Tony and Suzanne Stanley

Tony Stanley

Becoming involved in Lamh Dhearg:

“To be honest I was basically reared down in Milltown at St Galls and St Galls were the first side I trained with, but I never played a match for them- I just trained down there when I was a nipper. When we moved up to Poleglass in the early 80s- Mitchells were the local team. There were no cars, no transport – it was case of just walking to the pitches and played for Mitchels”.

“It was me that approached Buke one day- sitting down in my Aunt’s house down in Milltown. I’ve a link to Claire- I think he was going with Claire or might have been married. So, I’d said to Buke, things just weren’t working out with Mitchells. Gilly [McIlhatton] was trying to run everything himself – and fair play to him but I was quite keen to come up to Lámh Dhearg”.

“Gilly had words with Bukey and called him a poacher with a ferret and said ‘you’s stole Stanley’. Not that I was any use- I just think there wasn’t great numbers at Mitchels. But at the end of the day my mother and father thought it was the best thing for me to be somewhere where you’d be looked after. One thing that you were at Lámh Dhearg was looked after- from the minute you walked through the gates you were looked after- in every shape and form”.

“I’m glad I did, it shaped me and formed me and went a long way to making me who I am today. I came up there at 10 or 11 years of age and the first game I played in was the U-12 Nipper Quinn final at Casement against St Pauls. We beat them and that was the first game I played in- I touched the ball once but we won, and it was a great start”.

Underage memories and success:

“It was different- you were going up and you had lads like Kevin Elliott, Gary Murray and lads that we cracking players. You just improved when you were training and playing with them boys week in week out. From then on – I played on different boys, we went on up through and won a few U-14 Championships under Bukey. Coming into the 90s it was Barney [Brendan Herron], Gerry McConville and Benny Lynch [RIP] looked after the football side of teams that I was involved in”.

“We’d a great side there and a lot of friends and guys I’m still friends with Declan Toland, Gary Murray, Kevin Elliott, Eamon McCloskey and Dee McLaughlin- boys I’d still see and be friendly with. A couple of years above us was the minor team of the time and you aspired to be part of that panel. I was involved in the minor hurling panel and still playing with the u-16s too and the same with the football. Kids don’t realise it these days – they all seem to walk around like the world owes them something- they don’t realise that these are the best days of their lives. Playing football and hurling without a care in the world”.

Class of 92- Minor and U-16 :

“I would have played more in the hurling team than the football team to be honest. I would have been a squad player on the football team whereas I started on the hurling team. Frankie Quinn got a song out of our team- we played Rossa, Cushendall and Loughgiel. Every one of those teams were expected to beat us, people talk about achievements for management – for Frankie Quinn to manage that to win the Minor Hurling Championship was just unreal”.

“You had a job to do and for Frankie – if he said to run through a wall you’d do it. It was the same with Buke and Jim Brady for the football, you were made to feel part of the panel – it’s just I played more in the hurling side of things and was playing U-16 at the time too. We’d won the U-16 final that year as well – I think I was the skipper of the team and beat a good St Pauls team”.

“We beat the Rasharkin team in Rasharkin that went on to beat us two years later in the minor final – they’d the McAleese brothers and boys like that in the team. I remember going up and there and it was hostile to say the least but when you’d Barney, Gerry McConville and Benny there you were well looked after and didn’t really have much fear. You’d no inhibitions whatsoever, you really had no inhibitions whatsoever. You know that Rasharkin on a Wednesday night isn’t the most welcoming of places and those boys had us well ready for it. I remember going up and beating them in the semi-final and it was one of the best matches I’ve played in. they were really, really heavily fancied that year”.

“The success that the minors had- the U-16 team was overshadowed a wee bit but that was a great U-16 team we had at the time. It was a really, really good side and we were well looked after- Barney, Gerry and Benny were outstanding with us. We’d a cracking hurling team and had Pat Toland there- I learned so much from Pat Toland its unbelievable. It’s quiet men that didn’t said to say very much to you, but when they said to you- you listened. Pat was brilliant and a gentleman. The siege mentality that them boys built- Frankie built, Buke and Jim Brady built, and Barney and Gerry built. It outshines any individual thing and they were very; very good I have to say”.

Benny Lynch [RIP]:

“ Benny Lynch was away for a while and came back on the scene- I remember Benny coming to take a training session and Jesus Christ I’ve never run as much in my life ! he was doing it with us. We all thought we were fit but Jesus Christ it looked like he had only done a warm-up. We were all hanging, and he was a super fit man, a super fit man. He was bringing in aspects of training at was 10-years ahead of everybody else. It was outstanding stuff”.

Coaching in the club:

“You take wee bits from everybody really and try to instil what them guys instilled in us. Not just as footballers and hurlers- they had a real influence on us as young men. I took a wee minor team up with Dodger from they were U-10 down at the St Galls May-Day tournament – when they didn’t even score and you’d Ross Murray, Jamie Fegan, Eoin Matassa and Jack Summersgill. You’d just try to instil a wee bit of what we learned from different coaches into them and try to- not only make them better footballers but give them help. It helps you get through life more than anything”.

“I had the opportunity this year to come in and help with the U-21s, people look after my own kids – the likes of Peter [Kane], Stevie Bunting, Barry [Armstrong] and Dee McLaughlin. You feel that you have to give a wee bit back and it’s important you do give a wee bit back. The way with my work schedule was- it suited me to take the U-21s this year. They were a great bunch of kids but some great bunch of lads as well”. 

Work that goes on behind the scenes:

“The club is about lifelong friends and if you needed anything you could call any of them at any time of the day and you know they’d be there for you and that’s not lost on me. Doing Strictly and the Lip Sync challenge with Joe McNeill was a laugh and a bit of craic. It was a laugh and again and opportunity to give things back. I think that anytime anything like that comes up in the club- it’s important that people get behind it”.

“There’s so much work that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t see, the various committees. I know a lot of people don’t attend the AGM’s, but you don’t really realise the work that goes on until to go the AGM and you see the various committees that are renowned behind the scenes. It’s just important that when people ask a wee bit of you- that you do make an effort to give a wee bit back”.

Pride and identity:

“It’s what I identify myself with- it’s your GAA club and no matter where you’ll go, you’ll bump into somebody from Ireland and the conversation will always get round to the GAA. That’s you identity- you’re a Lámh Dhearg member and I’m a Lámh Dhearg man first and foremost”.

“People will go Lámh Dhearg – that’s Paddy Cunningham, Michael Herron, Brendan Herron, Ciaran Herron and Declan Lynch. People associate you with that- I’ve an immense amount of pride in the club and that’s the club I’m associated with. My kids are associated with it and my family- my Ma was probably more associated with it than any because she was out from the Rock. Her family have a bit of a connection and with Claire Buchanan, but my Da plays his role in the club with carrying out maintenance. It’s who were are and you take great pride in associating yourself with the club. The way our club conducts itself on and off the pitch- you take great pride in it. Every time to wear that jersey you’re identify with that club and the parish”.

Kids and wonderful Féile experience:

“Peter Kane would probably take the kids to more matches than me because of different commitments and stuff to be honest. Peter and Dee McLaughlin and that network of friends and coaches. Kids will never be left stuck- if you can’t take them people are there and it’s important if you’ve the opportunity to give lifts that you can try help people out”.

“I get no more greater pride than going and watching my kids playing, you just want them to do the best that they can. I try to be as quiet as I can on the side-line and let the managers do their job. I’ve told facing the guys that look after my kids- there is no greater thing than saying to somebody that they’re looking after your kids and they’re responsible for your kids. The coaches are absolutely first class and they deserve a medal for the work they do on a regular basis”.

“Evan went to Féile two years ago and Kayla went to Féile last year and to me that is the epitome of the GAA- it’s what Féile is all about. I think the GAA has got lost a wee bit lately with the money aspect of things and with club managers and people getting paid. When you go to Féile- you actually see what the GAA is all about. Anybody that gets the opportunity to go on that weekend- you should go on that weekend of sport”.

“It’s what the GAA is all about- it’s really what the GAA is all about. 13- and 14-year olds giving their all and it’s so honest. I have to say it was outstanding and I really, really enjoyed myself at both Feile events. Hopefully they’ll both go on and play senior football and hurling / camogie for the club. Nothing would give me greater pride than that to be honest”.

Suzanne Stanley

Marriage to Tony and association with the club:

“I’ve known Tony a long time and I knew his involvement in the club and how much it means to him. It really, really came home for me whenever we got married and had the kids to be honest. What the club has done for kids now is just unbelievable. They’re getting what he got and for myself as well- it’s just became a real family thing for us. It’s just part of our family life and now that’s we’re on lockdown we all miss it terribly”.

GFM&Os:

“That came about from the kids to be honest. There was a charity tournament at Rossa, and the club had put out for Mothers and Others to get involved. I mentioned it to the kids, and they were like ‘do it mummy, do it’. I said no I don’t know about playing and ‘they said no do it’ and they really, really persisted. I went ahead and just never looked back”.

“Micky [Boyle] and James [Martin] are just magnificent and the experience that they bring. We went to Croke Park and played at the interval of the ladies final and it was amazing- an absolutely amazing experience. We got the kits and everything [At this part in the interview- Tony offered a different outlook and recalls “They’d more false tan on- they didn’t give a monkeys about playing in Croke Park. All I seen was false tan]. We went out with the band and everything and that’s my claim to fame”.

“We went to national blitz- last year we stayed overnight, and it was amazing. They come from everywhere and they’re getting bigger and bigger. They have this big mass warm-up and it’s really fun, the entertainment just goes on. It’s just unbelievable and like a big massive party. You meet so many people and it’s a great experience and great memories”.

“A lot of the girls involved would have been walking around the pitch or dropping kids off but now they have a focus and it’s getting more people involved in the club. We’ve had a few players that have went on and played senior. I know a lot of senior girls have said that when the time comes and they’re not playing, it’s great that they’ll have this to continue on and play some sort of football and have the craic”.

“Hopefully it grows and grows- they saw its not competitive, but it does get competitive and we get competitive. It’s not about the skills and fitness – obviously we all try but it’s not about that. It’s about having the camaraderie and them friends. It’s just terrific and a brilliant, brilliant initiative which I think will get bigger and bigger with clubs”.

“It has just been an amazing experience and the kids just love that me and all the other mummy’s do this –  It’s brilliant. The What’s app has been brilliant and hasn’t stopped at this time. We’re doing an exercise challenge and we all post whatever we do and we’re trying to get a target. We all encourage each other and it’s just another family within the main family of the club. It’s unbelievable how we have that camaraderie with the rest of the GFM&Os. Tony and the kids have experienced it and now I get to experience it- which is great. For the four of us to put on a jersey is unreal”.

Kids:

The kids have been up there from a very, very young age and have loved it –  absolutely love it. I can see what they get out of it and they miss it- they really miss it at the minute. They get structure, enjoyment, discipline and the friends that Tony has for life – they have similarly. All the wee flashback photos coming up- all them kids are still there playing and they’re all their friends”.

“As they’re becoming teenagers – Evan is a teenager and Kayla is becoming a teenager- the health and wellbeing aspect is really important. In relation to the talks that they’ve got regarding alcohol, drugs and mental health- I think that’s just absolutely brilliant for them. Also, the GAA Presidents Award – Evan was part of it, and it was terrific for him and absolutely brilliant. Hopefully that will pick up when they come back”.

“We always book our holidays around the Cul Camp- they love the Cul Camp and all the summer schemes. The cultural side as well and the Sceim Samhraidh- it’s planted a seed with our kids, and they wanted to do Irish in secondary school. They’ve both went onto Gaeltacht and really, really enjoyed the Irish language and that’s through then club”.

Other club events and Darkness into Light :

“Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the Santa hat party with Bukey and Krazy Kenny. They are great, great memories and our extended family would go as well- it wasn’t only us. My mother and father and Tony’s mother and father go to the annual presentations and they came to a lot of others events like fun-days. We to go and look forward to as many events as we can. There is so much that the club provides”.

“Darkness into Light is a superb family event and one that we all look forward to as a family. We all do it as a family and seeing the kids with their teams and us meeting up with our friends. It’s great that we can get together like that and supporting the wider community. For the club to host it, it’s a great pride. It became an annual event and it keep’s getting bigger and bigger. It’s something that the kids can really associate with as well and help out as they get older. They’re encouraged to volunteer and to give a bit back. Hopefully as they get older they’ll help out at the different club events”.