*****<\/p>\n
The brightest stars burn the fastest. Few players in the history of Gaelic games in Derry have made as immediate an impact as Gerry McElhinney. His senior intercounty football career lasted only four years and was over before his 22nd birthday as he made the transition to professional soccer in England.<\/p>\n
But for a couple of seasons in the mid-seventies the Banagher man was the star attraction in Ulster football as Derry collected their only ever back to back Ulster titles.<\/p>\n
As McElhinney recalls, there where hints as to where his sporting destiny would ultimately lie evident even on the day he made his senior debut for Derry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made my debut in a McKenna Cup game in 1974 against Antrim. My dad had to go to the airport to pick me up and bring me to Magherafelt as I had been over on trial at Celtic that week. I remember that Gerry Armstrong, who I\u2019d later play with for Northern Ireland was playing on the Antrim team that day. I was still a minor at that stage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
One might have expected week which started at Parkhead and finished with a senior county bow, to overwhelm the youngster, but not a bit of it.<\/p>\n[aesop_video width=”800px” align=”center” src=”youtube” id=”qxkcvszpQBo” loop=”on” autoplay=”on” controls=”off” viewstart=”off” viewend=”off”]\n
\u201cTo be honest it didn\u2019t faze me at all I just trained and played, I loved it. I\u2019d have been on the go six days a week. Sometimes on a Saturday I\u2019d play two soccer games and then play two football matches on the Sunday. I\u2019d maybe box a couple of times in the week as well, when you\u2019re that age you should be fit for anything,\u201d explained the Park man.<\/p>\n
By the following year the teen sensation was the star attraction in the Derry side as they took on Down in the Ulster Senior Championship final. Even that didn\u2019t induce any nerves Banagher player.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose what I remember is the final against Down and it was a match we weren\u2019t expected to win. But it was an experienced Derry side. Boys like Seamus Lagan and Laurence Diamond had been playing for Derry for along time and knew what they were about. They treated me well, they never treated me like I was kid, I was part of the team and expected to do a job. I never felt any pressure playing sport, it was something I looked forward to. I always slept really well the night before a big game, even going down to Croke Park for big matches I wasn\u2019t nervous.<\/p>\n
I suppose that\u2019s just my nature, laid back.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fact that McElhinney was far from overawed was evident in his display as he lashed home and finished with 1-2 from wing-half forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can remember walking behind the band in Clones and just looking forward to the game. I took a few knocks off McCartan and the like but you just get up and get on with it. Funnily I remember the only thing bothering me was that I had a cut on my finger. I suppose I did alright that day, got a goal and two points, I remember Sean O\u2019Connell playing me in for the goal and smacking it to the net.\u201d<\/p>\n[aesop_video width=”800px” align=”center” src=”youtube” id=”My9cwXBEVcg” loop=”on” autoplay=”on” controls=”off” viewstart=”off” viewend=”off”]\n
Provincial success took Derry on to headquarters, where a clash with Kevin Heffernan\u2019s legendary Dublin side lay in wait. The Oak Leaf Champions eventually fell to a 3-13 to 3-8 defeat to the Dubs but only after pushing them hard for an hour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe semi-final against Dublin was good game. For most of the match it was tit for tat, they got a late goal from Anton O\u2019Toole which proved decisive. They were a very good team, they\u2019d players like Tony Hanahoe and Brian Mullins. Jimmy Keaveney could slot 50s like he was kicking right in front of the posts. John McCarthy, Sean Larkin, Paddy Cullen they were some outfit and they were the first team to play the close handpassing style of play that\u2019s so normal today. It was completely different from anything we\u2019d ever come up against.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frankie Kearney\u2019s men may have come up short in their quest for national glory but Derry had made their mark and were recognised with three Allstar awards. McElhinney became then the youngest ever recipient joined by his skipper Peter Stevenson and Lavey\u2019s Anthony McGurk, no mean achievement in a year when Kerry and Dublin met in the All-Ireland final.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter Stevenson was a great leader, Anthony McGurk was a super player he\u2019d could play anywhere in defence of attack, he\u2019d already won an Allstar in 1973. Anthony was so versatile he\u2019d have been well suited to today\u2019s game.\u201d<\/p>\n[aesop_image img=”http:\/\/derrygaa.ie\/features\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/mcgurk.jpg” caption=”” align=”right” captionposition=”right” lightbox=”off”]\n
Expectations of further Championship success for Derry were fuelled when they reached the final of National League in 1976 where they were given an early chance of avenging that defeat to Dublin. Derry produced probably their best display since defeating Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final of 1958 but ended up on the wrong end of a narrow defeat 2-10 to 0-15.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really should have got something from that game. We were coming at them in waves in the final whistle and Fintan McCloskey was hauled down, it was a definite free and Brendan Kelly would definitely have slotted it and got us a draw. I suppose it just wasn\u2019t to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still Derry and McElhinney carried their promising league form into the Ulster Championship. Armagh were hammered by 1-19 to 2-1 in the first round and Tyrone were seen off in more prosaic fashion 0-8 to 0-12 to set up a provincial showpiece against Cavan which resulted in a draw at 1-8 apiece. The replay was an epic with McElhinney playing through the pain barrier as an Ulster final went to extra-time for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that sticks in my head from the replay in 1976 is that I was struggling with a hamstring, but I got patched up and played. I remember thinking when the game went to extra-time that I wasn\u2019t going to be able to make it through. Cavan were a good side but and the other thing I remember was that it was really warm day but we won the game and that was back to back Ulsters. That was fair achievement, there was no backdoor then and the provincial finals maybe meant a bit more than maybe they do now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The semi-final saw Derry take on the greatest side ever to grace a football field. And while McElhinney achieved the notable feat of shading his battle with Jack O\u2019Shea at midfield there was no denying a Kerry team who ran out 5-14 to 1-10 winners despite a super display from Derry keeper John Somers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing is that the first half of that game was very close we led by 0-9 to 0-8 at half-time. But in the second half have they ran us ragged. They were a lot better than us but then that was the great Kerry side of Mickey Ned O\u2019Sullivan and Pat Spillane and Jack O\u2019Shea.\u201d<\/p>\n[aesop_image img=”http:\/\/derrygaa.ie\/features\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/jack-oshea.jpg” align=”left” captionposition=”left” lightbox=”off”]\n
That was the final game at Croke Park for one of the great Derry sides as the team broke up. McElhinney, still only 20 at the time, might well have played for his county for another decade but by the time his 22nd birthday came around he\u2019d donned the red and white for the last time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played my last game for Derry in 1978. I spent quite a bit of time in American, Philadelphia and Chicago towards the end of the 70s. I ended up playing against a lot of guys I knew from the Ulster Championship, Tyrone men like Frank McGuigan and Brendan Donnelly. I played for Cavan in Philly and in Chicago I played for Connemara Gaels, I also played in New York for Sligo with Martin Murphy from Feeny, another Banagher man.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it was in another code that McElhinney would continue to hit the headlines as his soccer career began to take off.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never had any coaching at soccer it was just something I played for fun. I played underage soccer for Derry City in 1972 and that was how I got started. Celtic had a scout Sean Fallon from Sligo and he was friends with the Derry City chairman Johnn Ross and he spoke to him about me and I went for a few trial games. I was there on and off for around nine months. I spent sometime on loan at Finn Harps where I played in goal believe it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it was while playing for Distillery in the Irish League that the former county star\u2019s athleticism and determination as a central defender earned him a shot at life as a full-time sportsman.<\/p>\n
\u201cDistillery was really the only team that would have me. I remember writing to a lot of clubs and Gibby McKenzie, who was the main man at the club, gave me a chance. I played there for two seasons, although I disappeared to the States for a while but Gibby got me back and eventually I was offered a trial at Bolton. I went over for a one-off game and the upshot was that they signed me for a fee that eventually came to \u00a345,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cI signed for Bolton in August and made my first-team debut in October. Bolton had just been relegated from the old First Division which was the equivalent of the Premiership and they were a good side,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n[aesop_image img=”http:\/\/derrygaa.ie\/features\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/gerry-peterborough.jpg” align=”right” captionposition=”right” lightbox=”off”]\n
McElhinney\u2019s performances at Burnden Park quickly attracted the attention of Northern Ireland boss Billy Bingham and he was placed on stand-by for the 1982 World Cup but missed out to a youngster called Norman Whiteside.<\/p>\n
Still, an international call-up wasn\u2019t long in coming and what a debut it proved. McElhinney blunted the attacking threat of Bayern Munich legend Karl Heinz Rummingge as the North stunned reigning champions West Germany in a European Championship qualifier in Berlin thanks to Ian Stewart\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cGermany were good and I remember thinking about how good their passing was but that Northern Ireland side had some great players in it Gerry Armstrong, Martin O\u2019Neill, Pat Jennings, Sammy McIlroy and Mal Donaghy. When you have players like that alongside you, you don\u2019t feel any fear. It\u2019s probably the fastest 90 minutes of my life, you\u2019re just concentrating so hard, putting your boot in making the next tackle or the next header,\u201d explained McElhinney.<\/p>\n
Next up for the McElhinney was the old Home International Championship, the final time that old competition was contested. Now 27 and at the height of his powers he played in all three games, a win over Scotland and 1-0 defeat by England at Wembley and a 1-1 draw with Wales as Northern Ireland claimed the title.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a great experience I got to play against some great players, Mark McGhee and Graeme Souness for Scotland, Brian Robson was playing for England at the time and when we came up against Wales they had Ian Rush and Mark Hughes playing up front. We won that tournament and it was the last time it was played so I suppose that team can still count themselves the reigning Champions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n[aesop_image img=”http:\/\/derrygaa.ie\/features\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/soccer-team.jpg” imgwidth=”800px” caption=”Gerry McElhinney (front row, second from left) with Martin O’Neill (centre), part of the Northern Ireland soccer team of the early 80’s” align=”center” captionposition=”center” lightbox=”off”]\n
McElhinney would win only two more caps after that in World Cup qualifiers against Finland and Romania, suffering the misfortune of seeing his six-cap international career fall between two World Cup tournaments but he has no regrets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem was that Northern Ireland had so many good central defenders at that stage, you\u2019d Chris Nicholl, John O\u2019Neill and John McClelland. Of course I\u2019d love to have gone to a World Cup but I\u2019m more than happy with the six caps that I won.\u201d<\/p>\n
While his international career came to a close in 1984 McElhinney continued to play at club level until the mid 1990s with Bolton, Rochdale, Plymouth, where the fans christened him ‘Rambo’, and Peterborough. He battled on gamely for three seasons with Posh, before joining the club’s coaching staff. Later he would return to the playing field with non-League Corby Town, where he was also joint player-manager in the mid-1990s. Having taken his UEFA B License the former Oak Leaf star had a spell working at Derby County\u2019s Academy and was recently a guest of Bolton Wanderers at their Premiership clash with Wigan Athletic.<\/p>\n
Yet despite his successes in \u201cground football\u201d, McElhinney, who now works for a Chemical company outside Derby, still keeps a close eye on the GAA scene in his native county.<\/p>\n[aesop_image img=”http:\/\/derrygaa.ie\/features\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/6869079882_fc34003ed1_m.jpg” imgwidth=”240″ caption=”Bliain Gormley for Derry v Louth (March 2012)” align=”left” captionposition=”left” lightbox=”off”]\n
\u201cOf course you miss the Gaelic when you\u2019re over here but I still keep in touch. I was on Hill 16 when Derry won the All-Ireland in 1993 and I\u2019m always in the Irish club watching games when they\u2019re on television. Whenever I\u2019m home I would still get to the odd game, Eddie (McElhinney\u2019s younger brother and an All-Ireland minor winner in 1983) and Ciaran would have been involved with the\u00a0club football in recent years.”<\/p>\n
With\u00a0the younger brother Ciaran now retired from playing duties, McElhinney still has plenty of family connections to maintain the bond with football in Derry. Four of his nephews are talents up in Craigbane, Bliain and Ruairi Gormley and Carlos and Christian McElhinney.<\/p>\n
Indeed it may be over 35 years since he kicked a ball in the red and white of his county but Gerry still seems to have his finger on the pulse of the game in which he first rose to prominence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe game has changed it\u2019s become more tactical and it\u2019s not as physical as it once was, which isn\u2019t necessarily a good thing. I always enjoyed the give and take of the big hits.<\/p>\n
\u201cDerry have had some excellent players in recent times and there\u2019s a good crop of young players coming through. That\u2019s the way of it I suppose there\u2019s always new talent coming through and there\u2019s always a new hero.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s as maybe, but for a generation who watched Derry in the mid-1970s the new hero will remain the long-haired teenager from Park with the headband who shone briefly in the Gaelic arena before making his name on foreign fields.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gerry McElhinney was the dazzling young star of the Derry side that claimed back to back Ulster titles in 1975 and 1976. The Park man’s intercounty tenure lasted only four years before moving on to play professional soccer in England. He spoke to Chris McCann about a career that saw him go toe to toe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n