Chris recalls breaking world record in Carlow for longest indoor soccer match in 1977
Chris Connolly proudly shows his Guinness World Record medal that he was awarded after playing soccer for more than 80 consecutive hours in Carlow Regional Technical College
A SOCCER fan who broke a Guinness World Record for playing the longest game of football at that time in 1978 is appealing for any photographs of the momentous event.
Chris Connolly (68) was one of ten students from Carlow Regional Technical College (today known as SETU) who played a game of indoor soccer continuously for 81 hours and two minutes in 1978 to raise money for Concern, in the process breaking a Guinness World Record.
The students were given a five-minute break for every 45 minutes played, time they used to eat, use the facilities or have their muscles massaged.
Player substitutions were not allowed so all ten students played continuously for the 81 hours. There was, however, a doctor in attendance who examined the players at regular intervals.
Chris said that most of the players became delusional or started hallucinating as the game went on.
One of the referees told Chris late into the game “one of your colleagues won’t cross the halfway line because he’s afraid he’ll fall off a cliff.” At one point, Chris said that he saw his own hand go through a solid wall.
“It started out as just a bit of fun,” recalled Chris. “It started out as a 24-hour match to raise some money for Concern charity” During the match, the students discovered that another Irish team had set the record for the longest indoor soccer match at 72 hours and decided to try and beat that. However, the students then discovered that members of the British Royal Air Force had also just set a new record of 80 hours of play.
“So that was spurring us on to break their record. Their record, unfortunately for them, was very short lived,” said Chris.
The game was held in the college’s gym and was organised by the college students’ union and a Concern action committee.
Kick-off was at 11am on Tuesday 1 March and ended at 7.04pm on Thursday 4 March 1978. In total, the game raised £500 for charity, equivalent to about €3,780 in today’s money.
Ten referees swapped in and out over the course of the game and there was a panel of four scorekeepers. In total, over 4,000 goals were scored. Other students and teachers were also on hand to wash players’ clothes, boost morale and provide refreshments.
An article published about the match in from the time said that upon the final whistle, the students were “greeted by thunderous and prolonged applause by the large crowd which had gathered at the college gymnasium where the marathon was staged”.
The next day when the students walked into the college canteen, Chris said that everyone in the room stood up and sang the theme tune.
Chris does not have any photos of the event and would love some visual reminders of that historic 80 plus hours. If you have any photos of the game, please get in touch with him on connollychris57@gmail.com
