The Boys of ’93: Derry’s All-Ireland Kings

Description

In 2002, almost a decade after he became the first man to lead Derry’s footballers to All Ireland success – and in the most unlikely of moves for the cagey Ballymaguigan bricklayer – Eamonn Coleman sat down with a journalist and told his story.

That the journalist was his niece and goddaughter gave the infamously secretive Coleman the time and space to relive the white-hot battles of Ulster football in the early ’90s, from Casement to Clones with the boys of ’93, and their triumphant march to Croker to claim Sam, the ultimate prize.

Over a period of months, then years, and in that unique South Derry brogue, he recalls those guts and glory days: the professional triumphs and personal disasters, not least his sacking just a year after seeing his beloved ‘boys’ crowned All Ireland kings. That was personal.

The charismatic Coleman pays homage to the halcyon days of Ulster football and to the men who made them: McEniff and McGrath as well as Heffernan and Boylan. At the root of his story though remains his golden philosophy, ‘the players is the men’.

Contents

Foreword by Joe Brolly

Prologue by Maria McCourt ~ ‘Some Boy’

Chapter One:        Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns Grow

Chapter Two:        Youse Boys Know Nathin About Football

Chapter Three:      Players is the Men

Chapter Four:        Homecoming Heroes

Chapter Five:        No Guts and No Glory

Chapter Six:           No Magic in Management

Chapter Seven:     Father to Son (interview with Gary Coleman)

Chapter Eight:       Loughshore Life

About the Authors

A trailblazer throughout his GAA career, in 1993 Eamonn Coleman became the first manager to lead Derry to All-Ireland success, a feat that remains his alone. Having taken over as manager in 1990, in 1992 he brought the county only its second National League title. At just 14 he became the youngest-ever player to win a senior club championship medal with his home team, Ballymaguigan; he was a member of Derry’s first All-Ireland-winning minors in 1965 and All-Ireland U21 champions of 1968. He repeated his minor success as a manager, winning the All-Ireland in 1983. He died in June 2007 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Maria McCourt is Eamonn Coleman’s niece and goddaughter. A former journalist and editor, she has worked as a news and sports reporter for publications in Ireland, Australia and the US. Maria started her career as a trainee journalist with the Belfast Media Group and went on to become editor of two of its newspapers, the North Belfast News and South Belfast News. The start-up editor of the national daily, Daily Ireland, in the late 2000s she led editorial teams in Cavan and Monaghan, establishing two weekly papers in the counties. She has also worked for the Irish Echo newspaper in Sydney and as a contributor for Irish Echo in New York.