Sunday, June 9, 2013
Ulster Senior Football Championship: Antrim 0-6 Monaghan 0-11
HIS mates from school were in the crowd, enjoying the summer sunshine and cheering him on.
Paddy McBride of St John's, and now of Antrim, making his first Championship start for the Saffrons on the hallowed turf of Casement Park against Monaghan.
There was only a point in it at half-time but Antrim were flat in the second half and lost by five at the finish. Some said Casement deserved a better send-off but despite the defeat, young McBride enjoyed the atmosphere and was already looking forward to his next game when he walked out through the stadium gates.
He hasn't been back through them since...
"I was young and there was some buzz about that day," he said.
"I remember there was yellow and white everywhere... Even though we got beat, I loved it and I was itching to get another game. I couldn't wait for the Ulster Championship the next year but then Casement closed and it didn't get the go-ahead to be developed.
"It got to the stage where I was thinking: 'What is the craic here? Am I going to get another game?' I'm 27 now and I'll be playing for another few years so it's good that it has finally come out so hopefully I'll get a load of games in it before I finish."
As a youngster he marvelled at Anto Finnegan, Gearoid Adams and Joe Quinn... The team with 'Bushmills Irish Whiskey' on their jerseys doing battle as was inspired to do the same.
"I used to think: 'I want to play for Antrim one day'," said McBride, now 26 and a teacher at Colaiste Feirste.
"Getting to see those teams made me love Gaelic football and my goal always was to play for Antrim.
"A lot of kids would be liked that now but, without Casement, a lot of them wouldn't even have seen Antrim playing. If I said 'Casement Park' to them, they'd be like: 'What is it?' Once they see it getting built they'll be buzzing.
"At the same time: Is our senior team going to win the All-Ireland this year? We'll be in tier two next year but it's what you're going to build. Having a stadium like that is going to help build stronger underage teams and you'll bring players through to senior because of the goal of playing in a stadium like that because they want to get to the big stage."
