If Ballymena United were to win the Sports Direct Premiership this season, they would be mirroring Cliftonville’s heroics in 1998.
Last season, the Sky Blues finished second from bottom in the top flight and only avoided relegation thanks to a play-off win over Institute.
But the turnaround under Jim Ervin this term has been astonishing, for with almost a third of their league games played Ballymena lead the division ahead of Linfield, Dungannon Swifts, Glentoran and Crusaders.
Ervin and his charges will scoff at the notion of Ballymena winning the league as fanciful, but it has been done before.
In 1997, Marty Quinn’s Cliftonville team also finished the season second from bottom and were not considered to be serious title challengers the following year.
But Quinn and his players at Solitude surprised everyone by winning the ‘97-’98 title for the first time since 1912, with Linfield, Portadown and Glentoran finishing below the Reds.
Team spirit back then was key to the success, says Quinn as he compares the two table-topping teams from different eras.
“We came from nowhere to win the league that year”, reflects the former Cliftonville player and manager.
“It’s early doors this season yet, but Ballymena are in pole position and Jim Ervin is doing a fantastic job.
“When we won it in 1998 it was a fantastic achievement for us because the season before we were hanging in there, it was a case of survival.
“We started off well the following season, kept a few clean sheets and that gave us a foundation to build on.
“The Reds weren’t fancied at all and we just took it one game at a time, the old cliche, but it was true of us.
“We had Paul Reece in goals, Marty Tabb and Damien Davey at centre-half and Gerry Flynn and Stephen Small as our full-backs.
“Tabber had the experience and he did a really good job with young Damien, a laid back kid who would put his head in where you wouldn’t put your foot, and the two full-backs were both ball-playing defenders.
“We had Mickey Donnelly, Gary Sliney, Mickey Collins, Marty McCann, Tim McCann, Jody Tolan, Harry McCourt and Barry O’Connor, who was our top scorer that year.
“And what we had that really helped us was our team spirit.
“We had a very close bond with the players. We would socialise with them, have a few beers together and that brought us really close together.
“I could blow my top with them after a bad performance and on a few occasions I did, I got laid into them but I never took it outside the changing room.
“We got some momentum but it was really only at Easter that I thought to myself, ‘we could win this thing’.
“Remember, we weren’t allowed to play Linfield at Solitude back then, we had to play our two home games at Windsor Park.
“We just got our heads down, worked hard and thankfully we got over the line to win the title.”
Ballymena’s rise to the top of the league is even more remarkable given they lost their first four league games in a row this season.
However, an incredible run of eleven straight wins since then has propelled the Sky Blues to the peak and has Ballymena fans dreaming of glory.
A tough test against Coleraine lies ahead tomorrow and Ervin is acutely aware that if Linfield and Larne win their games in hand, they will move ahead of the Braidmen, and Quinn believes he is right to be wary of the threat from both.
“I think both Linfield and Larne will be there at the end of the season, whether Ballymena will still be there remains to be seen but they have given themselves every chance.
“Larne have an excellent manager in Tiernan Lynch and seem to have good team spirit, I expect them to go on a winning run at some stage.
“Cliftonville are rebuilding because of all the players that have left the club since winning the Irish Cup last season, and I think this season is too early for Declan Devine at Glentoran.
“But, there is a long way to go and everything to play for.”
