WHEN Gerry Higgins was a second year at St Thomas’ school, it was clear to see that sport lay ahead of him. It just wasn’t clear which sport it would be.
The award for the top athlete in the school was typically won by far more senior pupils. But Higgins blitzed all around Casement Park in every event from the 100m to the high jump to the mile run.
“We’d have gone to Northern Ireland schools games, and Gerry always won. The sprints, he was unbeatable,” recalls his close lifelong friend and St Gall’s clubmate PJ O’Hare.
His skills in basketball were evident too, as St Thomas’ went three years unbeaten in cup competitions despite not bothering to play in the leagues.
There was no soccer at school, and in Gaelic football they had a similar unbeaten run, culminating in a fourth year scalp of the famous St Malachy’s team that reached a Hogan Cup final later on.
He and O’Hare would then win an All-Ireland vocational schools title with Antrim.
That came along in 1968, and the choice had to be made to stick with football when the semi-final against Offaly clashed with Irish basketball trials the same day.
“Sir, sir, we’ll be at the football in Kells,” they both exclaimed instantly.
They were at the football, and it paid off with wins over the Faithful county and then Galway in Croke Park.
By the time he left school, soccer was featuring heavily and it wasn’t long before he found his way into the Irish League.
His most notable football was played with Distillery in the mid 1970s, but the club ran into financial difficulties and had to sell its two most valuable assets, Higgins and Bertie McMinn, in 1978.
They both went to Glenavon and the following year came the highlight of Gerry’s football career, when they played against Belgian giants Standard Liege in the UEFA Cup.
He also played for Larne and won a Steel & Sons Cup with Brantwood in 1986.
By that stage, Higgins has long been re-established in the St Gall’s team having initially missed a short spell owing to ‘the ban’, which was lifted by the GAA in 1971.
A lightning-fast whippet half-forward, he was a regular on Antrim teams during a barren spell for the county team.
He played senior football for his club for almost 20 years thereafter, only finally pulling the pin in the late ‘80s, having achieved what he’d wanted to on the GAA field as well.
St Gall’s hadn’t won an Antrim championship in 30 years but with O’Hare having taken over as player-manager, he made Higgins his captain and set about ending a run of near misses.
Not only did they end that run in 1982, but they went on to lift a first Ulster title and only lost a fractious All-Ireland semi-final against Roscommon side Clan na Gael by a point.
“I was sick and tired of winning leagues and getting to semi-finals and finals, and getting beat. I went in in October ’81 and begged for the job, and finished up getting it.
“Gerry was a huge help as captain,” recalls O’Hare.
He also helped guide them to a few All-Ireland sevens titles. St Gall’s travelled Ulster winning tournaments, enjoying great success in Bellaghy and Cargin, collecting prize money that they used for an annual trip with wives and girlfriends to the sevens.
Higgins wasn’t long retired from playing when PJ O’Hare took over as Antrim manager and took his friend along with him. They managed the county for four years – all four of which ended with Ulster teams bringing Sam Maguire back to the north.
When they left in 1995, Higgins continued to be involved with St Gall’s, in management and through the club committee, where he served as vice-chair. His sister Monica is the current chairperson.
So natural an athlete was Gerry Higgins that in 1982, with absolutely no proper training under his belt, he lifted his trainers, went to Dublin and completed the city’s marathon.
At the age of 68, Gerry passed away on Sunday. He had been diagnosed with dementia three years ago and his health deteriorated a month ago when he contracted Covid-19.
While he was in palliative care in recent weeks, his son Paul launched a fundraising campaign to raise vital funds for the Alzheimer’s Society.
It has already raised just shy of £13,000.
St Gall’s paid tribute in a statement, calling Gerry “a club man, a family man, a gentleman to all, and a true ambassador for Naomh Gall”.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
