DERRY have turned to another of their 1993 All-Ireland winning players by appointing Damien Barton as their new senior football manager.
The 53-year-old has huge experience at club level, mostly within his own county but also with clubs in Down and Tyrone.
The Newbridge clubman will succeed Brian McIver, who stepped down after three seasons in charge but was then unveiled recently as a new Director of Football for the Oak Leaf County.
Barton will become only the second member of the famous ’93 team to manage his county’s senior side, with his fellow half-forward Damian Cassidy having been the main man for the 2009 and 2010 campaigns.
Barton has long been regarded as a potential Derry boss and he was finally put forward as the recommendation of the sub-committee set up to seek a successor to McIver. That recommendation was ratified by the county committee, which consists of club delegates.
As a player Barton was a leader and a star, captaining Derry to Ulster Minor and U21 successes and to All-Ireland Finals at both those levels. A senior debutant as a teenager in 1981, he went on to become a key figure on their only Sam Maguire-winning side, a stylish yet tough centre half-forward.
A deep thinker about the game, Damien was an Irish News columnist for a number of years.
One of Barton’s early managerial roles was with Ballinderry, whom he took to consecutive Derry SFC finals in 1999 and 2000, beaten in both deciders by the then kingpins of the county, Bellaghy.
Barton moved on to oversee UU Jordanstown for several seasons, before taking charge of Donaghmore in Tyrone.
He was in the running for the Derry manager’s job a decade ago but Paddy Crozier was chosen to succeed Mickey Moran in late 2005.
Barton returned to the Oak Leaf County with the Loup, then had a spell with Down giants Burren, before going back to Derry with Slaughtneil, taking them to a close defeat to Ballinderry in the 2012 county final.
Most recently he has been with Kilrea Pearse’s, who lost out in the Derry SFC quarter-finals to Coleraine at the weekend, a defeat which freed Barton to be confirmed as the new man in charge of his county.
There was a large degree of continuity otherwise in Derry, with Tom McLean set to stay on as senior hurling manager, after taking his team to the Christy Ring Cup Final, while Damian McErlain will remain as minor football boss, having led his charges to the Ulster title and an All-Ireland semi-final against eventual champions Kerry. Stephen O’Kane will again be the Minor hurling manager, after taking the Oak Leafers to the last two Ulster Finals at that level.
The U21 football manager’s role has been left vacant for now in order to fund out the new senior man’s thinking on that post. Some senior managers prefer to also oversee the U21 team or at the very least ensure the post is occupied by someone with whom they can work closely.
