CLUB
HISTORY
For
those long time club members who stood on the
banks at Ruislip in December 2002 to witness
St Brendan's push Connaught giants Crossmolina
all the way in an All-Ireland club
quarter-final, the memories of the near
misses, the great days and the dreadful days,
together with the names of many past players,
must have occasionally drifted through their
minds, as they at last saw their team arrive
on the big stage, a stage that had for so long
tempted and teased them but had ultimately
avoided them.
The
journey that now sees St. Brendan’s firmly
established as one of London’s premier GAA
clubs began in 1956 in the old Botwell Parish
Hall in Hayes, Middlesex. The club, originally
founded by the late Eugene Callaghan, the
three Limerick brothers Con, Jim and Tim
O’Regan and Kerryman Michael O’Shea began
life as a dual club, but by 1960 it had turned
its attention exclusively to football.
This
concentration on the "big ball"
almost paid dividends when in 1961 they
reached the Junior Championship Final, only to
be beaten by a St Vincent’s Junior side that
featured many of that clubs Senior players.
Chastened by their brush with success the St
Brendan’s regrouped the following year and
were triumphant in their Junior League
campaign, beating the St Michaels in the final
and thus securing the club its first major
trophy.
It
was 1968 before the club managed another
significant success, this time winning the All
County Winter League competition.
Unfortunately though this victory was to be
the last for the Brendan’s for almost a
decade and it wasn’t until 1976 that the
club managed to add another trophy to their
haul by winning the Intermediate League,
although disappointment was to follow when the
Championship Final was lost to the Brian Borus.
Championship success was to follow shortly
though with a victory over the St Josephs in
the 1977 final, a triumph that secured Senior
Championship status for the club for the first
time.
That
victory and the following year’s involvement
in the Senior competition was to yet again
signal the beginning of a lean period for the
club. In the wake of the Championship success
some unfortunate divisions within the club led
to the breakaway formation of two more West
London teams, St. Clarets and the now
disbanded Acton Gaels. These breakaways had a
detrimental effect on the Brendan’s and by
1985 the club was to find itself playing in
the Junior Championship Final once more losing
on this occasion to the Robert Emmett’s.
1987
was to prove a landmark year for the club and
saw the arrival of former Armagh star Colm
McKinstry. The signing of McKinstry was
closely followed by that of another county
player Tommy McDermott from Donegal. The Sean
Shiels Cup was won and although beaten by Clan
na Gael in the Intermediate Final a good
league campaign saw the club return to the
Senior ranks, a position they have held ever
since.
Since
that return the club have gone from strength
to strength. 1990 saw the club compete, albeit
unsuccessfully in their first ever Senior
Championship Final. However this experience
was to prove the catalyst to a dramatic upturn
in the clubs fortunes. In 1991 a late Tommy
McDermott goal helped the club defeat the
Kingdom in the final of the Conway Cup, the
club’s first ever Senior Trophy.
Revenge
was gained by the Kingdom in the 1993
Tipperary Cup Final, a year that saw the club
lose their second Championship Final to Tir
Chonnail Gaels. 1994 though was to be the year
that the club finally cemented its place
amongst the counties elite when they won the
London Senior Championship by defeating the
Tara in an absorbing final, with a somewhat
fortuitous goal by Carlow man Tom Nolan
proving to be the decisive score.
Although
an early Championship exit awaited the club
the following year they did manage to annex
the Tipperary Cup and the Conway Cup, along
with the prestigious Canon Stritch Cup (the
first London club to do so). With this success
came the beginning of what has been a long and
fruitful association with the St. Mary’s
College at Strawberry Hill.
Since
the 1994 Championship victory the club has
twice been beaten in the final, first in 1997
and then in 2001 (after a replay). However,
their trophy tally has been added to with two
more Tipperary Cups, another Conway Cup, a
Canon Stritch Cup and the clubs first ever
Senior League title. The club have also been
successful in two Reserve Championship
campaigns in the 90’s.
Over
the years St Brendan’s have been fortunate
to benefit from the services of some
outstanding players, the aforementioned
McKinstry and McDermott being but two. Through
the early days the club was well served by the
likes of the Gormley brothers, John Dowling
and Oliver Treanor. The 1977 team contained
many fine individual talents including Iggy
Donnelly, Eddie Costello and Mick McGovern,
who was also playing regularly for Queens Park
Rangers at the time. 1990 saw the arrival of
John McCormack, undoubtedly the rock upon
which the 1994 success was built. Pat Lonegan
and Patrick Murphy, both former Wicklow county
players also made significant contributions to
the achievements of the club as did former
Armagh player Barry McCabe.
In
more recent days Corkman Joe Stack, Armagh’s
Gary Fearon, Antrim man Gabriel O’Neill and
Connemara man Darragh Faherty have all made
outstanding contributions to the St
Brendan’s. Two more players of note to have
represented the Brendan’s in the recent past
both made their names and indeed achieved
considerable success in another football code.
All-Blacks Bernie McCahill and Zinzan Brooke,
both Rugby World Cup winners in 1987 and both
accomplished gaelic footballers represented
the Brendan’s in 1999 and 2000. The
contribution of all these players, coupled
with the magnificent dedication of club
stalwarts such as Packie Hughes, Paddy
Corscadden and Billy Galvin have done much to
ensure that St Brendan’s are always amongst
the forerunners in any London Senior Football
competition.
At
present, under the guidance of former
Brendan’s player Paul Hughes, there is much
work being done within the club to
re-establish an under-age sector, a sector
that had brought tremendous success throughout
the 1980’s and 1990’s to the club. It is
hoped that some of the talent being nurtured
at the moment in these young teams will be
able to contribute to further Senior
Championship success for the club over the
next decade or so.
For
now though the club is very much enjoying the
spotlight that it has stepped into following a
glorious and successful 2002. Following a
bitterly disappointing lose to arch rivals Tir
Chonnail Gaels in a replayed 2001 Championship
final many club stalwarts either retired or
moved away, including former Donegal player
Tommy McDermott, former Derry U-21 star Ultan
McCloskey, long time goalkeeper John Collins,
team captain Darragh Faherty, the enigmatic
duo of Tyrone man Nigel Loughran and Wexford
man Enda Roche as well as the excellent Paul
Tierney, who suffered an horrendous leg injury
in the drawn final.
Starting
with a blank canvass the management team of
Tyrone man Pat McNabb and Longford man Pat
Corscadden began to recruit in order to muster
a new challenge for the London crown. In came
Wexford ‘keeper Billy Molloy, Shane Manley
from Offaly, Martin Gill, Barry Solen and John
Cafferky from Mayo, the Ballyhooley duo of
Kieran McCarthy and Liam O’Connell as well
as the very talented Meath man Eric
O’Reilly.
Helping
to knit all this together was another new
recruit to the club athletics coach and
physiotherapist Wes Duncan, a native of the
West Indies as well as the now retired
McDermott, whose knowledge and understanding
of the game is unparalleled in London.
Together, both players and management were
able to put together a unit that was not only
good enough to win the London championship for
the first time since 1994, by beating their
neighbours St Clarets, but also to win the
British crown for the first time ever and thus
set up that momentous day against Crossmolina.
Although
it wasn’t to be on the day, good work
continues to be done as the club try and build
towards a second title in succession. From the
2002 team Kieran McCarthy, Liam O’Connell,
Ciaran Byrne and Brendan Bolger have left but
they have been replaced by a number of equally
talented players including the likes of Dave
Riordan and Barry Horgan from Cork, Sean
O’Murchu from Dublin and Colin McCaul from
Monaghan.
Sadly,
2003 was to prove to be something of a let
down, given the glory of the previous year.
Whilst the general approach to the year was
reasonable, the mantle of Champions is often a
heavy burden to carry for any club, given that
they are then the “team to beat”. A
championship semi-final defeat at the hands of
the Kingdom Kerry Gaels was a massive
disappointment, especially given the size of
the lose, with the Kerry men running out
winners by 3-9 to 1-7. The defeat was made
even more frustrating for the Brendan's given
the Kingdom’s inept performance in the final
against the Tara.
With
their crown of champions now dislodged, 2004
will see the club rally once more to try and
win their title back, to prove to both
themselves and everyone in London that the
success of 2002 was by no means a one year
wonder. With the tide slowly turning with
regard to the number of young players coming
back into London the challenge will be great,
as many of the Brendan's chief rivals have
been recruiting well over the past twelve
months, with numerous fringe county
footballers finding their way to London as the
Celtic Tiger loses some of its appetite.
Therefore, if victory is gained in 2004 it
will be made more the sweeter by the quality
of opposition that will have to be defeated in
order to lift the crown.
The
return of Kilkenny man Brendan Bolger will be
seen as a boast to the club as will the
re-emergence of Paul Tierney after a nightmare
two years out through injury. The intention
for 2004 is to win the Championship and it is
felt that the trip to Dubai will do much to
focus player’s attention on the task at hand
and help bond the group of players together
for the challenge ahead.
Despite the early season optimism, 2004
ended in disappointment with the club losing
the London Championship semi-final, although
they were successful in lifting the league
title.
By the start of 2005 the
squad was looking its strongest since 2002
and certainly the arrival of former New York
player Shane McAnarney was a huge boost to
the team. However, the decision of John
McShane, Colin McCaul and John McKevitt to
play at home was a major blow to the
Championship aspirations of Pat McNabb’s
team. Further to that, Sean Murphy, who had
emerged the previous year as one of the best
corner backs in London was also lost to a
long-term injury.
Unfortunate delays in the
playing of the London SFC, due to a number
of lengthy objections and appeals, brought
forward by other clubs in London, meant that
St Brendans had to wait until November to
play the 2005 SFC Final against their keen
rivals Tir Chonaill Gaels, who were playing
in their first final since beating St
Brendans in the 2001 showpiece. Led by Paul
Tierney, St Brendans went into the game as
hot favourites for the title, but a
disastrous first half showing left them
trailing at the break and in the end the
Gaels emerged victorious; their fifth final
defeat to the same opposition.
Without doubt the delays
in the playing of the Championship cost the
Brendans a SFC in 2005 as earlier in the
season Tir Chonaill Gaels looked no where
near as impressive as they did as the season
drew to a close. For 2005 season, the
Brendans ended up with two pieces of
silverware: retaining the Senior League and
capturing the Conway Cup in June with an
emphatic victory over Round Towers.
By the start of 2006, all minds were focused
on the 50th Anniversary celebrations for the
club. A great deal of work was put into the
organising for the event held in the
Radisson in Portman Square London and with
an array of distinguished guests and many
players from the past and present in
attendance, a wonderful night was had, a
fitting celebration of fifty years of
activity for St Brendans.
Earlier in the year the
club hosted an invitation tournament and
ended up as winners, defeating the visiting
Bunninadden club from Sligo in the final.
The hopes for the year
had received a knock back with the news that
Shane McAnarney had been invited to join the
Meath panel for the year and also the loss
of the inspirational Shane Manley, who also
opted to play at home for 2006. Further to
that long time servants Martin Gill, Barry
Solen and Aiden McLernon also moved back to
Ireland, although the return of 2002
Championship winning full back Gary Cullen
was a welcome boost.
However, the greatest
loss of all was that of club manager and
secretary Pat McNabb who decided to move
back to Ireland after ten years of service
to St Brendans. McNabb, who joined the club
originally as a player when studying for his
PGCE in St Mary’s Strawberry Hill, became
the focal point of everything that went on
in the club. He appeared in the 1997 final
as a player, managed the team in 2001 to a
county final and was also at the helm in
2002 when they won their second SFC and went
on to play in their first ever All Ireland
Club Championship game. McNabb’s ability to
recruit and train players was unrivalled in
the history of the club and his loss was
felt in all quarters of St Brendans.
Despite those losses, St
Brendans, under new manager Peter McNally,
progressed to qualify for every senior final
in London for the year, culminating in
winning the Brendan’s their 3rd
Senior Championship Title. Again the 2006
London championship was delayed for a number
of months. The Brendans defeated Parnells by
2 points in the semi final and six days
later (9th December 2006) the
Taras were defeated on a scoreline of 0-9 to
1-4. Adrian Brett (Sligo) captained the club
on this historic 3rd triumph for
the Brendans. As a result, the club now
faces Dr Crokes of Killarney – Munster Club
Winners – in the All Ireland Club Quarter
Final.
(Updated December 2006)
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