion and love for Bohs shines through with each and every word she utters.
The 29-year-old is in her fourth season there, having previously represented Shamrock Rovers and Kilkenny United before taking a break when she became a mother.
She’s back to her brilliant best now and a mainstay for Ken Kiernan’s side, whether that be in central defence or midfield. But it’s about so much more than that.
“I can’t even put into words what Bohs means to me as a player,” Murphy concludes. “It’s so special. It’s the club for me — and no doubt the club I’ll retire at.
“What they do off the pitch and what they do on the pitch, there is no other club like them. From the chairman to the directors to the coaches… everyone in Bohs, we wear our hearts on our sleeve and I think that’s the most important thing in football.
“We’re a community and whoever needs help in the community, or outside community, Bohs is always there to help them.
“What they have done for me and helped me through — knowing that I’m a mother and I still want to play League of Ireland. It’s not easy, I work as well, so helping me with Jackson and always having him involved… he comes to training, he comes to everything and they accept that.
“I couldn’t thank them enough.”
