Football

'2002 celebrations might have cost me job with BBC,' jokes Armagh's John Rafferty

Armagh footballer and coach John Rafferty. Picture by Hugh Russell.
Armagh footballer and coach John Rafferty. Picture by Hugh Russell. Armagh footballer and coach John Rafferty. Picture by Hugh Russell.

FORMER Armagh player and renowned manager John Rafferty has joked that his unbridled celebrations when the final whistle of the 2002 All-Ireland final may have cost him a job as a GAA pundit with BBC Radio Ulster.

Rafferty, who had played with the Orchard county for a decade up until 1999, was working as on-field reporter for the BBC at Croke Park but admits that he couldn’t contain himself after Armagh beat Kerry to win the Sam Maguire for the first time in their history.

By the time the BBC producer came to him for a reaction, he had discarded his equipment and was on the field sharing the moment with his former team-mates.

“The All-Ireland final was one of my last run-out’s with the BBC because they went for my reaction on the sideline and I was gone,” says Rafferty with a laugh.

“The ear phones were gone, the microphone was dropped and I was out about wing half-back on the field running to give Benny Tierney a hug!

“People ask me if I’m disappointed I missed out in 2002? I’m not sorry, not sorry at all because good fellas that I knew won an All-Ireland and they were better players than me.”

Emotions ran high on the day and when they met in front of the Hogan Stand just as Armagh skipper Kieran McGeeney was receiving the cup, John and his brother Felix shed tears in memory of their father 'Bim', who had been a devoted Armagh supporter until his sudden death in 1989.

“He never spoke and I never spoke – the two of us just stood and cried,” says John, who has spent the last three decades working as a PE teacher at La Salle, Belfast, Abbey CBS in Newry and now St Paul’s HS in Bessbrook.

“When you’re standing in front of a group of kids you want them to realise that the GAA is more than a game of football… It’s something to share with the previous generations and the generations that come after you. It’s really unique and really special.”