OF course he’d always had the ambition to manage his native Glenullin some day, one day. But Paddy Bradley didn’t expect to take the reins while his brother Eoin, his cousins the O’Kanes and many close friends and former team-mates were all still playing.
Fate is unavoidable however and ambition met opportunity at the start of this season.
2021 had been another disappointing year for the Derry club and, with a new manager required and the list of prospective new candidates blank, Bradley decided to consider accepting what he describes as “a poisoned chalice”.
He knew there was young talent emerging at the club and of course he knew it was mixed with a deep reservoir of experience but, for a couple of years, he hadn’t seen the levels of commitment that are always required to bring success.
A change in attitude was needed and so he brought the squad together and told them all, plainly and honestly, that if they promised to do what he asked of them and work hard he’d sign on as their manager.
They did, so he did and the results have been spectacular.
Throughout a championship run of seven games, Glenullin were regularly behind the eight ball but they simply refused to lose and their dramatic victory over pre-final favourites Drumsurn – who led at one stage by five points - in the Derry intermediate decider brought a first championship crown back to the club since Bradley’s own playing days in 2007 when the John Mitchell’s were senior champions in the Oak Leaf county.
“A lot of people weren’t expecting it but I had high hopes, I knew we wouldn’t be far away” says Bradley.
“Things had taken a bit of a lull in the last two or three years’ around the club. Obviously, we had played senior football for a long time and it took a few years to come to terms with what we are now - an intermediate club.
“But the attitude the players had from I came in at the start of the year was fantastic. I had a good blend of youth and experience. We had to work hard and fight hard for it – we played seven games in total in the championship and we were behind in five of them but we showed really good battling qualities right to the final whistle and in the final we got the score we needed with the last kick of the game. It was brilliant!
“So I’m just delighted for the club to have a wee bit of success after 15 years without a trophy.”
Daniel O’Kane emerged as the unlikely hero in the final with the injury-time winner against Drumsurn. Neil McNicholl finished with half-a-dozen points in the 0-15 to 1-11 win and 38-year-old Eoin Bradley, who’d scored during his 90 minutes for Glenavon the day before, finished with 0-4 on the day.
“Probably in the first half Eoin would have been disappointed with his own performance as many of our players were,” says his elder brother.
“But in the second half Eoin and some of the more experienced players really stood up and the fact that Eoin had played a full game of soccer (in Glenavon’s 4-2 win over Carrick Rangers) the day before the final just shows you what he can do at 38 years of age. He’s like a fine wine.
“Ideally you wouldn’t want him playing a full game of soccer the day before you play a championship match but, at the end of the day, Eoin has a contract with Glenavon and I have to respect that.
“We were delighted to still have him available to us because maybe in the last three or four years he hasn’t been playing as much football as we would have liked around Glenullin – he’s has been more focussed on the soccer and because things haven’t been going that well he wouldn’t have played a pile of Gaelic.
“But from the middle of the season he really put his head down and played all the matches for me in the championship and he was one of the stand-out players in the Derry intermediate championship this year.
“We had a lot of experience in the panel - Gerard O’Kane (Bradley’s cousin) didn’t play as much football as he would have liked but he was always about the changingroom and again the experience that he brought was invaluable and all those boys are still great men to have around the club.”
Bradley admits that managing men he had played alongside was a challenge. 42-year-old team captain Brian Mullen is one of his best friends but there were no awkward moments when they met outside their homes - they are next door neighbours - during the season.
Favouritism kills morale in a dressingroom but there was none of it and when teams were picked and substitutions were made, every player accepted the manager’s decision and rowed in behind whoever was on the field.
There were times he had to lay down the law and he got ‘the hairdryer’ out more than once but, as a legend in the club, what he said was respected.
“It’s very difficult managing boys you played with and soldiered along with for 20-odd years but they responded really, really well,” says Bradley.
“It’s never an easy job to have to go and give anybody a bollocking whether they’re an old player or a young player but certain situations call for big calls to be made and thankfully all the calls I made this year worked out well for us.
“I never saw myself having to manage Brian Mullen, or managing my brother or my cousins like Gerard, John and Eunan O’Kane and these boys.
“But there was nobody else to do it this year and I put my hand up and said: ‘I’ll do it for a year and see what happens’. Thankfully we’ve got a bit of success.”
Honesty was the key, he says. He had to be up front with the players in terms of what he expected from them and how he would go about his business. The other half of the deal was that they had to be honest in their efforts and it worked.
“Honesty was the big thing,” says Bradley.
“At the start of the year the boys knew that they hadn’t been putting in the required effort that was needed to achieve success and I told them that I would take over them if they were willing to put their shoulder to the wheel and prepare properly and all you can do is ask boys to be honest enough to do that.
“They did that and look at the rewards they’ve got. They’re a very easy bunch to manage in that regard, whenever they are training and working hard and putting their best foot forward they’re a delight to work with.
“By their own admission, over the last three or four years they hadn’t been doing that, so I’m delighted for them and delighted for the young lads who came into the panel and had a bit of success. Hopefully that will propel the club on and there’ll be other trophies in the next number of years.”
In their last foray into Ulster Championship football in 2007, Glenullin reached the senior semi-finals thanks to a victory over Fermanagh champions Newtownbutler. St Gall’s ended their run that year and their return to the provincial series has seen them drawn against Tyrone Intermediate champions Galbally.
Managed by Paddy Crozier, a man Bradley played under during his Derry days, Galbally conjured up a surprise of their own against well-fancied Edendork in their championship final.
Conor Donaghy accounted for 1-8 of their 2-11 in the final as the Pearses won the intermediate title for only the second time in their history. The sides meet at Celtic Park on Sunday and, as you’d expect, Bradley is relishing the prospect.
“It’s a fantastic competition to be involved in, first and foremost,” he said.
“Playing football and this time of year is a great leveller. The pitches are a bit heavier and it’s usually windy and rainy and there are very fine margins in the games.
“We can’t look beyond Galbally. The bookies have them as favourites for the intermediate title and I do watch a lot of Tyrone football and I’ve watched them over the last number of years and they are a good, strong side – very physical with plenty of pace in their forward line and plenty of scoring threats so we’re going to have to be at our best to overcome them.
“That’s as far as we’re looking – they’re strong favourites but we’re not without a chance, I’ve confidence in my own players and I’m really looking forward to it.”
