It seems that Stabannon Parnells' Golden Era has come to an end. But what an innings they had! And tradition decrees that they will rise again. Gerry Robinson catches up with Pat Butterly, who was a key component in Stabannon's best ever team. Pat Butterly has been one of Stabannon Parnells' greatest servants.He won an incredible four Joe Ward Cup medals with the mid-Louth club (as well as an intermediate championship) and played for Louth for the best part of a decade. In 2002, he was still going strong, but the veteran of so many glorious campaigns admits his career is fast approaching a dignified end. With the club clearly in transition, the time is nigh to step aside and make way for the young pretenders who will carry Stabannon's hopes and dreams into the new millennium. And Stabannon will come strong again. Of that there is no doubt. In the meantime, however, they will have to grin and bear it. The mighty empire is in decline, but it's not the end of the world. Just time to take stock, regroup and attempt some degree of consolidation. In 2002, Stabannon lost all three of their outings in Group A of the senior championship and suffered relegation to Division 1B. Hardly an ideal scenario, but the bottom line is that they're still senior and that in itself should provide the new crop with plenty of motivation for the coming term. Few are as well positioned as club stalwart Pat Butterly to comment on the club's present predicament and - significantly - the former Louth star remains upbeat: "If they can hold their senior status for a couple of years that would be an achievement in itself, and I think that's certainly something positive for them to work towards. "Nobody should be getting too despondent because it's far from a crisis and we just have to redouble our efforts and make sure the whole thing doesn't fall asunder. It's only a game at the end of the day and there's no need for anyone to be banging heads off walls or gnashing teeth. The club has to adopt that kind of attitude. It swings in roundabouts and the important thing now is that lads can go out and represent the club, enjoy themselves and express themselves." Some sort of decline in Stabannon's fortunes was an inevitability, such was the phenomenal level of success enjoyed by the Class of 1989-2000. "The stalwarts on the team had a lot of mileage on the clock," Pat agrees. "We were caught between a rock and a hard place in that we had an aging team but the feeling was that they could win a championship. "It was very like the Kerry team of the '70s and '80s - it's very difficult to know when you should let those players go and bring in the new blood. Then, when the successful side does eventually break up, you will naturally have a bit of a lull. "I think it's fair to say that 2002 was the first time that some of the older players retired and others, including myself, didn't give the commitment required, and we paid the price." An air of pessimism threatens to engulf the famous club, but Pat Butterly insists this need not be the case. It's the end of an era, but not the end of an age! "Of course it can be difficult when you arrive at a transition period. The older fellas don't have the huger or the time any more and a lot of the other lads - who are still only in their mid-twenties - have already invested a lot of effort and have two or three championship medals in their back pocket. "The team is in transition and we need young lads to come along so we can blood them and give them games. In that respect, I think going back down to Division 1B will be a good thing. The games probably won't be as tough and the lads can find their feet and maybe they can build on that." Pat himself will turn 36 in February. He has returned to college and is in his final year of an MBA at Dundalk Regional. He missed a couple of months of the 2002 season and admits he found the going tough. It could well prove his final fling. The prolific scorer realises that he was extremely fortunate to enjoy so much success with what is effectively - let us not forget - a small rural club: "We were fortunate that so many good players came together at the one time. We'd gone through a lean spell in the '60s and '70s and just hit gold with that crop of players. "A lot of the team was drawn from a few households - the Reillys, the Reynolds, the Butterlys, the Donnellys and the McMahons. But people are having smaller families now and that will have a negative effect on the club. There were about 100 pupils in the school when I was there and that's down to about 60 now. It's very hard to sustain any kind of success when you're from such a small area . . . the voting register in Stabannon is only about 300!" That really puts the tremendous success of the 'nineties into perspective, doesn't it? "It does. When we first broke onto the team in the early 'eighties as a 15- or 16-year-old, we were only junior and it wasn't very difficult to get a game! I remember we even had to go over one time and play Westerns to avoid becoming a second division team. "The beginning of the glory years was in 1987 when we [St Michaels] won the U21 championship. The backbone of that team won an intermediate championship with Stabannon in '89 and it all grew from there. "Before that, we used to listen to all the old boys in the area telling us about the exploits of the team of the '50s and that was all we ever heard. The only way to shut them up was to go out and win a senior championship ourselves!" Pat's father, Paddy, was on that stellar Stabannon side of the '50s and also represented Louth. He won a Leinster medal with the Wee County in 1957 and was unfortunate to lose out when the panel was trimmed for the All-Ireland series. Pat was joined on the great Stabannon team by brothers Mark (who is a year younger) and Nicholas (seven years his junior), while youngest brother Liam also played but had his career ravaged by injury. After winning the 1989 intermediate title, Stabannon went on to win four SFCs - in 1991, '94, '97 and '99. In 1997, they reached the Leinster club semi-final and were only pipped by Dublin champions Erin's Isle in Navan. Was that their best team? "We were certainly at our peak around about the 1995-97 era. It took a while to get the balance of the team right and we probably did peak in '97. Erin's Isle only beat us late on and they went on to reach the All-Ireland club final. That's how close we were. "We could have won more Louth championships but it was very easy to get caught out at the time - there were no second chances in the championship. I definitely have regrets about 1995: we had a very strong panel but the Pats beat us with 1-1 in injury time, and we should have beaten them by eight or nine points." Stabannon had been written off in most quarters before winning their most recent championship in 1999. A sweet success? "They're all sweet! You could say that really was the beginning of the end for the championship-winning team. People had been predicting our demise for a long time. After we lost to the Pats in '95, people said it was the end but we came back and won two more. "In '99 in particular, we had a poor league and were relegated from Division 1A to 1B, but we got our act together for the championship and won it against all the odds." The talent and know-how was there and Stabannon won the Joe Ward Cup almost on instinct alone. The following year, they made it through to the county final against the Blues on automatic pilot. Says Pat: "We'd been through it all so many times before that we weren't giving it the same effort we used to. We were concentrating entirely on the championship; we were waiting until about six or eight weeks before the championship and then knuckling down." Eventually, the old guard ran out of steam and Stabannon became a shadow of their former selves. In 2002, they hit a wall, failing to win in three championship outings and finishing well adrift at the foot of Division 1A. Their proud tradition will always be intact and should stand them in good stead as they endeavour to reverse their fortunes . . . but it's not going to be easy. There are testing times ahead. As Pat Butterly points out: "In many ways, it's going to be harder for this team than it has been for any team in the past. The population isn't there and there are no housing developments going up in the area. The biggest families now are two or three kids at most, so it's going to be very difficult for Stabannon to build an exceptional team under those circumstances." Pat Butterly played for Louth's minors in 1985 and was on the county U21 team in 1986, '87 and '88. He also represented the Wee County juniors in 1986. He was called into the Louth senior panel by Frank Lynch for the 1989 championship, having already made a handful of league appearances under previous boss Mickey Whelan. During the course of a senior intercounty career that spanned 1989-98, the Stabannon man also played under Declan Smith, Paul Kenny and Paddy Clarke. Looking back on those ten years, he admits: "It was a big disappointment not to win a Leinster championship with the players we had. If you talk to Seamus O'Hanlon, Stefan White or Colin Kelly, they'll tell you the same. "We did have a very good team and were extremely disappointed in 1991 and '97 in particular when we lost Leinster semi-finals to Laois (after a replay) and Offaly. We were very unlucky not to make a breakthrough and we didn't do ourselves justice in either of those games. It would've been nice to at least get to a Leinster final, as Louth haven't been in one since 1960. "When I was at UCD I played Sigerson alongside and against all them footballers and I knew we had players in Louth who were as good as you'd get in any other county. I think the players from other counties realised this as well and they couldn't understand it either. "We probably should have delivered more than we did and the buck has to stop with the players for failing to produce on the big occasion. You get one chance at it, and you have to take that chance. We never fully seized the opportunity. "Louth have always produced good players and that tradition is carrying on today. It's a new-look team but the likes of JP Rooney, Ollie McDonnell and Aaron Hoey are all exceptional footballers - and they're not a hair's breadth away from it. The inferiority complex appears to be still there and that cost them against Kildare and Meath in 2002, but once they can get that out of their heads, they have an excellent chance of breaking new territory." That's certainly something Pat Butterly and the Stabannon Class of 1989-99 vintage know a thing or two about! Stabannon ladies complete the double Stabannon Ladies GFC has been established since 1992 but has really only come to prominence in the last four years. In 1998 the first committee of Stabannon Ladies GFC was formed and Shane Sweeney was appointed as Team Manager and Coach. Following the establishment of the committee a huge effort was put in by the committee members to attract and retain players to the club. The Stabannon team then began their quest for glory in the junior ranks of football within Louth. Establishing and building the team was the main focus for 1998/1999 and then in 2000 a place in the semi-final of the Junior Championship saw the club rise within the ranks of Ladies Football in Louth. The semi-final of 2000 saw Stabannon and Cooley compete for a place in the final. The first encounter of the two teams produced a draw and then in the replay the Peninsula side came out winners. It was then time for Stabannon to regroup and to begin focusing on the 2001 football year. Hopes were high within the Stabannon camp at the beginning of the 2001 sporting year as Shane Sweeney continued to coach and mentor the team. Further confidence was brought to the Stabannon side when Enda McKeown joined with Shane in training the team. Stabannon began the year with a win over Hunterstown in the Special League and this boosted the Stabannon team. However, this was to be only one of two wins in this league where Stabannon played against Intermediate and Senior teams. This was a great experience for the Stabannon team and their manager and trainer. The Championship then commenced with a quarter final against the Blues in which Stabannon were winners. The semi-final produced a great game with archrivals Hunterstown and a great performance by Stabannon guaranteed them a place in the final with St. Fechins. The final which was played on 9th September 2001 was to be the first ever victory for the Stabannon side with a seven point win over St. Fechins. Silver was returning to the skies of Stabannon. Stabannon also competed very well in the League in 2001 by reaching the League final with Hunterstown. The first match was a draw and Stabannon were narrowly defeated by one point in the replay. So the Stabannon girls ended the year with their first ever Championship win and a guaranteed place in Intermediate Football in Louth in 2002. With no changes to the Stabannon team or mentors training began in January 2002. Everyone associated with the Stabannon team knew that a place in the Intermediate ranks of football in Louth was a major step up from junior football in terms of fitness and confidence. Again through the hard work of the committee and the mentors the team was established for the year with a panel of 21 players. The first league match of the year played on Easter Monday saw the Stabannon girls defeat St. Malachy's in Stabannon. A defeat by St. Pats then ensued and confidence was somewhat shattered within the Stabannon camp. However, regrouping and words of wisdom from both Shane and Enda ensured that the Stabannon team only succumbed to one more defeat in the League in 2002. This defeat was to St. Kevin's. So with only two defeats in the league the girls from Stabannon knew that the chances of winning the league were good. But now at this stage it was time to focus on the Championship. Stabannon and Hunterstown competed in the semi-final of the championship and Stabannon came out winners. So now it was a place in the final against St. Pats on Sunday 1st September 2002 for the Stabannon ladies and their mentors. A place in the final was deemed a great achievement for all associated with the team, committee, sponsors and mentors. The game was played in Haggardstown and the Stabannon girls saw off the challenge of St. Pats by seven points. Some excellent football by the girls, including seven points by Claire Lynch, points by Tara and Grace Lynch and Catriona McKeown and an overall brilliant team performance meant that the girls from Stabannon were bringing silver back home for the second year in a row. Grace Lynch was awarded player of the match and Kim Lynch captained the team to glory. This gave Mr. Shane Sweeney and Ms. Ruth McGuinness a great send off to Australia as they departed for the land down under on September 10th 2002. Not content with the Championship victory, the girls and Enda who was now managing the team, set out to compete successfully in the League and perhaps overcome the shadows of 2001 and win the double in 2002. A quarterfinal league match saw Stabannon beat Hunterstown and then they entered into the quarterfinal with St. Pats. The quarterfinal was played on Sunday 20th October 2002 in Lordship at 3.30pm. This was probably one of the worst days for football in the whole of the sporting year. However with only 16 of a panel and despite the wind and freezing rain, the Stabannon girls saw of the challenge of St. Pats by beating them 2-8 to 1-6. Scores from Deirdre and Grace Lynch, Roseanne Campbell, Jenny McGuinness and Tara Lynch ensured that Stabannon were still on track to complete the double. The league final was set for Sunday 27th October 2002, between Stabannon and their neighbouring team St. Kevin's. This was to be one of the local derbies of the year in Ladies football. Both teams had met in the League earlier in the year and St. Kevin's saw off the challenge of Stabannon. However on this Sunday it was all to play for. Two different teams than those that had met earlier in the year emerged onto the Stabannon football pitch. The match was refereed by Tony Dolan and once the ball was thrown in the Stabannon girls began to fire on all cylinders. Scores from Mary Maloney and Claire Lynch in the first half of the match gave Stabannon a four-point lead at half time. Despite the four-point lead at half time, Stabannon ladies knew that in the second half it was all to play for. Regrouping by Stabannon Ladies at half time and words of wisdom from Team Manager, Enda McKeown gave the Stabannon girls confidence going into the second half. Three goals scored within five minutes of the second half for Stabannon Ladies gave them a thirteen-point lead. A goal from Tara Lynch and a hat trick from Mary Maloney secured this lead for the Stabannon girls. The Kevin's responded with a goal followed by a penalty taken by Susan Conlon. This narrowed the Stabannon lead but the Stabannon girls stepped up a pace to ensure that they remained on top. Scores from Claire Lynch, Tara Lynch, Grace Lynch and Deirdre Lynch and some excellent displays of football by Anne Marie Lynch and Andrea Carney guaranteed the Stabannon girls the success they deserved. All round this was an excellent performance from the Stabannon team. Completing the double at Intermediate now guarantees the Stabannon Ladies a place in senior football next year. This is a great achievement for such a small club and only after coming through the junior ranks of football last year. The Stabannon team, their mentors and committee now take a well-deserved break before they begin for quest for glory in senior football. The Stabannon team is captained by Kim Lynch and currently managed and trained by Mr. Enda McKeown. The Stabannon team and committee would like to extend their sincere thanks to all those who have helped them achieve this great success over this year. They would also like to extend greetings to Mr. Shane Sweeney and Ms. Ruth McGuinness who went to Australia after the Championship final. Shane previously managed the team with Enda and Ruth played with the team throughout the year. The players would also like to take the opportunity to extend their sincere thanks to the following members of the Stabannon Ladies Committee - Mrs. Marion Kearney, Mrs, Sheila Lynch, Mrs. Kathleen Campbell, Mrs. Annette Sweeney and Mr. Peter Sweeney for their dedication and hard work over the last few years. Tweet

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