By Shaun Casey

CHAMPIONSHIP titles are much sought after but difficult to obtain. They don’t come around every year and Warrenpoint know that fact better than most.

Two Junior titles in 1932 and 1940 along with three senior successes across ten years during the 40s and 50s was the extent of their roll of honour until 2001. There was another addition to the trophy cabinet that year.

1978 was the last time the club even competed in a championship decider. The range of emotions that come with running out on county final day were all new to a bunch of players that wanted to change fortunes of Warrenpoint.

A mixture of youth and experience intertwined to guide the club to a first-ever Intermediate Championship crown. Ciaran Rice was the captain and goalkeeper of the team and fondly recalls their double winning campaign 25 years on.

“I started playing when I was 18 around ’92 or ’93 and we were a yoyo team,” Rice explained. “We would go up to the first division and the senior championship and maybe win a game and then be relegated the next season.

“We could never get momentum or built on anything in the championship, even in intermediate. That year we got a new manager, Johnny McComiskey, he came in with a great reputation – he took Liatroim to a senior final against Clonduff a few years beforehand.”

The foot and mouth disease brought everything to a standstill in the early part of 2001. But the Warrenpoint squad, led by the skipper, refused to take any time off and preparations for the season ahead continued.

“Martin McGarry and Gerry Gray made up the management team, and it was a weird start because the foot and mouth hit and curtailed the start of our season. Our field – we only had one – was in the circle of the foot and mouth.

“A few of us decided that we would go to the Mourne Mountains and Kilbroney Park and we’d train ourselves because it wasn’t in a restricted area.

“At the start of the season, we didn’t play our first few games. Other clubs were allowed to but we missed the first two or three games and trained on our own and tried to keep our fitness in check until the season started.”

Once the football started, everything clicked. The league was the main focus from early on as Warrenpoint wanted to get back to Division One and play Senior Championship ball again.

“The main thing for most of that team and the older players was to get to the first division and stay there. The main thing was to get out of Division Two and if we got a run in the championship, that would be a bonus.”

Good league form saw Warrenpoint enter the championship in fine fettle. They’d only lost two of their league games, one by the minimum of margins against Saval and to Annaclone.

“It was a very competitive league” Rice continued.

“Bryansford were relegated the year before, Annaclone and Saval were very strong, but we won our first few games, and it took off from there.

“We had very few injuries. We had a good blend (of youth and experience) and had a really good league campaign, but it went to a playoff so we weren’t guaranteed promotion, the top four teams played off in a round robin to go up, that was played after the championship.”

More on that later. The championship was the main focus and Warrenpoint were expected to come through their opening round tie with Tullylish fairly handily. But a hiccup beforehand almost cost them.

“We landed into the changing rooms and were getting ready and noticed that we’d no jerseys,” chuckled Rice, seeing the funny side all these years on.

“Panic stations. The referee gave us 15 minutes grace and Gerry Gray booted down the road, got the jerseys and we narrowly scraped through by three points.

“It was Johnny’s first championship game with us, and it was comical. Nobody laughed but after the game we were able to have a bit of a laugh about it.

“Our performance wasn’t great and maybe the jersey thing didn’t help but we scraped through to play our rivals Saval in the quarter-final.”

Both sides had experienced one-point wins over the other during the league, so the last eight clash was sure to be a close-run thing. A red card just before half time to Liam Howlett could have hindered their progression, but Warrenpoint
battled through to reach the last
four.

“The second half, it was just backs to the wall and we had a brilliant performance to win by two-points and that was a real tight battle. It was great to get through with 14 players.

“We had a player Johnny Cowan and Johnny had to leave after that; he was going to America on a scholarship.

“Johnny had an immense game, but we were missing him for the semi-final and the final then.”

September 1st, 2001, is widely remembered across the country for the sporting greatness displayed that day.

Jason McAteer rattled the back of the Netherlands net to book Ireland’s place at the 2002 World Cup.

In Newcastle however, an appearance in an intermediate final was the be-all and end-all that day.

“I think there was a U2 concert that night in Dublin as well, so a lot of people had to sell their tickets and go to the game!

“It was our worst performance of the year. We won by a point, big Tom Franklin scored a wonder point in the last minute to get us through, but semi-finals are there to be won.

“It was the same time as the Ireland game, and it was the days before social media, so we didn’t have a clue how it went but it helped with the celebrations that night.”

A first final appearance in over 20 years awaited Warrenpoint, but they had nothing won yet.

“That game was on a Saturday and the other semi-final was on the Sunday but on the Monday, Johnny trailed us to Kilbroney to trash the life out of us after our performance.

“Johnny took us back down to earth pretty quickly. With the management team we had, they really kept us focused. Johnny was real old school, and the trainings were tough, hard, heavy hitting, there was no easy going.

“There was a two-week gap before the final and the first week was hell for leather. The second week, we went to train in Newry, the final was in Newry, it was fairly laid back, and we didn’t do too much.”

While the quarter-finals and semi-finals were touch and go, the decider was a little more relaxed. Warrenpoint had Longstone’s number and a man of the match display from All-Ireland winner Micéal Magill helped them to a 1-12 to 0-8 success.

The comfortable win still sparked wild scenes of celebration.

“We still went crazy, it was brilliant,” Rice added.

“A lot of players had never won anything, so we celebrated but the following week we were going into the playoffs to get promoted.

“We enjoyed the Sunday club and the Monday club, Johnny trained us on Tuesday but there was a bit of a Tuesday club as well, so we did go for it as many teams do once, they win a championship.”

With the championship crown in the bag, a dream double was suddenly on the cards. Wins over Atticall and Annaclone sent Warrenpoint through to a winner-takes-all final round clash with Bryansford. Both had been
promoted, but the league title was on the line.

“It was probably the best game of the year. Bryansford were always a Division One team, but they had the likes of Brian Burns, an All-Ireland winner, and they had a very strong team.

“It was a tight first half and we
lost a player, big Kevin Franklin decided to get sent off before half time and we were a point down at half time, but the second half display was our best performance of the whole year.

“Bryansford didn’t score from play in the second half with an extra player and we ended up winning by five or six.”

A quarter of a century on, the players are keen to mark the occasion and celebrate the success, just as they did in 2021.

“We did a 20-year one five years ago.

“There was an old video of the game, and we had it on the TV, and we had a good laugh.

“I was speaking to Kieran Grant last week, one of the players from that team, and we were saying we’d need to do something.

“It’s also 30 years since his team won the u-16 championship, so we are hoping to do something for 25 years. Whether it’s part of the club’s celebrations or maybe our own thing, it’s been mentioned so we’ll definitely have to do something.”

DREAM TEAM…The Warrenpoint squad that won the league and championship double in 2001

MAIN MAN… Micéal Magill was the man of the match against Longstone in the 2001 county final.

BIG OCCASION…Warrenpoint’s meeting with Saval clashed with Jason McAteer’s historic goal

RED MIST…Liam Howlett received a red card in Warrenpoint’s last eight victory.