Tennent's Irish Cup final: Crusaders v Ballinamallard United (today, Windsor Park, 2.30pm)
WITHIN five minutes of talking with Harry McConkey, John Connolly knew he was signing for Ballinamallard United. As conversations often go with Harry, their chat in the Armagh City Hotel this time 12 months ago lasted an hour-and-a-half.
Connolly was still rehabbing from a badly ruptured Achilles - but for once in his life he didn’t have a great appetite for playing football as his father had recently passed away.
After being released by Portadown, Connolly didn’t imagine his phone would ring too often from a manager looking to sign a 41-year-old goalkeeper.
Turns out he wasn’t short of offers.
If Connolly could recover from injury he was always going to enhance any team he’d sign for, as there didn’t seem to be any discernible slippage in his game since his so-called peak years at Cliftonville in the mid-to-late ‘Noughties’.
“That surprised me because I had options when I was injured,” he says.
“I didn’t think I would and then out of the blue Harry rang me. At that time I wasn’t thinking too much about football because it was the week after my dad had passed away so it was the last thing on my mind.”
His father Sean was his son’s biggest fan. Sean suffered a fall at home, cracking his hip.
It was an injury he didn’t recover from and his health deteriorated.
Sean passed away on April 30 2018 and was buried on his 83rd birthday.
John posted a message on his social media account earlier this week.
‘One year gone today Da. Miss and love you so much. My hero. My inspiration. My best friend. My Da.’
“It’s not just the anniversary. It can hit you at any time,” Connolly says, who was applauded for opening up about his struggles with depression after his father’s death.
“I don’t even know how to describe it. Obviously Tuesday, the first anniversary, was difficult because you just go back to that time last year. It was tough. I feel a little bit guilty when I feel down about it because obviously I’ve got two brothers and two sisters and grandchildren who have lost the same person that I’ve lost. But I wonder why it’s hit me in a certain way.”
In many ways, the 90-minute commute to Ferney Park a couple of times a week turned out to be “a blessing”.
“It gave me time on my own. This may sound stupid but it gave me time just to think about my Da. I thought of all the good times I had with him and obviously the heartache of the last year without him.”
What lifted his spirits was the birth of his son Noah six months ago.
The long drives to training, his partner Suzanne, the special camaraderie that Harry’s built up at Ferney Park and the pride he feels watching his teenage daughter Shelby grow up have helped him through 12 difficult months.
Ten years after playing in the Irish Cup final with Cliftonville – a game they lost to rivals Crusaders – Connolly is back on the big stage.
“I don’t remember a lot of the build-up to the 2009 cup final because I was juggling the cup final and Shelby’s communion. I actually didn’t have any of my family at that final because of her communion. But hopefully I’ll appreciate this build-up more than the last one.”
Connolly, of course, is the senior citizen in McConkey’s Irish Cup final gatecrashers while St Michael’s Hogan Cup winners Darragh McBrien and Michael Glynn are still only teenagers.
After Ballinamallard lost their place in senior football last season, McConkey - who was persuaded to take the reins with a handful of games remaining - created a new WhatsApp group called: ‘Get Over it’ – a message to the players not to feel sorry for themselves.
Looking out the window of the Canal Court Hotel in Newry on Thursday morning, Connolly laughs: “The WhatsApp group is probably the best one I’ve ever been on.
“Our build-up starts on a Monday. We’d get messages right through the week from Harry, information about the opposition the following week. There’d be certain quotes in it too.
“Harry cares about the players and everything about the club.”
Connolly, born in Dublin and now living in Newry, adds: “I don’t know if this happens anywhere else but when we come in for training he shakes everybody’s hand and asks how you are. I’ve never had that before from a manager at a football club.
“Away from football, he’d always be asking how you are, how the family is and the kids. He sets high standards around the place and demands a lot from you, but he does it in a way that you respond to it.
“People know that Harry’s a good man but in terms of football and football knowledge and preparation he is brilliant. I’ve never got this kind of preparation before, no matter where I’ve been and the detail he goes into. Even for pre-season games we were going to hotels for pre-match meetings.”
Of course, Ballinamallard’s recruitment of Connolly was a masterstroke. His dedication to his craft has rubbed off on other members of the squad.
McConkey describes the veteran goalkeeper as one of his “cultural architects”.
“John has brought a calmness to the younger players and he’s also shown them what it is to be committed to your sport,” McConkey said.
“You can play to 42-years-of-age if you look after yourself.
“Every single Sunday morning he would send me what he’d done that morning. He’d say: ‘Gaffer, the rehab went well this morning.’
“Now, he’s a young baby in his house – Noah – and he’s thrilled with all that. But he has no hesitation about extra sessions.”
When you ask Connolly where Saturday’s Cup final will rank in his long, fruitful career that has seen him travel from Derry City to Institute, Glenavon, Cliftonville, Larne, Armagh City and Portadown, he pauses.
“It will only rank if we win,” he says.
“People talk about the cup final and that it’s a great day and a great occasion and it is all those things but it is only if you win.”
Overcoming Crusaders is a daunting task for McConkey’s gutsy underdogs at Windsor Park this afternoon.
Victory for the ‘Mighty Ducks’, though, would be a fitting reward for John Connolly and a fitting tribute to the man who made him - his father, Sean.
PATHS TO THE FINAL
Crusaders
Fifth round: Crusaders 4-1 Glentoran
Sixth round: Linfield 1-2 Crusaders
Quarter-final: Crusaders 3-0 Ballymena United
Semi-final: Coleraine 0-2 Crusaders
Ballinamallard United
Fifth round: Ballinamallard United 5-1 PSNI
Sixth round: Ballinamallard United 1-0 Carrick Rangers
Quarter-final: Dungannon Swifts 2-2 Ballinamallard United (Ballinamallard United won 3-2 on penalties)
Semi-final: Warrenpoint Town 0-0 Ballinamallard United (Ballinamallard United won 5-4 on penalties)
