TD 1
Operating a chipper van inside a stadium is not w
ithout its risk of injury, however. O’Doherty recalls a time when one of the arms holding up the hatch on the side of the van was struck by a stray ball. “We’re right behind the goal and we have had numerous items in the catering unit broken. The arm that holds up the hatch is now slanted, and it always happens when they’re practicing their shots, so we tend not to open up now until shooting practice is over.” “If they hit the net as much as they hit our Shane O’Doherty Owner of The Little Grill “We’ll never be rich, not out of Shelbourne anyway,” Shane O’Doherty, owner of The Little Grill, jokingly tells me.We meet just outside of Grogans pub on South William Street and O’Doherty is accompanied by his mother, Alison. O’Doherty operates his fast-food van for Shelbourne FC in the grounds of Tolka Park on matchdays. Now into his third or fourth season – a definitive starting date can’t be given as it “feels like a lifetime when you’re in the van,” – O’Doherty says that it wasn’t always the plan to get into the catering business. “I had savings to get a new car, but I saw it (the van) on DoneDeal, and I said I’d love to give this a try. I pulled it into my mam’s garden, and she said, ‘what are you doing with that?’ and I said, ‘well, here we go.’” O’Doherty has been a fan of Shels for most of his life and played for the club from under-12s to under-17s, but catering for the loyal fans in Drumcondra kind of happened by chance. “The guy who I bought the chipper van from had the contract for Shelbourne. There were three Shelbourne games left in the season and he asked could they keep it until the league was over. He then asked me to do the three games – so I done them. The club were happy with the service and I was happy doing it, so I stayed on.” O’Doherty, like many people involved in League of Ireland clubs, has a full-time job in addition to his gig at Tolka Park. “I’m in the Air Corps and Defense Forces,” he says. “On Thursday I finish at about four or five. I head to Musgraves and get the stuff for the match.” “Magically,” he answers when asked how he manages to balance both jobs. “I get a lot of help, there’s a lot of man hours and because it’s mobile it has to be moved from location to location. It’s a full family affair, the ma helps out a lot and often we drag other people down to chip in.” To make sure he doesn’t buy too much or too little stock for the match, O’Doherty would often ring ahead, to see how many fans Shels’ opposition are bringing that weekend. “We’ll contact the club and ask, ‘has Limerick been on to you?’ and they’ll say yeah, they’re bringing 200 fans with them.” “Each match is different. Wexford Youths won’t bring a big crowd, Athlone will bring an OK crowd, Cork will bring a huge crowd. After a while you kind of know how big the crowd will be.” van they would be in the Premier Division,” he says with a grin. Nursing the last of his pint, O’Doherty and his mother are warm and friendly, characteristics that seem to translate to matchday. “Let’s just say we tend to look after the people.” By “looking after the people”, O’Doherty means that he’s rather liberal with his prices, an unofficial policy that has endeared him to the Shelbourne faithful. “We’re living in a country where everything is crazily priced. You hear a child coming down, you don’t even see them, you just hear two euro being put on the counter and you peel over, and you say, ‘hiya bud’, and he’ll say, ‘can I get chips and a drink?’ Now, chips alone are three euro but that little kid will go away with chips, sausages and a drink. Some kids do have it and some kids don’t, but we don’t treat them differently.” “You see, some of the regulars have been to see Shels since the ‘50s and ‘60s. They brought their children and now their bringing their grandchildren. These guys are coming generations and generations, most of the people down there are volunteers. Even the stewards would come up. You picture Friday night in October or November and it’s teaming down rain, these guys are standing there watching more-or-less grass roots, these are all Irish players. We just look after them. Our prices tend to bend the odd time, yeah.” “I would definitely describe Shelbourne as a family club,” he emphasizes as we finish up. “We see the enormous effort that these guys put in to support and run the club, so we like to contribute and give something back.” Before we part ways, I wonder where the cooking experience comes from. “I spent two years in the kitchen in the Defense Forces, so I picked up the basics there.” “Sure I fed him all my life,” says O’Doherty. “Yeah, she’s like SpongeBob with those burger patties so she is,” O’Doherty admits. “But I’ll tell you something, I have the best goddamn curry chips in Dublin,” he exclaims. “I’ll never tell anybody how I do it. It’s a secret.” She’s like SpongeBob with those burger patties so she is. 25