THE
BOYS of ’93
A trailblazer throughout his GAA career, in 1993 Eamonn Coleman became the first manager to lead Derry to All-Ireland success, a feat that remains his alone. Having taken over as manager in 1990, in 1992 he brought the county only its second National League title. At just 14 he became the youngest-ever player to win a senior club championship medal with his home team, Ballymaguigan; he was a member of Derry’s first All-Ireland-winning minors in 1965 and All-Ireland U21 champions of 1968. He repeated his minor success as a manager, winning the All-Ireland in 1983. He died in June 2007 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Maria McCourt is Eamonn Coleman’s niece and goddaughter. A former journalist and editor, she has worked as a news and sports reporter for publications in Ireland, Australia and the US. Maria started her career as a trainee journalist with the Belfast Media Group and went on to become editor of two of its newspapers, the North Belfast News and South Belfast News. The start-up editor of the national daily, Daily Ireland, in the late 2000s she led editorial teams in Cavan and Monaghan, establishing two weekly papers in the counties. She has also worked for the Irish Echo newspaper in Sydney and as a contributor for Irish Echo in New York.
THE
BOYS of ’93
DERRY’S ALL-IRELAND KINGS
EAMONN COLEMAN
with Maria McCourt
Foreword by Joe Brolly
First published in 2018 by
Merrion Press
An imprint of Irish Academic Press
10 George’s Street
Newbridge
Co. Kildare
Ireland
© Maria McCourt, 2018
9781785372179 (Paper)
9781785372186 (Kindle)
9781785372193 (Epub)
9781785372209 (PDF)
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
An entry can be found on request
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
An entry can be found on request
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved alone, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Interior design by www.jminfotechindia.com
Typeset in Minion Pro 11/15 pt
Cover design by www.phoenix-graphicdesign.com
Front cover, top left: Henry Downey raises the Sam Maguire cup for the first time in Derry’s history. (Image courtesy of Sportsfile.) Top right: Eamonn Coleman celebrating the semi-final win over Dublin. (Image courtesy of Sportsfile.) Bottom: The starting fifteen for Derry. (Image courtesy of Danny B. O’Kane.)
Back cover: Eamonn Coleman holds the Sam Maguire aloft.
(Image courtesy of The Irish News.)
For my mother, Mary McCourt, née Coleman (Mae).
With deepest love and gratitude.
Dedicated to the memory of Molly McCourt,
Willie Mulvenna Jnr and Janine McMullan.
Proceeds from the sale of this book will be
donated to cancer charities in Ireland.
CONTENTS
Prologue: Some Boy by Maria McCourt
1. Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns Grow
2. ‘Youse Boys Knows Nathin’ About Futball’
3. ‘The Players is the Men’
4. Homecoming Heroes
5. Back-Room Betrayal
6. No Magic in Management
Family Matters by Gary Coleman
Afterword: Loughshore Life, a Childhood by Eamonn Coleman
Acknowledgements
FOREWORD
by Joe Brolly
When we won the All-Ireland my father painted ‘SAM 1993’ across his oil tank in the yard. Every now and again, he touches it up. When the squad or a few of us meet up, it is always there, unspoken. We don’t talk about the games, or who did what. We talk about the fun and the frolics. And we talk about Eamonn, who was the heart of the group.
‘Wee men can’t drink big pints,’ he roared once at a team meeting, after Johnny McGurk, all 5’ 6” of him, had said there was no harm in a few pints. ‘I could drink big McGilligan under the table,’ said Johnny. ‘Could you fuck,’ said McGilligan. Eamonn burst out laughing with the rest of us, and the temperance lecture broke up in confusion.
For a man who wasn’t academic or well read, he was a superb orator with terrific emotional intelligence. In 1991, we beat Tyrone in a bad-tempered National League final. Seven days later, we met them in the first round of the Ulster championship in Celtic Park. The terraces were bulging. Coleman stood in the middle of the changing room, eyes blazing. Some players he left alone altogether. Others sometimes needed a perk up. ‘Tony Scullion,’ he said, shaking his head in disgust, ‘wait to you hear what Mattie McGleenan said about you in the paper today.’ He opened a newspaper and began to read what the young Tyrone forward had said about Tony. That he was surprised how lacking in pace Scullion was when he marked him in the league final. That he was over-rated. That he was done and that he would make sure he finished him off today. ‘That’s the respect he has for you Scullion, one of the greatest defenders ever to play the game. That’s the respect he has for you,’ he roared, shoving the paper into Scullion’s face. Tony, normally mild-mannered, was enraged. He stood up, roared, and punched the door hard. We rumbled out onto the pitch like marines landing on the beach. Tony was superb in a total shut-out, never giving Mattie a kick.
Afterwards, when we had showered and were leaving, I spotted the paper, scrumpled up under the bench in the corner. I went over and lifted it. I read the interview, smiling and shaking my head. It was nothing only compliments from Mattie. A privilege to play against Tony Scullion and so on. Coleman had made it all up.
He once asked me to come over to the Rossa pitch in Magherafelt the Saturday before a championship match, but told me to say nothing about it. Patsy O’Donnell and Eamonn’s son Gary were there, already togged out. ‘Jody’, he said, ‘I want you to test these two men out.’ I went to full forward. First Patsy picked me up. Half a dozen times the ball was put in for me to run onto, take him on and try to score. Then it was Gary’s turn. Afterwards, Eamonn beckoned me over to the sideline.