Fifty years ago, Ballinascreen were Derry senior champions. Former Derry star Brendan Kelly was a key member of their winning team. Michael McMullan went to meet him… BRENDAN Kelly’s facial expression says it all. He just loves talking football. As a back-to-back Ulster winner with Derry in the mid-seventies, the game has treated him well. There […]
By Shaun Casey DERRY star Brendan Rogers admits he was “surprised” but “excited” by the introduction of three-time All-Ireland manager Mickey Harte as the new Oak Leaf boss. Harte guided his native county Tyrone to the Sam Maguire in 2003, 2005 and 2008 and spent the last two seasons in Louth where he gained back-to-back […]
BRIAN McGilligan is an icon of Derry’s All-Ireland winning team of 1993. Alongside Anthony Tohill, he forged one of the game’s greatest ever partnerships. Stuck in traffic, on the way to collecting his All-Star in 1993, a random Dublin taxi driver told McGilligan he was a cert. A summer dominating the middle third of pitches […]
By Michael McMullan BALLYMAGUIGAN are 60 minutes away from completing the treble with the league and cup silverware already banked for the season. Standing in their way are Moneymore in Saturday’s JFC final (Owenbeg, 6pm) and manager Patsy Bateson is well aware of the challenge. Ballymaguigan were 1-19 to 3-8 winners when Moneymore came to […]
By Michael McMullan A DERRY club feel the current odd underage format of u-13, u-15, u-17 and u-19 is “broken” and another year of underage, up to u-18, would help with player retention. There has been renewed debate surrounding the pros and cons of underage currently organised in odd (u-13, u-15, u-17 and u-19) categories […]
Mairead McNicholl looks back at some of her opponents… Name: Mairead McNicholl. Age: 28. Teams played for: Swatragh, Derry, St Patrick’s College, Maghera and Queen’s University, Belfast. Advertisement Which opposition ground do you dislike going to and why? Any of the long bus journeys for county matches aren’t ideal. What team have you enjoyed the […]
By Gerard O’Kane IF only I had known then what I know now. That’s a saying widely used in many parts of life but in my last column where I talked of the changing landscape in Ulster for the forthcoming season, I was talking about the new appointments in Cavan and Donegal. Never in my […]
By Michael McMullan FERMANAGH native Niall Jackman will remain in charge of Antrim’s u-20footballers for a third season. Jackman will be assisted by coaches Aaron Douglas, Matthew Gribbin, Sean McKenna, Stephen Bateson and Paddy Kelly. Marcus Graham will be in charge of Strength and Conditioning with Mark McAreavey (Performance Analyst) also on board. Advertisement It […]
Derry’s Mairead McNicholl talks about her team-mates… Name: Mairead McNicholl. Age: 28. Teams played for: Swatragh, Derry, St Patrick’s College, Maghera and Queen’s University, Belfast. Advertisement Earliest GAA memory? Watching the Swatragh Senior Camogie team get to the All-Ireland final in 2000. Which team-mate has been the most inspirational and why? Janet McGuckin. She always […]
CIARÁN Meenagh has joined the backroom team of Conor Laverty’s Down Senior Footballers, it has emerged this evening. Meenagh had been involved with Derry since 2018, originally in a coaching capacity before stepping into the management position vacated by Rory Gallagher in the lead-in to this year’s Ulster final. Subsequent to their impressive showing against […]
