Brian ‘Smickers’ Smyth

How did you first become involved in the club?

“I think our Ciaran was three-years old and Kieran Megraw was a neighbour of mine. He asked me did I want to come up to join the club. I think training had just started at La Salle at the time, so I went up to La Salle- I went and left Ciaran off and Bukey was coaching at the time. After about two or three weeks I asked Buke did he need a hand- he declined the first couple of times and eventually he said yes. I started from then- it must have been around 1992 or 93. My two other sons – Conor and Brian Óg got involved in the club as well and I started my coaching roles in the club. From that I done my foundation coaching course in football and hurling, level 1 and level 2 in football”.

Coaching courses:

“The courses were probably similar to what they are now- when I done my level 1 it was at Casement Park. There were a lot of coaches involved at the time and it was done over four or five weekends. There was a practical on the pitch in Casement Park, which was very, very good. Eugene Young took the course- you had to go down to Casement a couple of nights a week to the wee coaching office and we sat and went through a lot of theory, then there was a practical on the pitch afterwards, we’d a book to complete- the book took a full season to complete. You’d everything to consider for the year, your whole planning strategy, your team and all the team sheet’s , how the match went for you and against you, what you’d improve and how you’d improve the team for the next week, your team talk and a lot more – it was difficult enough to do that level of work”.

“It a big commitment and Buke and myself did the level 2 course down in CBS- Frankie Quinn and Jimmy Darragh did it and it was the same. It was over a couple of weekends and again there was a practical- everyone was given a specific role then and you’d to go away and organise a full coaching session. I think there was 20 or 30 at each and you’d to take the coaching session that day and you were analysed on it. That was hard enough too”.

“Peter Kane and myself went to one at Jordanstown, it was one with sport scientists and analysts We were nearly completed the course and we got a phone call- Peter had just bought a new house up at Hawthorne and Sandra had got in to use the shower or the bath and it had flooded the house. Peter and me had to leave quickly because the house was flooded”.

Taking teams:

“I started coaching teams from U-10s and you had the St Gall’s Mayday tournament and we tournaments like that. Deaglan Bunting had talked about the tournaments at Shane Park and the McCartan tournaments at St Pauls. We moved into league campaigns at U-12 and we got beat in the Championship final by Gort na Mona at Casement Park. We played into the big nets and it was goals that beat us that day. We scored more than them, we had more scores, but they scored goals. The following year they decided that they weren’t going to play into the big nets anymore”.

“Micky Boyle and myself took the U-14s and we won the U-14 league and moved onto U-16- we won the U-16 B Championship against St Brigid’s at Casement along with Bukey. We ploughed our way through minor and the juvenile end of the club was starting to build. I actually took a hurling team with Barry Armstrong at one stage when they were U-14”.

“Micky Boyle would have been a cohort in most of them teams and I started getting into taking the Reserve teams for a couple of years. It culminated in us winning a Reserve Football Championship against All-Saint’s Ballymena at St Paul’s. it was good mixture of the guys that had come through from U-10 and a few of the older senior players at the time”.

“The reserve football used to prove difficult. We set-up the football forum and decided that it was hard enough playing the two games at the same time on a Sunday. Eddie Fitz and myself were talking the team and we came runners up in the League in Division 4. We wanted to play at higher level in Division 3 but after all those years we decided it wasn’t going to work out and got in contact with Micky Herron to see if there was a chance we could play in South Antrim”.

“He said that South Antrim were trying to get more teams involved – I thought there might have been objections because of our senior league status- but he said to put in the application, and it would be brought in front of the South Antrim Committee, which we done. We brought it to the football forum and talked to the managers and mentors of the senior team and it was discussed at the AGM as well and we decided to play South Antrim”.

“Jim Herron, Micky Boyle and myself took the team last year and I thought we had a very successful year out of it. It was a learning curve for us, and it accumulated in us getting to the Martin Cup final against St Galls- which we were unfortunately beaten in”.

“At one stage nobody was taking the ladies team and we decided we’d go in and give it a go. Micky Boyle, James Martin and myself took the ladies team. Under Peter Kane- they won the Junior B Championship and our plan was to go in and take things to a higher level. I think the first year we played Aldergrove in the final and Aldergrove absolutely hammered us. I stood there admiring Aldergrove and saying to myself – that’s where I want our ladies team to be. Our goal then was take our ladies and try and get them to a higher level in the League”.

“The next year we won Division 3 and were beaten in the Junior B final by a very strong Rossa team. We the won the league and played at a higher level the following year and actually finished in the top half of that league. The girls were fully committed to it and wanted to play at that higher level- which was good. I thought it was a good year for the girls team. There was maybe an U-14 team at the time, there was no U-16 team and minor- obviously the hard work of Peter Kane, Kieran Megraw and Eamon McGarry did a lot of hard work along everyone else that has followed through behind us”.

“I’ve coached quite a few teams in the club and I’m proud to have done that. I think as Deaglan Bunting alluded to that other day- when he was talking about the U-10 tournament at Shane Park- most of the people in that photo are still within the club. They’re still playing, they’re still having active role; whether they’re playing or on committee’s- they’re still there”.

Player development and back to back success:

“The day we won the Senior Football Championship was unbelievable- there was a lot of pride there that day. I seen a lot of them boys come through and said to myself- them boys started off in La Salle all them those years ago when Buke started the FUNdamentals. We’d Deaglan Bunting in the management team as well which was good to see. There was Terry McCrudden, Declan Lynch, Kevin Quinn, Aaron McAufield and Mackers [Mark McIlvenny]. It was a great day for the club”.

“We’d also asked Russ to [Frank Fitzsimons jnr] to take one of the underage football teams. There’s a photograph of Pearse and Russ was standing in an Antrim shirt- it was actually my shirt; it was the day I asked him would he take the team. He said that we would, and he took the team that would go on and win the Ulster Minor. That was a big achievement to win the Minor Ulster. That’s the teams that pushing through at the minute that won it. Stefan Long and Russ took the team and then Terry [McCrudden] came in and got involved”.

“The Committee also looked at the Hurling and one of our major achievements – it was a proud day as well for us- we got everybody back together again and involved in forums. We had a few forums outside the club in hurling and we contacted a few ex-players and got them back together again and we came up with a plan to try and boost the hurling again. It accumulated with the club winning the Antrim Junior Championship and winning Ulster and then completing in the All-Ireland series. That made me proud as I was involved representing the Committee in rejuvenating Hurling again at Senior”.

Committee:

“There has been a lot of work put in by the Committee and a lot of work put in, in the background and people don’t know. They play a very, very big role in the club as well but they don’t like to hog the limelight. I don’t like hogging the limelight- I just like working away in the background and doing my bit. There are a lot of people like that in the club and it’s great to see the ethos in the club is coming through. It all accumulated from the early 90s and it’s all worked its way through”.

“I’ve worked under many chairmen- Kieran Megraw was probably the first, Sean Maguire, Shanty [Pat McCague], Barney Herron, Fitzy [Frank Fitzsimons], Jim Herron and now Peter Kane. There have been a lot of chairmen and I’ve worked under them all and we’ve had very, very good committees. Each chairman has had their own role to do within the club and has progressed the club in its own and left their own stamp on it to each committee. It’s another proud role to be involved in”.

Friendships and forging links:

“Someone said that myself and Buke are like Ant and Dec – I’m friends with a lot of people within the club. It’s great that way and the whole ethos of the GAA – that’s what it’s all about. It’s not all about winning- its’ all about those days that you can look back on and think about, the players that you’ve brought through, helping the community and helping the club”.

“We’d trips down south and brought teams down to Celbridge, Midleton [Cork] and went down to Lucan. We formed great links with Lucan Sarsfield’s and Celbridge have been back up in the club – we’ve formed great links with them and they’ve up and down a few times. We’ve formed great friendships down in Lucan and people down there as well. We still actually meet each other on All-Ireland Final days- we’ll phone each other the week before and meet and have a beers before we go to the final. That’s been a great friendship with that link”.

“We were standing with some of the Lucan boys in the bar before the All-Ireland football final and talking about all the things that we’ve been involved with the club and this, that and the other. Buke said – I’ll have to get that big group that’s doing the tour of the clubs at the minute. I said who’s that Buke? He says the country and western group – Texas Hold em’ you call them. Everybody burst out laughing – obviously it’s a card game and Bukey thought they were the country and western group”.

“We’ve some great stories and some great friendship from the boys from Lucan Sarsfield’s and all the Feile teams we’ve had up over the years. We’ve formed great links with them as well and the social initiative. We’ve teams from Roscommon, Limerick and Dublin up- Jim Ferguson played an active role in that. Micky Boyle and myself went down to Croke Park and sat in a seminar in that and brought it back to the club. Jim Ferguson took a great role in that and made it work. It was absolutely fantastic, and they came up to stay during weekends and we’d great nights in the club with them”.