Dancing at the crossroads
December 30, 2010John Mitchels GFC was founded by Christy Byrne, Eugene Reilly and Paddy Halpenny in 1957, shortly after Dermot O'Brien had led Louth to All-Ireland glory, and - having endured a rather nomadic existence hitherto - settled in Ballybailie in 1987. Over the past decade or so, they have been working hard on completing their facilities, to bring them right up to scratch with the best in the Wee County.
The initial phase of the development, completed in 2003, comprised the construction of the clubhouse including showers, toilet facilities and a referee's changing room. Phase II commenced in 2005 and included the construction of a boundary wall, spectator stand, machinery shed, ball nets and floodlighting. This work was more or less finished by 2008 but the club opted to wait until every last piece of the jigsaw was in place, until every last lick of paint was applied, before proceeding with the official opening - which took place on April 18th with a senior intercounty challenge match between Down and Louth.
The third Sunday in April 2010 marked a tremendous day of celebration for the club and the close-knit community it represents, as the Mitchels' founding fathers' dreams came to fruition in a major way.
Sadly, two of the three founders have passed away. Christy was present at the opening and the day was an extremely proud and poignant one for him but, no doubt, Eugene and Paddy were looking down on the mid-Louth club that day and they approved of what they witnessed. The club at the crossroads has come of age!
The area was a sea of Red & White as GAA president Christy Cooney performed the official opening at one of the smallest clubs in the smallest county. Louth County Board chairman Padraic O'Connor was also on hand, alongside county secretary Des Halpenny - himself of course a proud Mitchels man. Leinster Council treasurer Pat Toner showed up to offer his support, while unfortunately club chairman James Sweeney missed the big day due to illness - but everyone sent James their best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Known far and wide for its four crossroads, Ballybailie now has facilities that are on a par with anywhere else in the county - an astonishing achievement for such a small club! The pitch is superb, as are the stand and clubhouse, while floodlights make it possible to train or play in the evening and there is ample car-parking. No stone has been left unturned.
"It all started out as an old derelict two-storey house," club secretary Gerry Matthews relates. "We bought the house and the field behind it in '87 (with a £4,000 deposit) and we started developing it from there to what it is today. The reason why it wasn't opened until this year was because we wanted to make sure everything was finished before we went ahead with the opening. We made sure all the finishing touches were in place before opening it officially. We wanted to do it right."
Going back to 1987, the driving forces behind the acquisition of the site were Eugene Reilly (who was chairman at the time), James Sweeney, Paddy Halpenny, Christy Byrne, James Halpenny, Frankie Sands, John Joe Curtis and Pat Kane. Sadly, Eugene, Paddy and Frankie never lived to see the development to fruition. Pat Kane, who lives beside the pitch and acts as caretaker, is on call 24 hours a day and does priceless work for the club in this regard. The initials of the Mitchels' three founding members - ER, PH and CB - are etched onto the club crest, so they will never be forgotten.
The club has invested approximately 260,000 euro in the development, but they are in a good position financially, as Gerry confirms: "The plan now is to get it paid for but thankfully the monies that are owed on it aren't huge. With the help of the club lotto and the continued support of the local community, we hope it will be paid for soon and the facilities will be here for the benefit of future generations. It's going to be a major asset to the community.
"This year, for the first time, we managed to get 24 or 25 people to advertise around the pitch and that is a major help and we're extremely grateful of that support. We're also grateful to the people who continue to support the club lotto, which
remains our main source of income. The people of the community have been extremely helpful. Only for their voluntary contributions, the whole project would have been a lot more expensive. Indeed, it may not even have been possible. So we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the community and we hope the facilities serve future generations well."
As things turned out, it was quite a coup to have the senior footballers of Down and Louth on hand for the SF challenge to mark the official opening. Both sides went on to contest the latter stages of the 2010 championship, as respective homegrown managers James McCartan and Peter Fitzpatrick got the very best out of their players. "It was a great honour to be able to host two intercounty teams and also to have Pat McEnaney as referee. A big Thank You to Pat because he gave his services free on the day and that's the kind of gesture that you really appreciate. That gesture was typical of the support and goodwill we've had throughout the development.
"This is a great achievement for what's essentially a crossroads team with no school, no pub and no shop. It's extraordinary really when you look at the facilities and think about what we've achieved.
"A lot of former players' children are playing with the club now and that's bringing people back into the Mitchels at committee and coaching level etc. On the field of play, for a small club, it tends to go in cycles. We've been through a lean spell but the next crop is starting to come through now.
"We won the U14 league and championship double in 2009 and our juveniles are going really well. At adult level, even though we didn't set the work on fire, this was a great year for us because we had the numbers back training again and we managed to win a few games, which represents progress. Some lads who hadn't played for three or four years came back again.
"Our juvenile section caters for boys and girls and the juvenile structure is very strong thanks to the hard work of our underage mentors - we're hoping to see the fruits of that work in two or three years. The children of lads who played 20 or 25 years ago are getting involved now - that's the way it has always been in John Mitchels. For example, we played a game this year and we had three Coyle brothers in the full back line and three more Coyle brothers - who are their cousins - in the full forward line. Their fathers are former players. Former Stabannon player John Prendergast was in charge last year and he did a great job."
Returning to the day of the official pitch opening, the club secretary continues: "It was a great honour to have Christy Cooney there, as well as Des Halpenny in his capacity as secretary of Louth County Board, and other members of the County Board as well. The proudest man there was Christy Byrne, who served as club secretary for 39 years, and it was a great day for him. Christy had a dream 53 years ago when he picked the first-ever John Mitchels team at the crossroads and I'm sure he's a proud man when he sees the facilities we have now.
"We are hosting club championship games already. The car park holds in excess of 150 cars and we have no problem hosting any game, football or hurling. We wanted to get everything right - and I think we have got it right. We won Pitch of the Year in 2007 and 2008 and anyone who has seen the facilities has been very impressed.
"Our aim for the next few years is to do our best in the JFC and to keep fielding a team. The people looking after our juveniles are doing a great job - without them the whole exercise would be hopeless. Thanks to them, the club is thriving and we're fielding underage teams on our own, without the need to amalgamate. All our underage teams are John Mitchels and that's a fantastic achievement as well.
"I'd like to thank Adrian Landy of Landy's Irish Harp for his continued support as official club sponsor and also all the others who have sponsored the club in different capacities throughout the years.
"I'd also like to acknowledge and thank the ladies in the club who made tea and sandwiches the day of the opening and also anybody who made their land available for car parking. Everybody got together and showed their community spirit when called upon and it's that spirit that we hope will keep us in good stead moving forward." Tweet
