Remembering a Red Knight

By Niall Gartland

THIS Saturday, Beragh Red Knights will host a special tribute night in honour of the club’s very own Frank Rodgers, who passed away last August after a lifetime of dedicated service to the GAA.

Without meaning to detract from the contributions of legions of other devoted club people, Beragh Red Knights as we know it today would look rather different without the vision and drive of Frank Rodgers.

The club’s name change was his idea (harking back to a much earlier guise and a hat-tip to Irish Mythology) and so was the distinctive all-red strip that we’ve all come to associate with their teams down the decades.

Branding aside, he modernised Beragh’s facilities and coaching structures, feeding into an unprecedented period of success for the club at underage level during the eighties.

He also served as Tyrone GAC secretary from a quarter of a century between 1975 and 2000 and was described last year in an official tribute piece from the county as “one of a group of radical, innovative and visionary people who changed the path of GAA history here.”

On top of being a respected administrator, he was a well-known figure in the media world. He broke new ground for the GAA in the 1970s when he reported on Gaelic games for BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sportsound, a role he held from 1974 to 1996.

Frank was also synonymous with GAA coverage in the UH, starting a ground-breaking weekly column in 1972, and his son Alan, a journalist at the Herald, has been thoroughly immersed in the preparations for the upcoming celebratory evening.

The ‘Remembering a Red Knight’ event will be held this Saturday (7.30pm) at St Mary’s Park Community Hub and it will be compered by Beragh vice-chairperson Gerard Treacy.

As well as an exhibition of memorabilia, attendees will have the opportunity to view a professionally produced film entitled ‘Let’s Be Frank’, described as a “significant production” by his son Alan.

“There’s an exhibition of memorabilia related to Beragh, Tyrone and the media, much of which hasn’t been seen before. The photographs have been kindly provided by local photographer Pat McSorley.

“In addition, we have produced a film called ‘Let’s Be Frank’ which looks at his life in GAA, from his early days playing for Beragh and Tyrone, to his administrative and media work.

“The film has contributions from GAA President Jarlath Burns, Des McMahon, the architect of Croke Park who was a playing colleague and life-long friend of my father.

“There are also contributions from Mark Sidebottom of the BBC, and Dominic McClements, Managing Director of the North West News Group.

“It lasts about 25 minutes and it’s a fairly significant production, it’s a rare if not unique thing for our club and family to have done.”

Frank helped usher in a new era for the Beragh club upon his appointment at club secretary in 1968, a position he held with distinction for a full quarter of a century.

During his tenure, he changed the name of the club, spearheaded the development (and redevelopments) of St Mary’s Park and won the prestigious MacNamee Award for Best Club Secretary Report in Ireland.

Alan recalls: “My father became secretary in 1968 and immediately things began to move in terms of the Beragh club. The club was formed in 1906, but I suppose when he became involved it was brought into the modern era.

“In 1972, the name was changed to the Beragh Red Knights. You have to remember that in the early 1970s, the GAA in Tyrone was from a bygone era almost, and then the Beragh Red Knights came along and my father through his work with the Herald began to create this aura around the club.

“There was the name, the all-red strip, the kit bags, youth trips, badges, a club song and they had a reasonably good team as well. The first year of the name change, my father managed the team to the senior grade, and then the pitch was redeveloped and officially opened in 1974.

“It really was one of the best grounds in the country, and it still is but back then especially as you had a perimeter fence and even something as simple as dressing rooms.

“You had further developments and then the stand was added in 1983, only the second stand in Tyrone at the time, the first being built in Carrickmore.”

He continued: “The 1980s will also be remembered as a golden era for the Beragh Red Knights club at underage level and that was down to the work of Frank Rodgers and others. For example, in 1985 Beragh won the Juvenile Grade One title, that remains the club’s only title at Grade One level.”

Described upon his passing as being ‘ahead of his time’ by county chairperson Martin Sludden, Frank also played a significant role in overhauling the club structures in Tyrone. Alongside Bertie Foley, he brought together the East and West Tyrone leagues.

He also drove the move to three leagues of 16 teams, a state of affairs that has more or less remained unchanged to this day, while his unyielding efforts in promoting Tyrone GAA ran in tandem with his administrative work.

Alan said, “In the 1960s, the organisation of club football could be described I suppose as fragmented. It was only really in the early 1970s that things began to take off in terms of the All-County Leagues and having a proper structure for the organisation of matches, and my father was one of the key people involved.

“That was linked with his column in the Ulster Herald, which for the first time had a weekly round up of league fixtures, results and tables. As Pat McCartan, who was county chairman from 1975 to ‘77, said, it made it a lot harder to call a match off, the fixture would have to be played unless there were extenuating circumstances.

“He helped compile the first Tyrone Gaelic Games annual and began broadcasting reports on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sportsound programme.

“So he was raising the profile of the GAA not only in Tyrone but throughout Ulster at a time when that was very difficult. To have that coverage coming along in the seventies was groundbreaking stuff really.”

A number of other hugely distinguished figures within Tyrone GAA have died over the course of the last 12 months – legendary manager Art McRory, esteemed historian Joseph Martin and others who leave behind an equally rich legacy. Alan says that Saturday evening’s event in Beragh represents an opportunity to remember all those who helped transform Tyrone GAA into a respected force at national level.

“It’s an open invite and the thing I would stress about it is, although it’s about remembering a Red Knight in Frank Rodgers and his contribution to the GAA in Tyrone and Beragh, I think it’s an opportunity as well to reflect back on the role of so many others who were involved during that period, and who played a crucial role in the development of Tyrone GAA in every respect.

“If you look back at the last year, you have a number of people who were centrally involved in that process who have died and I think Saturday will be an opportunity to remember them as well.

“You think of the likes of Art McRory and the work he did in developing Tyrone at underage and senior level, Joe Martin and his role within the GAA in both Carrickmore and Tyrone. You think of Brendan Harkin, who was one of the youngest chairman ever and his crucial contribution.

“There’s Jody O’Neill, Eddie Devlin, Declan O’Neill and others who have all gone to their eternal reward and their legacy certainly lives on, so I see this night as a chance not only to honour my father but that generation more broadly as well.”