Annemarie McCormack has been there from the very start of Moneyglass’s 30-year journey to the summit of ladies club football

IT all started in 1995 with a poster in a shop – and we’re not just talking about the formation of Moneyglass ladies.

Prior to that historic year, there was no such thing as Antrim ladies football. But Pauline McCoy – mother of present Moneyglass captain Niamh McIntosh –and three college friends took it upon themselves to rectify the situation.

You can’t have competitions without participants so McCoy and her three buddies set about forming clubs in their respective parishes. There was no such thing as throwing up a Facebook post or two those days, so instead, notices were placed in shop windows.

And thus – tah dah! – Moneyglass ladies was born. Among the rookies who answered the call was Annemarie McCormack, who played through what she modestly describes as an “alright” playing career. Today she’s part of the backroom team of a Moneyglass team who have gone boldly where no Antrim team has been – an All-Ireland Senior Club Ladies final. Saturday’s the date, Croke Park the venue, and the opponents are none other than Kilkerrin-Clonberne –the four in-a-row champions who haven’t lost a single game in club, province or county in half-a-decade. Like a ladies footballing Floyd Mayweather.

For first, let’s bring it all back to those embryonic days that started it all. McCormack was there from day dot, and it’s been a long, arduous but enjoyable journey to the cusp of the pre-eminent titles in ladies club football.

“I remember Pauline put up a sign in the wee corner shop, to start a football team. I said ‘right, I’ll go to that.’ I went the first night and haven’t left it since. Even when I was pregnant with the two boys, I was there helping in some capacity. I just wanted to be involved and I knew we’d get there in the end.

“We were okay back in the day and we won an Ulster Junior title in 2003. I was playing that day. We had to go up a level and that was tricky. We won an Antrim Intermediate title in 2020 and we haven’t really looked back.”

That’s putting it mildly. They subsequently deposed St Paul’s as the foremost force in Antrim ladies football, winning five successive senior championships. That’s been perfectly mirrored at underage level with five minor titles in-a-row as well as a swathe of other underage titles. That didn’t come about by chance, and McCormack says one of the leading lights behind the scenes has been her elder sister Cathy Carey, who remains an integral part of the Moneyglass senior team.

“A lot of work was put into underage, by Cathy in particular. She’s got so much knowledge about sporting matters, and she’s so passionate as well.

“She realised if we wanted to drive forward and get to the position we’re in now, that we really needed to focus on our underage and bringing them through.

“We had talent at senior level but we just couldn’t get over the finish line. We had a couple of really good Féile teams and we won back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022, and those girls are coming through now and are already very important members of the team.”

She added: “It took a lot of hard graft and that continues to be the case. I should say that we get plenty of support from our committee as well, which is headed up by Sarah McCann, who used to play for us.”

McCormack’s family is steeped in the GAA. One son – Tiernan – captained Antrim u-20s and won a colleges All-Star for his performances with St Patrick’s, Maghera in the 2023/24 season. His younger brother, Sionan, represented Ulster in an u-15 set-up this year, while Annemarie’s husband Darren is part of the Moneyglass men’s managerial set-up.

She said: “It’s very busy with the boys. Sionan is playing Rannafast with St Pat’s, and he’s been playing with their hurlers as well. Tiernan is now up at university and it’s up with senior trials at the minute.

“The boys wanted to go to St Pat’s because of their sporting background. We said to them, that if they go to St Pat’s, they’re going to have to work very hard because it’s a very big school with a lot of exceptional sporting people. To be fair they are working hard and they really love it.”

Arguably the defining moment of Moneyglass’s season was their provincial semi-final win over Clann Éireann, the back-to-back champions against whom they had suffered heartbreak in the past. They were warm favourites to surmount the challenge of Tyrone side Errigal Ciaran in the final, but McCormack always makes doubly sure that there’s no complacency in the ranks.

“It was the third year running we came up against Clann Éireann. We had Bredagh first of all away from home on a horrible, horrible day. Then we were away again against Clann Éireann – we’ve had to play them in their own backyard each time, but that’s the luck of the draw.

“It was great to come through that one, but the message has very much been that it’s one game at a time. If anyone comes up to me and says ‘when would such-and-such game be on’, I say ‘I don’t know.’ You haven’t got over any particular game until the final whistle, and that’s how I always look at it.

“It was a bit like that in the Ulster final – people said you’re bound to win that one, and I said ‘absolutely not, they’re not in an Ulster final for no reason.’ We know as well as anyone that Ulster is hard – it’s a hard, hard competition.”

They conquered the Errigal Ciaran challenge in style to clinch a historic Ulster Senior Championship title. After that, they were pitted against last year’s beaten All-Ireland finalists, Kilmacud Croke’s, a club that needs little in the way of introduction. Again they were away from home, but they produce a performance of real steel to carve out a two-point victory. McCormack says it took a moment to absorb that Croke Park beckoned.

“It didn’t actually hit me right away. That game against Kilmacud Croke’s was always going to go down to the wire – there was a lot of pressure, a lot of stress, and it was only about two minutes after the final whistle, that I thought ‘hold on a minute here, we’re actually going to Croke Park.’

“It’s something that as a player, I always wanted to do. Our girls are getting that opportunity and it means just as much to me as if I was still playing myself.

“It’s unbelievable but I do appreciate we have to rein in the girls – that it’s just another pitch. This year we’ve had to go to Bredagh, to Lurgan, to Brewster Park and to Croke’s, so we’ve been traveling quite a bit. In that sense we’re well-used to traveling.”

Another factor is that a number of their players have already experienced lining out in Croke Park through their county commitments.

“We’ve quite a few girls who have played there. It isn’t to be taken lightly – Croke Park is massive, but at least some of our girls have been there, and they’ll help soothe any nervousness in the rest of the girls – not that there seems to be any nervousness in the camp.”

Understatement of the century, but it’s a massive occasion for the entire club and community. To have their name up in lights on the national stage is history in the making, and everyone is walking with a certain lightness of feet this week.

“There’s messages from other clubs, and girls are getting messages from managers who have coached us in the past. Donal Laverty was part of the management when we beat Donaghmoyne a few years back, they were Ulster champions at the time. Benny Marron was our manager as well, and you’re getting all these messages from true Moneyglass people but also other clubs as well.

“It’s a very small area – everybody knows each other, and you’re walking about with pride. They’re proud to wear their Moneyglass gear any time of the year, but now we’re in an All-Ireland final, you see all the smiles from everyone and they’re keen to know how we’re getting on.”

Had things worked out differently, Moneyglass would have held their dinner dance last weekend. It’s been put on hold until the end of January. An All-Ireland final is rather more important.

“It’s been postponed to the end of January, the club thought it was the right thing to do, and we’re happy enough with that.

“We want to continue to push on, and hopefully this team is leaving behind a legacy that will be remembered. Next year it will be our 30th anniversary, and we’ll do something to mark that, but we have other pressing matters at the moment!”