UNDERAGE FOOTBALL - TEAMS

For many years St Brendan's were regarded as one of the strongest under-age clubs in London. From the mid-1970’s through to the early 1990’s the club was able to field teams in all age groups and the efforts of such club stalwarts as Packie Hughes, Paddy Corscadden, Billy Galvin, John Fahy and Kevin Keenan ensured that there was always a steady flow of young players into the youth system. With the help of these men, the club was able to bring teams back to the annual U-14 Feile in Ireland and on a number of occasion they returned successful.

Like so many under-age teams its growth and development depended greatly on the interests of the parents who had sons at the appropriate age group. Initially people like Mick O’Shea (one of the founding members) and Denis McCarthy were to the forefront of this process, but when these men left to form the St Clarets in the late 1970’s the mantle was picked up by the likes of Packie and Paddy.

At the time their own sons were coming to the age that there was competition available to them and with the encouragement of their fathers their kids were able to persuade school friends and neighbours out, together with the obvious catchment area of second-generation Irish kids.

As time moved on Billy Galvin, John Fahy and Kevin Keenan took on the challenge of running the under-age and they showed great dedication in following teams through from U-10 to minor level with many of them achieving great success. In the early 1990’s especially, they produced an U-14 and U-16 team that was quite literally the envy of the country.

Alas though, as these men moved through the ranks with their own sons there was no one coming in to pick up the younger kids and as a result the under-age club ceased to be for a number of years. Part of the reason for this could be attributed to the effects of the Celtic Tiger as more and more young married men decided to head back to Ireland and with that left a huge gap in the demographics of the club, with the average age of the senior team dipping below the twenty five year old mark.

Throughout the years St Brendan's have produced a number of excellent footballers through their under-age system. Going back to the beginning players like Paul Traynor, Denis McCarthy jr., Mark Mellett and Kevin Gilmartin all came through the ranks and later on players such as Vinnie Murphy, Kevin Clarke and Brendan Boyle also made the mark with the senior team.

Of the teams that were produced by Billy Galvin and his assistants, unfortunately few of them progressed onto the senior team with St Brendan's although it is good to see many of them now playing for St Josephs in the Intermediate ranks. Why this happened is an area that will always cause great debate, but probably the crux of the matter is that with the Brendan's firmly established as a senior club the players themselves needed a little more time to make the switch from minor to junior level. Maybe they didn’t receive enough help from the senior team or maybe they themselves weren’t patient enough when waiting for their opportunity? Whichever, it is a point that will always cause heated argument.

Nowadays, one of the products of the St Brendan's under-age system is working hard to re-develop it. Paul Hughes, a son of Packie, has in the past three years restarted the U-10 and U-12 teams with a great deal of success. Other parents of children on the teams have rallied round to support him and slowly the club is starting to get a foothold in these competitions. It hasn’t been a easy task for Paul and much credit should be given to him for all the hard work he has put in. It is hoped that in 2004 the club will be able to field a team at U-14 level as well.

Notably, Paul has a daughter playing on the under-age teams at the moment, making her the third generation of Hughes to play for the club.

What Paul has done in trying to recreate the youth set up in the club is to focus on schools and get the children and their parents to do their own networking within that environment. Unlike in the past when many children would not have heard of Gaelic football, nowadays with the extensive coaching set up in the schools, many of the kids have already been introduced to the game. All that is left is to persuade them to join a club.

Presently, Cardinal Wiseman, the Visitation Primary School, Gunnersbury and Salvatorians are the main recruitment ground for St Brendan's.