As Donegal champions Glenswilly prepare to face Ballinderry in the Ulster club final, former Tir Chonaill manager Brian McEniff takes Paddy Heaney on a stroll down memory lane to his own playing days...
IT'S a competition that has long been associated with the falling leaves of autumn, but Brian McEniff can remember a time when the Ulster Club Championship was played during the summer.
Back before the competition became a staple part of November Sundays, McEniff recalled hazy evenings when "clubs from the west of the province played in Irvinestown and clubs from the east played in Belfast".
McEniff has first hand knowledge of those games because he played in them with St Joseph's, a club that was formed when his native Bundoran joined forces with Ballyshannon.
And as his mind turned to the 'Swinging Sixties' and the halcyon days of his playing career, McEniff's memory vault unleashed a torrent of archive information.
Before the competition received official recognition, McEniff recalled that "St John's won the first three years. Then we played them in the final in 1966 in Irvinestown and we beat them, which was a bit of a surprise because they were a well-established club. "It was the county champions of '65 that played. That's why it was played during the summer season." While the games were competitive, the preparations weren't as choreographed as they are nowadays. "I remember playing a League match in Glencolmcille on a Sunday afternoon then going on to Irvinestown that night and playing the Tyrone champions. Generally, they tried to play the games midweek," said McEniff.
A few tussles still linger with the former Allstar and All-Ireland winning manager. "We played that famous Crosserlough side that won seven in-a-row in Cavan. "They were a great footballing side. We played them three years on the spin and we won all three matches, but I don't think there was any more than a point or two in any of the matches. "They were tough games, but they were good footballing games. They drew great crowds because a lot of people would come midweek to watch the games to see the football that was played."
While St Joseph's won the tournament in 1966, their success will not be found in any record books. The Ulster Club Championship didn't become 'kosher' until 1968. McEniff was captain of the St Joseph's side which reached that year's provincial final. It's another game that is logged in his encyclopaedic memory. "The final was played three days before Christmas. It was played on a very wet, mucky Dungannon pitch. "A team called Bellaghy beat us [0-8 to 0-5]. We hadn't lost a game for 18 months."
Another seven years would pass before St Joseph's were crowned champions of Ulster. In 1975 they beat Castleblayney, 3-6 to 1-8.
That Ulster title in '75 would prove to be the team's greatest hour. County champions on eight occasions (1965, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976), the Bundoran and Ballyshannon clubs went their separate ways. In 1979, Bundoran lifted the county title. Explaining how the alliance between the two towns was formed, McEniff said: "St Joseph's came at a stage when the two clubs, Bundoran and Ballyshannon, were doing rather poorly. In spite of the great rivalry, they came together. "The bonding factor was the De La Salle College in the upper part of our parish. The De La Salle brothers ran a very good school. "There were no more than 200 boys but they could play well above their lot. It was a great GAA school. All of the boys - except myself, I went to a boarding school in Monaghan - were from De La Salle. It was a natural transition."
The Ulster title which St Joseph's won in 1975 is still a landmark victory. To this day, it is Donegal's only success in the competition. Before Glenswilly marched to this year's final, only Killybegs (1991) and Glenties (2010) had ever reached the decider.
Considering their achievements in other football competitions, Tir Chonaill's clubs have clearly underachieved. And McEniff reckons it's no coincidence that Donegal's only victory in the Ulster Club Championship was achieved by an amalgamated club. According to McEniff's, one simple reason explains Donegal's poor record. "We have too many clubs," he said. "The large number of clubs has diluted the standard of football in Donegal."
The hotelier cites his own club, Bundoran as a prime example. "There is no employment in Bundoran," he said. "As I look out at the Atlantic Ocean, that is the west. To the east of the town is Leitrim and the upper end of the town is Garrison [Fermanagh]. "There is no population base. When you look at the Bundoran parish, it's amazing that we can field a team. "It looks like a big town but it has a small population. Because of unemployment we have always haemorrhaged players. "When I was a young boy, trains were coming into the town. Young men would have gone off on the train and they were never seen again. They went to Britain, and from there they went to Australia or the USA."
HAVING guided six hotels through the troughs of a recession, McEniff has a proven track record of solving problems.
After studying the underwhelming performances of Donegal's clubs in Ulster, he has for many years advocated a simple solution - copy Kerry. "When I was very active in the county board under the chairmanship of John McConnell, we wanted to improve the standard of club football in Donegal. "In Kerry, they play club and county championship. You have North Kerry, South Kerry and West Kerry. That raises the level of competition. In Donegal a few years ago, I thought we might try and copy that model. It would be great for club football because it would elevate players. "If Bundoran, Ballyshannon and Ballintra amalgamated, you would see players who haven't been seen.
There are players who never get a chance to express themselves." When John McConnell resigned as chairman, the idea for a divisional championship was abandoned. But McEniff revealed that their plans had reached an advanced stage.
The basic concept was to create eight super teams. "In Donegal town, we could have played two games on a Sunday. We could play South Donegal against South West, and East against West. "We had a very good prize in place," he said. "We were going to sponsor a weekend to Glasgow or London. "If the team went to London we were going to organise a game against Tir Chonaill Gaels." Although, there is plenty of merit in McEniff's suggestion, one club slightly contradicts his theory.
With a population of almost 20,000, Letterkenny is the largest urban centre in Donegal.
By McEniff's own admission, Letterkenny has "grown into a savage town". Despite being able to draw on this population base, the St Eunan's club has failed to make any impression in the Ulster club Championship.
Winners of the Dr Maguire Cup in 2001, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2012, St Eunan's have yet to have their name inscribed in the Ulster Championship's roll of honour. Unlike the rest of Donegal where he would like to see more clubs merging together, McEniff believes Letterkenny Gaels needs to expand and grow stronger. "Again, if you go down to Kerry, you will find that there are two top class clubs in Tralee, there is a third within the confines of the town. "But somehow Letterkenny Gaels haven't thrived. They haven't grown the way we hoped they would," he said.
Still active in the GAA, McEniff managed Bundoran in this year's Championship. Having come up against Glenswilly earlier in the summer, he insists that he can set aside his partisan interests whenever former rivals are involved in the provincial Championship.
He travelled to Omagh to watch Glenswilly beat Roslea in the semi-final. Now, he is hoping that Michael Murphy can help 'the Glen' bridge the 38-year gap to the county's last - and only - success in Ulster. "It would be great if Glenswilly won because it would give great encouragement to some of the younger clubs coming up," he said.