Frankie Wilson [RIP]

Early Gaelic memories  and joining Lámh Dhearg:

“My Dad [Frankie snr] in 1948 returned from San Francisco- he went in early 1948 and spent 6 months over there  and came back because my Granny didn’t like it. He lived in a shack in Hannahstown for a year near where Shanty [Pat McCague]lived and they were friends so that was my first link in Hannahstown -my dad living there and he got me into Gaelic- he’d have played a lot of Gaelic himself when he was younger for Davitt’s and O’Ds. He always encouraged to me to get involved in Gaelic and I played for Derryiaghy. They were a local team where we lived in Brooke Crescent- they were based beside St Anne’s at Rathmore so it was the natural choice to play for them. Unfortunately, because of the lack of numbers- itwith numbers and I went down to O’Donnell’s to play minor for a year. My Cousin [Paul McCabe] got me up to Lámh Dhearg, he went up and I followed him. It was a natural position for Paul, Colm [McCabe] and myself to play for Lámh Dhearg – that was in 1987 and I was 17 at the time. One of the happiest early memories with the club was coaching at the summer schemes- which were well ahead of the Cúl Camps. I coached along with Dodger, Ciaran O’Neill, Jim Brady, Henry Clifford, Micky Boyle etc. it was great fun coaching the kids in the morning and heading off to the likes of the Ice Bowl, Cinema, the swimmers and bopping along to the Bukey and Dodge roadshow”.

Minor Championship success in 88:

“We won the Minor Championship in 88 with a win against St Galls- that was with Pat McCambridge [Dodger], Ciaran O’Neill, Paul Stinton [RIP] – he was  our full-back and a great player, Paul McCabe, Ciaran Magee, Paddy Dornan and Brendy O’Neill. We had a very good team and it was well managed by Paul Lynch- he got us all together and treated us very professionally. We done well and should have won the Ulster’s that year at the St Paul’s tournament”.

“We got beat by Maghery [Armagh] and we were nine or ten points up and they came back and beat us by a point. It was bitterly disappointing because we were a very good team but the majority of that team stayed on. Because of the success and the way, we were treated- a lot of time you get a lot of boys that fall away from Gaelic at 18 or 19- but the majority of that team went on to play senior football for the club very successfully over the years. We won a few leagues, unfortunately didn’t win too many Championship’s and that was one of my biggest regrets from senior player”.

“I was part of the U-21 team that got beat by a point by the Johnnies at Casement in 91. It was a tough one- St John’s were a good team and we were a good team. I think Stevie McFadden got sent-off and it probably didn’t help the cause. We were just unlucky but to give St John’s their dues- they had a very good team and beat us fair and square that night. We’d won the minor Championship and the majority of the players had stayed and we got a few more players in- we definitely fancied our chances. Maybe a wee bit of complacency was there, it was a good match but I got a bad injury of my leg and I’ve still got the scar from it at the time. It was tough match but playing at Casement Park was a treat to play at”.

Special year in 92:

“92 was a special year – I was very, very proud that the club won a lot. We won from U-12 through to senior football and the boys winning the minor hurling. I’m taking a bit of hurling myself in school [St Pat’s Knock] and coaching hurling- I didn’t appreciate how big a win it was for a club where hurling wasn’t as big as football at the time. But to go and beat Loughgiel in the final was unbelievable for the lads. I remember going to watch it and I was very proud of them”.

“92 was special for us under the formidable and dynamic duo of Fitzy and Big Lynchie ,all because we were a very, very strong team and we got to the final of the Championship. I remember being at the other semi-final and seeing the trouble breaking out and I said, ‘ I wouldn’t be surprised if they were thrown out’. People laughed at it but subsequently they were. I would rather have played the match obviously and won the match on the field but it was taken out of our hands. It was bittersweet – even know, people refer to it as the Championship that wasn’t played and so on. But it wasn’t our fault and we were just middle part players in it and it is what it is. At that stage we full expected to go and win Championship’s throughout the 90s but we just fell short all the time and it was very, very disappointing”.

Tales:

“I was coming from Rathmore into Lámh Dhearg in the 80s and the craic was 90 and I used to take dogs abuse from the La Salle and St. Mary’s lads. I remember playing against St. Mary’s and they beat us 48-0 and lads just laughed at us. They treated me well, you have to have a thick skin in the club – it’s fun when you met up and a special bond. The craic is 90 and there is a special humour as well- there was Beansy, Kipper and Peter-Martin – funny, funny guys”.

“Paddy and Beansy telling the Letterkenny story was a cracker – they got me a belter. We got back to the B&B and they said – ‘Frankie you need to hurry up’ I said hold on I have to have a shower. The muck that day was phenomenal and we played really well at the tournament. We’d 15 or 20 good players and to get onto that team was an achievement. We won it and they said you’re player of the tournament – that’s how well I thought I played I just thought it was natural I was going to win it. I remember walking into the Hall and I walked up they handed me this dodgy trophy. It was darts trophy and I turned around the lads were literally on the floor laughing and pointing. You couldn’t get annoyed- you had to take it and bite the lip and get on with it. In years to come it was a funny story and it was 100 per cent true”.

“I remember one scary incident that we were playing a Championship match at Casement v McDee’s and we didn’t play particularly well but just about got over the line . After the game Bill Molloy had a panic attack – it scared the life out of me- he ripped the jersey of his chest and everything and thank god Physio Paul McCormack was there and handled the situation calmly and brilliantly –Fitzy and Jim Herron were there -it was a memory but a scary one. Bill is great and in Canada now, I’d be on Facebook with him and he was over for the spirit of 92. It’s great to see these guys and meet up with them”.

“Kipper [Cormac Carmichael], Anto [Finnegan] and Donal [O’Hara] were big losses. Anto was a big void, Kipper was as good a forward as you’d get- was an excellent forward and Donal was a fantastic player. We were just galvanising a team with Beansy [Brendan Elliott], Paddy Tumelty and Peter-Martin and all those kind of guys coming in alongside Micky Boyle, Dodger, Paul and Colm McCabe all coming through. You’d your ‘older ones’ like Joe McNeill, John McKiernan, Hughesy, Damian Brown, Tote’s [Brendan Toland], Eddie Fitz, Kaneso, Eamon McGarry Bill Molloy, Russ, Terry McCrudden and Bukey – it was a great team and we’d a lot of strength and depth. Looking at the bench when you were coming on- we were strong and the guys coming on were challenging for places”.

“One day I drove one of the minibuses to Clonduff In Hilltown and helped Bukey conduct a team building and coaching day for the Minor footballers in about 1993 I think. It was a glorious sunny day and the boys really enjoyed the day . En route home the other minibus clipped a high kerb and bus went on to its roof. It terrified Bukey and me and we ran quickly to the bus and thankfully no one was badly injured . First time I had ever seen Sean Dog Elliot and Rab Mervyn speechless”.

County experiences:

“I was lucky enough to play on a couple of county teams, one of my proudest days was playing minor county up in Tyrone and we got tanked by Tyrone but I was a Derryiaghy player at that stage. there wasn’t too many Derriaghy players playing for the county minor team- it was always nice”.

“In U-21 I was with Lámh Dhearg and we went on and got beat by Down by a point. We were talking about it the other week- we’d one of our players sent-off. Down had won the All-Ireland in minor with the likes of James McCartan and we played them at Casement and they beat us by a point. It was one of the only matches that I’d played and started at half-back. You talk about taking people out of their comfort zones and appreciate different positions but I just couldn’t hack being a half-back. I don’t know how the Terry McCrudden’s, Paul McCabe’s and Paddy Tumelty’s became defenders?”.

“I was very lucky and honoured to get called up to senior county and I always – even to this day -consider it a massive honour to go and represent Lámh Dhearg at senior county football. It was a great treat to play senior county but it was hectic time in my eyes. I was playing soccer, Gaelic, club football and other stuff- it was just mad but great to be able to play all around the country”.

“Donegal in 93 was nice- it was a lovely day and they were all-Ireland champions and the place was packed. I was in the squad in 92 against Fermanagh but I didn’t get on in Championship. Don’t forgot- in those days it was just one-off matches and that was it. You had to win or else you were out. At that stage Ulster was so, so strong right throughout the counties. You were only getting beat by a point or two and these boys were All-Ireland champions. 93 was nice and I think we were beat by two-points, I had a good enough game and got joint man of the match. It was nice thing to have and it actually gave me a lot more confidence to think that we are as good as any of them. Sometimes being from Antrim you do lack a wee bit of confidence in the game but from that day on- I thought we’re as good as any of them and these boys went on and won an All-Ireland and we put it up to them”.

“It was brilliant to have other club ones involved – we’ve been really lucky to have Micky Boyle, Terry McCrudden, Colm McCabe, Russ, Eddie Fitz RIP,  Paul McCabe and Paul Buchanan. We came through senior county together and it was good that have that camaraderie and link with the club. We’re very lucky to have such a good club- Lámh Dhearg is second to none in what we do. I look back to what Bukey did- he brought kids in U-6 and U-8 way back in the 80’s when nobody was doing it. Now every Gaelic club is doing exactly that and having wee mini tournaments. That was way back in the height of the troubles and for Buke to do that and having others to do it is outstanding. Sometimes I don’t like to give him too much credit but I have to give him massive credit for that. It is fantastic to see many mentors putting in so much effort to develop across all codes and the club is in good healthy position with the likes of Peter Kane , Smickers and others on the committee”.

Struggles of multiple sports: 

“It was just busy and I was living up in Derry at that stage- I was up at Derry City and sometimes it was hard. I would miss a bit of training at the club and some of the boys would have been giving me a bit of stick. One time someone said, ‘is there any chance of you going training?’ and I came back on night and trained and said – right let’s do and go for a run. I lapped him and said – well there you are- I’m fitter than you and I don’t come to training at the club all the time. It was a hell of a lot of commitment to drive up and down from Derry City to play club football and county”.

“Playing Irish League, I would have been training Tuesday and Thursday for the soccer and Monday and Wednesday and Friday for Gaelic. On a Saturday you’d be playing at maybe Solitude or Windsor Park and on the next day you’d be in the car and travelling to Longford, Leitrim or wherever you were going. It was great- looking back it was absolutely brilliant times. You were flat out playing the two sports I loved to play and I was very lucky being able to play them”.

Irish League:

“I remember marking Micky Boyle for Ards one day- to this day- he is still the quickest person I’ve ever seen on a pitch. In soccer or Gaelic, he was exceptionally quick and there was days we’d play against each other. Anto Finnegan played for Ballyclare Comrades when I played and you’d Joe Quinn was on the Cliftonville team in 98. Pat O’Connor would have been a very good mate of mine; he would have played for a few Irish League teams and the county”.

“We were lucky enough to get picked on the British University team and it was across the water. We played on the Saturday and we flew back on the Sunday and played for the county senior team in midfield. It was a unique weekend where we were playing in the top level in the soccer and then coming back to play Gaelic”.

“I was at Omagh Town at the time of the Omagh bomb in 1998 – it was very difficult time and the following year Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd came over and I played in all three of them. Man Utd were treble winners at the time and they brought all the trophies over with them. They were special games to be part of – considering the terrible times. Omagh Town was good and I have some good memories. We played in Europe in the Intertoto Cup and I was lucky enough to play in Europe was great fun”.

“I didn’t like Paddy Tumelty marking me- he was nippy and tough and Beansy’s fitness was outstanding and he was very, very quick. Terry McCrudden was very cute with the ball – he could intercede and read the game very well. Eamon McGarry- if you were put into full-forward it was tough- you knew what you were in for with him, he was just so strong. Paul McCabe was tough and hard as anything- you’d have went through a brick wall for him and he was a good friend over the years and we’re cousins. Our training sessions were tough when you look back at them. It was much easier marking the superstars from United, Chelsea and Liverpool than marking any of those boys”.

Coaching in soccer and GAA:

“I was player-coach at Omagh in my last year – it would be a natural progression with being a PE teacher and I was coaching all the time with school kids. I managed Larne reserves and then I went to Bangor- that was my first big job. I managed Bangor and was lucky to win the Steel and Son’s Cup in 2011. It was special and brilliant- I’d never played in the Steel and Son’s and didn’t know about it. It was all reserve players from Irish League along with Championship sides and below”.

“It was big, big match and we beat Larne in the final – it was actually on Christmas Eve because you couldn’t play on a Sunday. They were favourites and we beat them 2-0 and it was great and nice to win a trophy. When you get older you don’t win too many trophies as a player or as a manager. I went onto manage at Sport and Leisure, Donegal Celtic and Lurgan Celtic for a while. They were good experiences and I’m currently manager of Northern Ireland U-18s. I find that very rewarding”.

“I’d Decky Dunne playing under me a few years ago – one of his saves is still on YouTube. He made an unbelievable save against Scotland in the last minute and we went onto win the Centenary Shield. It was good craic chatting away with Decky as a club-man as well and being part of the international set-up as well”.

“I helped out at the club in maybe 2013 or 2014 with Micky Boyle- I was one of the selectors and I enjoyed it, but I was very busy with school and internationals. It was hard to get time to commit but I do hope to get back and help out in some stage or form. The club has been very, very good to me in the 20 odd years that I played. I’d like to give a bit back at some stage”.

“We were preparing for the McLarnon final this year with Knock- our first ever final and we’d won the Casement Cup hurling. We are dealing with a lot of good players- mostly from County Down – Bredgah, Carryduff and St Paul’s Hollywood. There are a few St Brigid’s guys there so there’s a good mix in school and big impetus into playing Gaelic games in our school. They’re competing well and it[‘s great to coach the kids at that level. It’s every day of the week and a big undertaking – there’s so many year groups and they all have teams. The ethos of the school is to play all sports – we compete in basketball, soccer, rugby – we actually played in the schools cup rugby this year- we were the first catholic school to play in the schools cup in a long time and it was nice for the kids. But Gaelic games are very important”.

Differences:

“One of the big differences I find is that the Gaelic boys really go for fitness and athleticism and focus quite a lot on that. I would rather look on how we actually play the game- skills sets and tactics. When we played tactics wasn’t a big thing- unfortunately. I think we missed the tricky sometimes, where we could have been more tactically aware. The soccer boys are more into tactics and more into how to rise to win. Gaelic boys are more athletic more than their tactics but they are getting better. ICT and the internet – people are looking at other sports and saying we need to do this in Gaelic games”.

“I’ve been very lucky in my career as a manager and coach to see guys like Gavin Whyte and Mark Sykes and kids who were missed and didn’t get picked before. I spotted them and said listen they’re great players- Gavin moved to Cardiff for £2 million. In Gaelic I coached James Loughery at school. At that stage we was a phenomenal athlete and went onto play for Antrim and then down to Cork. He’s won Munster Championships and played in All-Irelands. It’s nice to see the kids go on and play and represent the county- which is great”.

Watching the 2017 triumph:

“I was at  all of the games in 2017 and obviously at the final and I was immensely proud. It’s our club and I was going mad watching it and nervous like everybody else- it was just wanting us to win- we’d been in situations before were we were supposed to win and didn’t. Finally getting over the line was  absolutely brilliant – last year was annoying. I thought the first match against Cargin we should have put them to the sword but fair play to Cargin – they stuck at it. Again it was a missed chance for Lámh Dhearg but my heart went out to them after such an epic and emotional Championship run”.

“I always like to go and watch the matches now and you see these young fella’s coming through- I don’t really know them that well. they’re well managed by Terry [McCrudden] and Mairtin [Lynch] and they’ve got a bit of experience with Paddy [Cunningham], Finuch [John Finucane] and Micko [Michael Herron] and young ones coming through. It’s a great mix to have and I don’t think we’ll be far off- if we get going this year. Nothing would give you more pride than going and representing the county in the Ulster’s. All my life playing county football – if you went down south you were being treated like second class citizens.  Especially being from Antrim- they looked down their nose and that always annoyed me and spurred me on to play better and try and be better to put us on the map”.

Lockdown 15:

Following on from Silo picking his Lámh Dhearg 15 at the start of the Lockdown in March- Frankie decided to pick his all time Lámh Dhearg 15 and explains:

“I think I had a bottle of wine before I picked that team – but it was good craic. It was trying to break the boredom and it was good team and good craic. To pick a 15 for Lámh Dhearg was tough because there has been a lot of good players. Different types of players – boys who were very athletic, others that were technically brilliant. I look back at some players that may have dropped away before senior and one of those was Ciaran O’Neill. He was a fantastic player and special. He was always a player I liked playing with, Dodger [Pat McCambridge] would have been a great player – again, technically very good and a good all-round Gaelic player. My cousins Colm and Paul [McCabe] were excellent players- Colm had as good a right foot as you would get- he could put the ball over with snow on it. He was a very good athlete and player for Lámh Dhearg. There’s been loads- Beansy [Brendan Elliott], Paddy [Tumelty], Terry [McCrudden] – you could go through all the lists. Excellent club players”.

Events and initiatives:

“It’s what the club is about really- we’ve been about with each other and the club is brilliant for that. I think we’re ahead of the posse when it comes to that sort of organisation and what things we can do. I must take my hat off to the committee’s in the club- they’re excellent and what they’ve produced in big nights out and fundraisers like Strictly Come Dancing, Lip Sync, and Tour De Fitz. Tour De Fitz was an unreal day for the club honouring the late Eddie Fitz. The weather was horrendous and so bad that the official cycling tour of ulster by the pros was abandoned after 30 mins. Never forget the feeling of satisfaction that day. A brilliantly organised event for one of our own, Eddie. Running underage tournaments like the Diarmuid Frazer tournament and events like the spirit of 92 reunion and being able to have everyone together and celebrate the special successes. We have the What’s-App group that lets everyone still keep in touch. On a yearly basis the club also helps to organise the Darkness into Light and it has continued to grow year by year. You’ve the plan to have the second pitch and it’s all brilliant initiatives that you can see the growth within the club. It is one of the most powerful events that our club has ever undertaken and the cross-community spirit and empathy by the club is unbelievable. I wouldn’t miss it. I love standing with my best mate Micky McCloskey- warmly welcoming people into the club prior to the early morning walk. I’m so proud of my association with the club and always remembered that’s where I met my wife Tara at the legendary Sunday night Take Your Pick disco. I’ve had the pleasure of playing with and socially mixing with so many good Gaels and so many good people”.