2016

ANTRIM won six of their seven matches played in Division Four in 2016. Their only dropped point in that National League campaign was in their draw with Louth in the final round of the league.

Promotion was confirmed in round six with their win over Wicklow, 2-13 to 1-12. However, they would lose to the Wee county in the league final. That season, Antrim had some super forwards including Tomas McCann as well as Brian Neeson who was also an Irish League goalkeeper.

Unfortunately in the Ulster Championship, Antrim came up against a Fermanagh team who had maintained their place in Division Two with wins over Meath and Laois, and draws with Tyrone and Galway.

Antrim then met Limerick in round one of the Qualifiers and lost 0-9 to 2-6. Neeson didn’t play, but they had scores from Ryan Murray, Paddy McBride, Kevin Niblock, and Matthew Fitzpatrick, though they couldn’t beat Limerick whose ’keeper Donal O’Sullivan made three saves to stop Antrim.

2010

ANTRIM won five of their seven games played in Division Three to finish joint top alongside Sligo. That meant they were promoted to Division Two for the 2011 season.

The 2010 league campaign included wins over Sligo, Cavan, Fermanagh, Roscommon and Louth.

Antrim lost their final round game to Wexford but it didn’t matter as they qualified for promotion as they still finished joint top with 10 points. The Saffron goalkeeper back then was Sean McGreevy. Sean Kelly, who is now part of the Saffron management, played in the half-back line that season.

Other St Gall’s players, who won the All-Ireland Club Championship, included Colin Brady, Terry O’Neill, Aodhan Gallagher and CJ McGourty. James Loughrey, who has since moved to Cork, played in the half-forward line that year.

Antrim met Tyrone in the Ulster Championship, the team who beat them in the Ulster final in the previous season, in the first round and lost by 2-14 to 1-13.

Tyrone were brilliant for long periods, but the Saffrons, managed by Liam Bradley, pushed them all the way to the finish.

In the Qualifiers round one, Antrim played Kildare and drew with them by 0-15 apiece. Bradley’s side had chances to win in normal time but didn’t take them.

Kevin McGourty had equalised the game in normal time, and Paddy Cunningham missed a chance to win. Then in extra-time, Cunningham equalised and it was Tomas McCann, whose effort to win drifted wide and the game finished all square. In the replay, Antrim lost by 0-9 to 1-15.

2009

ANTRIM’S 2009 season will not be forgotten by the Saffron fans for a long time. But their championship run was built on the foundations of their league campaign.

Liam Bradley was the manager and he guided the team to promotion. Division Four was a nine-team affair as Kilkenny entered the football league back in those days. After drawing with Wicklow in round one, they beat Kilkenny and Clare. Antrim then drew with Leitrim, before beating Carlow, London, Sligo and Waterford. mUnfortunately they lost their final to Sligo. But they put that aside and then went on a fairytale run in the Ulster Championship.

They beat Donegal, who three years later would be All-Ireland champions, and Cavan on the way to the final, but Tyrone were too good. Then in the All-Ireland series they were drawn against the mighty Kerry, and lost 1-10 to 2-12. Stars during that season were Mick McCann, Tomas McCann and Paddy Cunningham. The now north Belfast MP John Finucane was between the posts that day against Kerry. Niall McKeever was a young man back then, as those were they days before he shipped off to the AFL.

19881989

THE Saffrons finished in first place of Division Three North, back when leagues were eight teams strong and split according to location. The previous seasons they had come close to topping Division Three North, missing out to table-toppers Louth in the 198788 season, and Galway in the 198687 campaign. The Saffrons won five games, and drew two. They played Kerry in the quarter-finals, a Kerry team that had finished second in Division One to Dublin. Unfortunately for Antrim they lost to Monaghan in the preliminary round of the Championship 1989 was the same year that Antrim won the Ulster U-21 Football Championship.

198182

THE Saffrons missed out on top spot in Division Three by a hair to Wicklow. The Garden county won six out of seven matches. Antrim won six, drew one and lost one. However finishing second meant that Antrim were moved up to Division Two for the ‘82’83 campaign.

That form led them into the Ulster Championship where they beat Cavan in round one by 1-7 to 0-8. Back in those days Alec McQuillan was one of the key forwards for Antrim.

Then in the semi-final they went up against an Armagh team which had topped Division One, two points ahead of Cork. PJ O’Hare scored 1-1 for Antrim, McQuillan got 0-3, Donal Armstrong scored 0-1, but they couldn’t beat Armagh who scored 1-20. The Orchard would go on to win the Ulster title.

ON THE UP… Antrim’s  Richard Johnson  in action against Louth’s Eoghan Lafferty during the 2016 National Football League

YOUNG MAN… Niall McKeever playing for Antrim against Sligo in the successful 2009 National League campaign