An Omagh native and current NIFL Premiership player is vowing to revive the historic Omagh Town Football Club after an absence of over 15 years.
Loughgall winger Caolan McAleer’s newly relaunched club will introduce teams for children born from 2019-2014 (ages 5-10) for both boys and girls.
Omagh Town FC competed in the Northern Irish Football League until its dissolution in June 2005 and they competed against top Premier League clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool in friendly matches in 1999 to raise money for victims of the 1998 Omagh bomb.
Being raised during these peak years of the team’s tenure and having played on their old St Julian’s Road grounds, the Omagh man shared his inspiration to restore the influential club:
“I have good memories back when St Julian’s Road was there. I have memories of playing at half-time when Omagh would compete against the top Irish league clubs,” said McAleer.
“I wanted to bring that back and offer that to the kids of Omagh which they haven’t been getting for the last 15 years.”
Since the announcement of the club’s planned revival in June of this year, Omagh Town have received a lot of attention locally, attaining over 1,500 likes on their Facebook page.
McAleer has also been hosting various events throughout the summer to promote Omagh Town, including a Fun Day on July 7 and the team’s launch night to close out the month.
McAleer man hosted the launch on Wednesday July 31 at the Silverbirch Hotel in Omagh to provide information to parents and to brandish their new kits.
He was excited by the interest garnered by a returning Omagh Town:
“That night was just about raising awareness for what’s going on in the town and the fact that we’re bringing back Omagh town after 15 years,” said McAleer.
“The event went really well. We gave parents all the details into when training is, how often we’re training and what the next steps are.”
“There were 60 people there, which is great and all the parents seemed very interested and excited for the new launch of Omagh Town.”
The club announced their league registrations for the upcoming season for boys born in 2019-2014, and two girls only age groups (16/17 and 14/15).
However, McAleer aspires to build upon this growing project and has lofty expectations for the club:
“The short term goal is just build each age group. We’re starting off with five to 10-year olds in the first season and then we’re going to expand. Each year we add more teams as we go along.”
And the long term goal is to get our first team up and running and get Omagh Town back to the Premiership.”
The former Omagh CBS student has been revelling in the growth and attention the buzz of the club’s return is receiving locally:
“There’s been great excitement around the town. A lot of parents are very excited, you know, to get their children involved in something as big as this.
“There’s been a lot of businesses that have sponsored, came forward and helped out with various things.
“And I think there is also a lot of doubt and people unsure of whether this is too big of a task or if it is too good to be true.”
McAleer has confidence that he can dispel any doubts of the newly revived club’s success.
The professional footballer possesses a wealth of experience in the sport, having competed in the Milk Cup at youth level, and professionally in both Scotland and Ireland.
The 30-year-old believes he has a lot to offer a new generation of aspiring footballers:
“I’ve played professional football. I was lucky enough to do that, so I know what it takes to get to the next level.
“I want to take baby steps, but I do understand the training and what’s needed to progress these kids.”
The Irish League star believes there is no limit to what the club can accomplish in the future and is willing to take on the club’s biggest challenge of all:
“I can only see it growing and with that the the goal is to develop more young players and get them to play at the highest possible level they can.
“We’re going to follow a professional set-up eventually when we go up the age groups, we’re hoping to compete in the National League playing against the likes of Linfield, Glentoran and all the top teams.”
The new Omagh Town coach currently trains at Youth Sport Omagh and began training sessions on the week of Monday August 5 for all age groups.
The club will be re-entering into the competitive football scene when they compete in the Fermanagh and Western Region based Brendan Keogh Youth League (BKYL) this year.
