Hall of Fame Awards Dinner 2022
March 07, 2022
Hall of Fame Winner - Jimmy McGrath
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, our second award of the evening is the induction of our 14th member into the Fermanagh & Western Hall of Fame, James McGrath, or Jimmy as he is more commonly known. It was said back in 2015 “No figure in the history of Lisbellaw United FC has given greater service to the Club than Sammy McFrederick and very few come even near to matching his contribution which has spanned over half a century”. We can now unequivocally add Jimmy to that elite group.
Jimmy has always been a one-man one-club, with that club of course being Lisbellaw United FC so it makes it all that bit more special for me to be given the task of honouring Jimmy alongside his friends, family and fellow club members who are well represented tonight. I would like to thank his son Paul for helping me put together this synopsis of a remarkable career.
The affiliation with Lisbellaw began back in 1972, 50 years this year so it seems fitting that Jimmy be recognised with this award tonight. Having seen a poster in Enniskillen Tech saying ‘anyone interested in playing football please come out to training’, Jimmy attended one session where he was asked by Sammy McFrederick, a teacher at the time and goalkeeper of the college team if he would be interested in playing with the club. The rest as they say is history. Thanks to Sammy for Jimmy’s initial invite to the club – without it the last 50 years would have looked very different!
James and his good friend Tony McGourty set off for Lisbellaw and many a Belcoo man followed suit, joining the local talent that brought an unprecedented level of success for the village side. In latter years a week rarely went by when the club didn’t sign someone from Belcoo that could “get us out of a hole if needed” in Jimmy’s words!
The side of the late 70’s was a great team and James played a major part in that glorious period for the club. Playing ‘outside right’ as they called it back then, he created and scored many important goals and with The McFrederick’s, Dessie Donegan, Glyn Nixon, Harry McConkey, Arthur Cadden, Roly McMaster and Eamon McPartland, some of whom are in attendance tonight, forming the basis of that team, they went on to lift 5 Mercer League titles and 5 Mulhern Cups in an 8-year period, a medal haul any player would be proud of. Jimmy also holds the record for the fastest goal ever scored in a Mulhern Cup Final after only 20 seconds in the 1976 Final v Victoria Bridge.
The Holy Grail of Junior Football is the Irish Junior Cup and Jimmy, along with other gentlemen in the room tonight, were very much instrumental in the Lisbellaw side that went on to lift the trophy on the 12th May 1978. Jimmy had scored in the earlier rounds as well as a valuable goal in the semi-final heading in after Harry McConkey hit the bar, and Lisbellaw went on to win the final 2-1 which remains the one and only victory for the club to date.
Having played until 1990, a career spanning 18 years he finished up in goals for the club before being asked to manage the team in 1993. Four good seasons were had in Division 1 from 1993-1997 with talent such as Brian Breen, Darren Ray, the Finnegan brothers and Joe Keaney on board, the highlight was reaching the Junior Cup Final in 1997 after some epic journeys and tussles along the way, including a penalty shootout win in the Semi Final where another Belcoo man, goalkeeper Darren Ray saved and then scored the winning penalty. Coincidentally Jimmy’s son James repeated this feat in the Irish Junior for Lisbellaw against Ford a few years ago! Jimmy also guided the club to semi-finals in 2008 and 2011 as well as a final in 2014.
It wasn’t to be and a defeat in the 97 final to Newington YC followed before James stepped down to coach his sons at his other passion, Gaelic football for a few years. The two passions do surely go hand in hand with Jimmy often seen removing his Lisbellaw hat and putting on the Belcoo one leaving Drumad on a Saturday evening to go and watch a gaelic match, from one blue army to another!
James was coaxed back just 6 years later, at a time when Lisbellaw had fallen to Division 3 and upon his return in 2003 he set about bringing the club back to where he felt it deserved to be - at the top of the Fermanagh & Western. James truly did stick with the club through thick and thin and his dedication is second to none.
The Youth players in the club were given their chance with the likes of Glen and Kyle McCleery, William and Matty McFrederick, Alan and Ian Veitch, and Andy Reilly as well as his own sons James and Paul. Along with some old stalwarts and other gems such as Darren Fee, these players fell in love with the club the way James did and this saw the side gain back to back promotions as league winners in 2005 & 2006 bringing the club back to Division 1.
Having managed to stay up in their first year back in the topflight, they went on to spend the next 6 years as either league winners or runners up, not a bad record by any standards. Jimmy had a great support network around him with the likes of Dick McCleery, Ali McCutcheon, Rodney Howe and Bob Carroll always on hand to offer advice.
Jimmy attracted players from all over the county and additions such as Raymie Carroll, Darren Rodgers, Paul Baron and Davy Little saw glory days return to Drumad. Lisbellaw had to wait a mammoth 29 years to claim another Mercer League title (Jimmy was still playing the last time the title was won in the 80-81 season) and the wait finally came to an end in the 2009/10 season in what was one of the most memorable nights Drumad had seen in years and is still talked about fondly today.
On Tuesday 27th April, Lisbellaw played Strathroy Harps needing a win to avoid going into the final day of the season. Having lost only twice all season, they found themselves trailing 2-1 with less than 10 minutes of normal time remaining and down to 10 men. James’ son Paul scored a cracker to level the game and Lisbellaw were then awarded a corner which Raymie Carroll scored much to the delight of the large crowd. The goal however was disallowed, and the corner had to be retaken, Raymie Carroll repeating what he had done moments before but this time the goal stood which sparked wild celebrations long into the night, and over the following days if I recall rightly! Both Paul and James McGrath were there that night along with the McCleery brothers, the Carroll’s and the Veitch’s – a truly family affair which is a sentiment that is still echoed each week when Jimmy attends the games with wife Bernie and linesman son Martin to watch Paul. James has also now returned to help out in goals when needed. Jimmy’s other son Aidan has even pulled on a jersey for the club before and I would say if he could have got away with it, daughter Maria would have been roped in somehow too!
Lisbellaw continued their form claiming Mercer League titles for the next 2 seasons under Jimmy before finishing runners up in 2013 and at that James stepped into an Assistant Manager role allowing Andy Reilly to take up the Management position. Jimmy is still very much involved to this day and is a great source of advice to current Manager Kyle McCleery on the side-line on a Saturday afternoon.
The current club President at Lisbellaw United, Jimmy also served on the Fermanagh & Western Management Committee for over 10 years. His nomination for this award received unanimous support from the current committee. Jimmy has also proved to be a huge fundraiser over the years and our club would be lost without him and his family.
One man that is missing tonight and who would have been delighted by Jimmy’s recognition is our other Club Man, and former Merit Award winner Kenny Forde. I am told rarely a day went by when Kenny and Jimmy weren’t talking on the phone and this could have been multiple times on a Saturday morning talking about squads and player availability. Kenny and Jimmy struck up a great friendship as a result of their mutual love for the club and his passing has left a huge void for us all.
Jimmy has a CV that anyone in the footballing world would be proud to emulate. As a player – 5 Mercer League Titles, 5 Mulhern Cups and 1 Junior Cup. As a manager 3 Mercer League Titles, 1 Junior Cup Final and multiple Kennedy Cup Victories, not a bad 50 years! He truly is an ambassador for the local game and we are blessed to have him as part of our Club. A very worthy recipient of this hall of fame induction. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honour to present this award tonight to James McGrath.
F&W Football League Secretary Ciara Crawford presenting Jimmy McGrath with his trophy
Merit Award Winner - Gary Mortland
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen it’s my pleasure to give tonight’s oration for Gary Mortland, one of the select band of individuals who won Mercer Leagues both as a player and as a manager.
Gary’s early interest in football goes way back to a half century ago when he was around 5/6 years of age growing up in a housing estate on the outskirts of Castlederg. He recalls playing impromptu games with friends in the back field where they would use a branch from a tree or a jumper for goal posts. Of course when these games were going well and the teams were fairly even someone would regularly get called to come in their ‘tea’. This would, of course spoil the game and then there was invariably an older lad who would quite often try to stop anyone from leaving early. GARY - IS HE HERE TONIGHT WITH YOU? Gary never had any issues with the older lad as he never wanted to leave early – tea or no tea! This was where Gary began to hone his skills as a striker.
Gary realised the next step was to get a place on his primary school team. They usually only had one match per year but remembers thinking how great it would be to have a match every week. When Gary moved onto Castlederg Secondary School they had teams in each of the various year groups and this afforded opportunities to play against teams locally and across the province.
Gary felt his year group had a very strong player base, both in terms of footballers and competing well at each schoolboy level. A fine achievement was getting to the Northern Ireland Schools final where the CHS team was unfortunately defeated by Cookstown High School. As a consequence of this Gary was then selected for the Tyrone team to compete in an inter county tournament with a number of his friends from school. They reached the final where they lost 3-1 to County Derry/Londonderry.
After leaving High School in 1982 Gary joined Derg Villa for a year where he got regular matches playing in the North West League. The following year Gary joined Dergview where his classmates from school, Adrian Lecky and John Scott were already regular first team players. Gary played for about half of the 1982/83 season with the Reserves before making his way into the first team towards the end of that season. For a number of seasons Gary recalled that Dergview competed well in the first division of the F&W.
After completing his A levels at Omagh Academy Gary went on to university in Crewe where he played Wednesdays in the Universities League and on Saturdays in the competitive Lancashire League. Clubs like Liverpool, Man City and Manchester United had their ‘A’ teams which we would now term as their Youth Teams participating in this league. One of Gary’s highlights at this level was to come up against the recovering from injury Alan Brazil who was featuring for Man Utd’s youth team. Gary jokes that he couldn’t get near the former Ipswich Town and Scotland star. For the record Brazil went on to score both goals in a 2-1 victory against the young University side. Playing three years in the Lancashire League prepared Gary well for a return back to the Fermanagh and Western.
In 1991 Adrian Forbes stepped up from managing the Dergview Reserve team to take charge of the first team. This signalled the start of a huge upturn in fortune for Gary’s side. Adrian quickly brought in Tommy Nethery and Junior Deery from Killen Rangers and this strengthened the team that led to a great run in the Mulhern Cup in 1993 losing out to a good Enniskillen Rangers in the final. The following year, with the team building in self-confidence Gary proudly remembers that Dergview went on a 11 game consecutive winning streak. In the final game of the season away to Omagh Hospitals Dergview claimed their first Mercer League trophy over Fermanagh rivals, Enniskillen Rangers.
Gary was now an integral part of a strong team that the manager was still keen to strengthen further bringing in the Gibson’s, Norman and John from Convoy and the Dickson brothers, Geoff and Gary from Beragh. Success on the pitch followed with 2 further Mercer League titles in 1995/96 and 1996/97 and Mulhern Cup success in 1997. Gary also collected a runner’s up finalist medal in the blue riband Irish Junior Cup in the 1994-95 season where they played Oxford United. Gary suggests that the success of the team was very much built a strong team bond where the manager very much developed and encouraged a ‘Us against the World’ culture to get the best out the Tyrone side.
THE NEXT STAGE IN GARY’S CAREER COULD BE PARTLY ATTRIBUTED TO THE OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE OF THE F&W! Following the success of winning the double in the 1996/97 season Adrian Forbes unfortunately found himself on the wrong end of the authorities receiving a two-year ban. It was following this ban that Gary as one of the senior players was forced into a player/manager role, first with John Gibson and later with David McAskie. However, as it worked out it turned out to be more so in the role of manager as opposed to player. What followed was success in lifting the Mulhern Cup for the second time in May 1998 and regaining the Mercer League again in 1999/2000. Dergview also again reached the final of the Irish Junior Cup in 2001 but were beat by local rivals Irvinestown Wanderers.
After the 2000/2001 season Gary decided to step down from management as the Dergview first team moved into the Intermediate League. For a number of seasons afterwards Gary continued to play reserve team football. One season in particular Gary recalls enjoying playing upfront with an emerging Richard Lecky who went on to become Portadown’s record scoring player in European competition. While playing with Dergview Reserves David McAskie came in to manage the team and Gary found himself acting as assistant to Davy. At the start of the start of the 2007/2008 season Davy was asked to manage the first team who were now in the Irish League Division 2 and I became his assistant for the season. We had a very successful year winning Division 2 and gaining promotion to Division 1. However, the following season as a number of players moved on to other clubs Davy decided to step down and Gary also decided it was the correct time to step down.
Since then Gary has been actively involved with Dergview’s First Team backroom staff under recent first team managers Richard Clarke and Peter Allen.
Over the past 5 years he has been a member of the Dergview Management Committee and is currently Vice Chair of the club. It has been in this role that Gary gained a much better understanding of what is involved in the running of a football club and the amount of voluntary commitment that is required to make a football club work. Gary notes that there is also much more appreciation for those who organise leagues and competitions and yes he even has a better appreciation for those who officiate at games – not that he claimed to show too much of that during a game.
Recently during the impact of COVID Gary is extremely proud of the way that our club have responded by working in collaboration with Churchtown Community Association, St Eugene’s GAA Club and Derg Valley Care to ensure the Castlederg community were supported and cared for at such a challenging time. He states that this is a testament of how important and crucial these type of organisations are to their community.
Closing remarks from Gary are that he totally enjoyed his time spent in football regardless of the role he served. Gary recounts that it was very rewarding time, both in terms of the friendships and rivalries formed and the respect that he had for everyone involved in the game, both former team mates and opponents. His Football CV certainly isn’t finished yet and he still has much to give in the future to his beloved Dergview and the local game.
Finally, Gary still loves playing football and togs out every week to play with some of his former team mates and pitting himself against players where he concedes a decade or two in age! I can personally vouch that Gary still possesses that powerful shot that scored many goals at the pinnacle of the local game and he hasn’t lost that ability to create a little space to unleash a thunderbolt to the corner of the net. It’s evident to see that when Gary went into management he possessed the skills, attributes, knowledge and personality to get the best out of his players.
It is my pleasure as F & W League President to present the affable Gary Mortland, Dergview Legend On and Off the Field for the last 40 years with a very much deserved Fermanagh and Western Merit Award. Gary is the latest worthy addition to the list of Merit Award recipients.
F&W Football League Chairman presenting Gary Mortland with his trophy