STEELSTOWN made history yesterday as they became the first Derry club to win the All-Ireland Club IFC title.
A 3-14 to 2-5 win over Meath’s Trim capped off what has been a historic and special year for the city men – who hadn’t won a Derry championship prior to this season. As captain Neil Forester explained, it was a dream come true.
“It’s a special time for the club. Seeing the emotions of people like our founders Anthony McGurk and Philip Devlin in tears, and my own parents,” said Forester.
“It’s beautiful because we’ve been on a hell of a journey for a long time. You dream about climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand, but you think about doing it with Sam Maguire and with Derry because you can’t quite consider it with your club. It’s nearly too big to consider with your club, but this is incredible.”
For Steelstown manager Hugh McGrath, it was a day that will be talked about for many more years to come.
“Those guys have earned three titles this year that can never be taken away from them,” he said.
“You can’t describe just what that is and what that means to that group and this entire club. We are All-Ireland champions, that will never be taken away from us. The likes of Lavey and Bellaghy that have got there and won those titles, they are so proud of it, that’s where we aim to be in a few years’ time.
“We are so proud of what we have just achieved. It hasn’t fully sunk in yet, but I’m sure it will over the next couple of days. And if anyone ever asks us, we can say, yep, we were here and we did the business.”
