TWENTY-one years ago, Carrickmore bought the Nally Stand from Croke Park. It was dismantled, loaded into lorries and transported from inner-city Dublin down the peaceful Quarry Road to the Naomh Colmcille grounds outside the Tyrone town (population 612 according to the 2011 census).
The sheep munching on the grass in the neighbouring fields might have raised an eyebrow (if they had eyebrows) and thought: ‘What are these GAA wans at now?’ as the Nally Stand was re-erected behind one of the goals. It re-opened in 2007.
That Carrickmore wanted to bring such a massive piece of Croke Park to their home tells us several things.
For starters it tells you there are a lot of very handy and hard-working fellas in the area. Secondly it shows how embedded the GAA is in the community and how proud they are to have a piece of history on their doorstep.
Most importantly, it illustrates the shoot-for-the-stars sense of ambition in the club and you’ll find the same mentality all over Tyrone GAA. I am constantly blown away by the innovations and installations throughout the county
Back in the 1980s – when the Nally Stand still stood beside Hill 16 at Croke Park – we had the ‘Arms Race’ between the USA and the Russians. One nation would design and build an enormous nuclear bomb and then of course the other side would build an even bigger one etc, etc, etc.
We have something similar – and obviously much more positive – going on in the GAA these days as clubs constantly drive each other on to develop new pitches and facilities.
Hardly a week goes by that you don’t hear about a club somewhere opening a third or fourth pitch or a draw that raised hundreds of thousands.
The driving force behind it all is not about getting one over on the neighbours, although that doesn’t hurt, it’s about providing the best facilities possible for the community.
I watched a match – Omagh St Enda’s versus Killyclogher - in Carrickmore for the first time last Sunday. Of course I had heard before that the Nally Stand had been relocated there. But, impressive as it is, the former Croke Park enclosure isn’t the only imposing structure about the club grounds which also has stands down both sides of the pitch.
The stands were packed and on the field, the football was, as ever, excellent. As new manager Malachy O’Rourke will know, there is a pace and intensity to the Tyrone championship that sets it apart.
At half-time I got chatting to a veteran Carrickmore clubman who gave me a bit of a history of the club who still hold the record for most senior football titles (15) in the county. He was telling me how Carrickmore’s biggest rivals were Errigal on one side and Pomeroy on the other.
“Errigal’s a brave distance away from here?” I said.
“Aye and they couldn’t be far enough away,” he replied, in jest of course.
Carrickmore’s most recent senior championship title came in 2005 but they are determined it will not be their last.
The clubman added with a proud smile: “We’re building a shade (shed) for the young ones – somewhere to put them in for the winter.”
When the game was over, I got a look at what he was talking about and the “shade” looks like a next-level facility. Half the length of the main pitch, it’ll be an indoor centre that will bring through generations of eager, well-trained, fit youngsters to wear the green, white and gold of their club.
Carrickmore are just one of example of what is going on in Tyrone and of course the county’s clubs are flooding schools and development squads with highly-tuned young Gaelic Footballers.
Tyrone’s clubs provided the raw material for Omagh CBS to win the last two Hogan Cups and allow expert coaches like Kieran Donnelly to harness the talent and bring it to success.
It’s not just Tyrone of course. Derry won back-to-back All-Ireland minor titles and Ulster schools have won four of the last five Hogan Cups. Before Omagh, there was St Ronan’s of Lurgan in 2018 and then St Michael’s, Enniskillen in 2019.
That success is driven by the fierce competition in Ulster schools competition which is a testimony to Ulster Schools GAA who do amazing work at all levels.
Last week St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook welcomed back 17 of their past pupils (14 players and three coaches) who were part of the Armagh squad that won the All-Ireland.
St Paul’s can’t claim a Hogan Cup but players like Jarly Og Burns, Ciaron O’Hanlon, Aaron McKay, Jemar Hall and Down’s Liam Kerr all played in MacRory Cup finals for the school.
Nurtured by Uachtarain Cummann Luthcleas Gael Jarlath Burns, there is an almost tangible GAA ethos in St Paul’s and the infectious enthusiasm of Head of PE John Rafferty and his colleagues plays a huge part in the success on the field.
John coaches football like he played the game: With off-the-chart energy and absolute commitment. He had an off-the-cuff story about every one of the 17 past pupils he welcomed back to the school last Friday.
Blaine Hughes got this introduction from his former coach: “He made two great saves that helped us win the MacLarnon Cup in 2012… Our super ‘keeper, a convert to goals at that stage, and by God he has made the position his own. If he doesn’t get an Allstar this year, I’ll pull Croke Park down myself!”
Arguably the best was reserved for the ever-popular Jemar Hall.
“I was going down the corridor past technology one time and a group of girls was coming the other way. As they were passing Jemar, they went: ‘Hello Jemar’.
“Jemar just went: ‘Well girls…’”
The assembly hall was full of first year pupils who – inspired by what they saw - were going straight to get changed to take part in a blitz on the playing fields.
Even since Armagh’s Sam Maguire win there has been a ground-breaking draw to finance the development of the county’s new centre of excellence in Portadown.
You can’t rest on your laurels in the GAA.
Yes, we cherish history like the Nally Stand but as the youngsters in Carrickmore’s new “shade” will be taught: The next ball is the one that matters…
