SATURDAY, April 29, 2017. The Crusaders players are sat slumped in the changing room.
They’ve just thrown the league title away to cross town rivals Linfield.
Bottles of beer have been passed around the team to drown their sorrows.
Everyone raises their beer in the air.
Goalkeeper Sean O’Neill shouts “Sláinte”.
With a roguish smile, defender Craig McClean shouts “No Surrender” across the room.
They drink their beer and everyone carries on regardless.
This little snap-shot towards the end of ‘True North: Crusaders – Keeping the Faith’ – to be screened on BBC One NI on Monday night at 10.40pm – captures the affable and fascinating nature of life inside the Irish League club.
Last year, the ‘True North’ team produced the brilliant fly-on-the-wall documentary ‘Crossmaglen: The Field of Dreams’, where it delved into the daily lives of the people at the heart of the famous Gaelic football club.
‘Crusaders – Keeping the Faith’, written and produced by BBC journalist Thomas Niblock and documentary maker Natalie Maynes, is an equally impressive watch.
It charts the highs and lows of Crusaders FC’s roller-coaster 2016/17 season and is crammed into 60 absorbing minutes.
For an entire season, which included attending 57 games and over 30 training sessions, Niblock and his FS7 Sony camera embedded themselves into the fabric of the Shore Road club.
The former Irish News sports journalist explained he had to make himself “part of the furniture” in order to “capture those unguarded moments” in the dressing-room.
A few days after ‘Crossmaglen: The Field of Dreams’ was screened, Niblock arranged to meet Crusaders manager Stephen Baxter about the prospect of doing something similar at the north Belfast club.
Baxter had watched the Crossmaglen Rangers documentary and was so impressed he referenced it during one of his pre-match team-talks with his Crusaders players.
Baxter agreed to Niblock’s request and the cameras began rolling in pre-season.
Niblock follows the larger-than-life character of Sean O’Neill away from football and team-mates Matthew Snoddy and Howard Beverland explain the importance of God in their lives.
Plagued by an ankle injury for a large chunk of the season, Snoddy’s bombshell in the programme is both shocking and uplifting and illustrates the trust Niblock built up among the players.
Since the days of former boss Roy Walker, Christianity has played a key role in the on-field success of the Seaview club.
“I remember what was termed as the ‘God Squad’ during Roy Walker’s time at the club. And even now a lot of the backroom staff and some players are born-again Christians,” explained Niblock.
“I have to say I found it difficult trying to marry Christianity and football because when I think of Christianity the last thing I think of is football and all that comes with it.
“So I was interested to see how these worlds collide… It’s not strange or as weird as some people might think.
“The Christians that I encountered at Crusaders, I have to say, I haven’t encountered finer individuals over the last year-and-a-half.”
In the early throes of filming, Niblock noticed that manager Stephen Baxter – also a Christian - didn’t utter one swear word.
“Because Stephen had a microphone on all the time he didn’t swear and I thought that might have had something to do with it,” said Niblock.
“I said to Stephen: ‘I appreciate that you’re a Christian and I appreciate you mightn’t want to swear with a microphone on.
“‘I don’t want you worrying about that…’
“Stephen said to me: ‘Don’t worry, Tommy, I’m not afraid of that at all. I don’t use any swear words.’
“Not once in all those games and being in his company did he once swear.”
On either side of the sectarian divide in north Belfast is Cliftonville and Crusaders. It’s an area the programme-makers don’t shy away from.
“The image is Crusaders is a Protestant club in north Belfast and Cliftonville is a Catholic club in north Belfast and, pretty much, the players and supporters follow suit.
“The reality is much different. Half the Crusaders team is Catholic and there were a lot of Catholics that played for Crusaders throughout the years. I think the programme challenges a stereotype.”
In getting to know some of the characters at the club, Niblock tells the story of accompanying Sean O’Neill - a Catholic from the Falls Road and Celtic supporter - into the Crusaders Social Club during a Celtic versus Rangers game.
“I’ll never forget it,” recalled Niblock.
“I walked through the Crusaders Social Club, Sean was just in front of me. Celtic were playing Rangers on the TV.
“Now, this is on the Shore Road, in the Crusaders club.
“Celtic were winning 3-0 or 4-0 and Sean starts shouting: ‘Well boys, how are we all doing today? Isn’t a great morning? How’s ‘Sevco’ doing on the TV there?’
“I couldn’t believe it. They all love Sean. He is the leader of that club.”
Board members recall the days when the club was on the brink of financial meltdown and how the hard-earned cash of its loyal supporters saved it from extinction.
Baxter, a former Crusaders striker, was persuaded to take the reins when the club was at a low ebb.
Since those dark days, he's guided the club to an unprecedented period of success, winning two league titles, an Irish Cup and an All-Ireland crown.
When filming began the 'Crues' were league champions and aiming to make it three-in-a-row before the wheels came off in the run-in.
Niblock firmly rejects the charge the cameras derailed the team’s title push.
“At the end of the day, Linfield put together an unbelievable run towards the end of the season so there was no wriggle room for Crusaders to slip up.
“Crusaders threw the league away by their stuttering finish to the season.
“By that stage they were used to me more than ever. It might have been at the start of the season when the cameras in the changing room might have had a negative impact. But they were flying…
“Standing back and looking at it as objectively as possible, there is no way anything I would have done prevented them from winning the league. The players have said that and the manager has said that.”
While the team wasn't able to retain their league crown, Niblock suggests the unfortunate ending probably made the documentary stronger.
“I think it is a better programme for them not winning the league – and they’ll not thank me for saying that.”
Niblock added: “I wanted them to win the league because it’s impossible to totally embed yourself in the club and not root for them.
“You’re caught between two stools. I know it would be a good documentary if they won three-in-a-row but I consoled myself with the fact if they didn’t win it, it would give it a different ending.
“With the Crossmaglen documentary, had they gone on and won the All-Ireland it wouldn’t have been as good a documentary. Those moments of disappointment always transpire to be more powerful than those moments of joy.”
‘True North: Crusaders – Keeping the Faith’ will be screened on BBC One NI at 10.40pm.
