The passing of Johnny Caffrey marked the end of an era and cast a long shadow over the St. Nicholas club in 2006. "Killer", as he was affectionately known, was a founder member of the Nicks and a man who dedicated his life to club and county. By Gerry Kelly. Against all odds, with gaelic football struggling on Drogheda's southside, Johnny along with the late Jimmy Pentony and others established the fledgling club, which is now part and parcel of the community and will stand as a testament to the stalwart for many years to come. This past couple of years has seen the club reinvigorated following a period of doom and gloom. The amalgamation with near neighbours, Wolfe Tones, at underage level has proven mutually beneficial to both clubs. No longer are the Nicks forced to field players well above their age group, which invariably leads to problems. Young players can now develop at the right pace and compete with their peers instead of being pushed way beyond their capabilities. The Nicks/Tones combination have more than held their own at division one level across the board. Despite a lack of silverware they've consistently finished in the league's top four and made it through to the latter stages of the various championships. There's been a huge influx of fresh young talent with as many as ninety youngsters attending training sessions simultaneously. So great has been the response that the Rathmullen club may soon be in a position once more to field teams of their own from under fourteen level upwards. This turnaround was no accident but driven by a small but dedicated group of people who realised twenty-four months ago that unless great effort was put into the development of young players the very existence of the club could be in jeopardy. The evergreen Fintan McCarthy, Felix Hackett and Jimmy McQuillan were prominent among those who drove the new initiative aimed at building the club from the bottom up. They knuckled down and the results of their efforts were clearly evident this summer as on most evenings the Nicks pitch swarmed with football crazy children of all ages. The club's first team competed at intermediate level for a fifth term but with one of the most prolonged and disjointed seasons in Louth club football history not yet complete as the year draws to a close, the club are involved in a dogfight to retain their middle grade status. It appears that the best John Heeney's charges can hope for is a play off to avoid dropping down to the junior ranks. This is a prospect the club don't wish to contemplate but in the light of the conveyor belt of young talent, which is about to come on stream may only be a temporary setback. Already the likes of Darren Thornton and Keith Arnold have come through and made a big impact at adult level during the current campaign. Andrew Tinley a member of the Louth under twenty-one squad and an important member of the club was most unfortunate to sustain a serious cruciate ligament injury early in the season. He was a big loss to both but at a relatively small club like the Nicks his absence is more telling. On the bright side two more experienced campaigners, Paul Hackett and Shane Downey, performed consistently and will be invaluable over the coming seasons in terms of assimilating young players into the senior set up. Off the field chairman Fintan McCarthy, secretary Hugh Downey and their hard working committee have been extremely active. A new set of training lights have recently been installed and are clearly visible in the night sky as the long evenings take hold. A recently laid training pitch now affords the club the extra space to facilitate the large numbers turning out to be put through their paces by the various coaches, trainers and team managers. The changing facilities, which up until now left a lot to be desired, have been upgraded in a complete refurbishment of the dressing rooms. The periphery of Jimmy Pentony Park is now at long last not far away from being completely secured, thanks to the new Drogheda Leisure Park on one side and the Fire Station development on another. The result has been a significant decline in vandalism, a problem that has dogged the clubs efforts to maintain and improve their grounds in the past. Returning to the playing side secretary Downey is bullish about the future when he states: "The long term the future is really bright for this club because over the next couple of years we will have between twenty and thirty adult players available to the manager of our senior side. "This is unprecedented for St. Nicholas and due in no small measure to the people who came together in the recent past and set in motion an underage development plan for the future. "The turnaround's been amazing really and just shows what's possible with commitment, enthusiasm and dedication which has always been a feature of our club. "We're not unduly concerned about where we find ourselves graded come the end of the present campaign because it's only a matter of time before we reap the rewards of the seeds we've sown at juvenile level. "We're as proud of our under tens who contested the minor board final this year and place as much emphasis on these children as any other team at our club. "That's the Nicks philosophy and one that ensures we can't but succeed into the future." It's hard to disagree with the secretary's sentiments. Tweet

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