St Paul’s, Belfast won three championships in the mid 1990s, a run of success that the club proudly remembers.

There are a number of reasons for that success. It was born out of work done by Brian Coyle at underage level. Supported by work at schools level, and bolstered by players who travelled in from Armagh.

Yet at its core, the team was a sublimely gifted group of footballers who arguably should have won a lot more.

One of their key players was Donagh Finnegan.

He was one of the lads who was involved in the early stages of the club’s turning point in the late ’70s when their juvenile numbers grew dramatically. He explains how St Paul’s numbers were boosted.

“A lot of boys who used to go to St Mary’s weren’t in clubs at the time. So there was a PE teacher at St Mary’s called Eamon McCartan and he got boys to join St Paul’s. This is the way myself, the Finnegans and the McStravicks would have joined St Paul’s underage.”

Finnegan joined the club when he started secondary school in the late ’70s. His background was from the Glens of Antrim, where his people were hurlers. But he joined the St Paul’s club at the behest of Eamon McCartan and quickly enjoyed the experience of playing with a lot of good footballers.

“I had no connection to any club in the city, even though I had lived in the city all my life.

“I can remember being lifted and taken to the Feile and played for St Paul’s, John McCartan picked me up. It was a case then of if you wanted to play football and you were any good you played for St Paul’s.

“Brian Coyle took on the minor teams and had a number of successes. It all grew to become very significant numbers. You can see that from the record of the minor successes.

“Brian really nourished the squad.”

Finnegan believes that the club were ahead of their time when it came to recruitment.

“It wasn’t just about getting them in, it was about retaining them. We had boys driving down from Armagh on a Saturday to play a minor match. And then driving back to Armagh again. It was unheard of.”

The group at St Paul’s were bolstered by some lads who played their schools football with St Pat’s, Armagh. Among them were the Donnellys, Aidan, Fergus and Pearse. The dual county nature of the club was noticeable at schools football.

Finnegan said: “St Pat’s, Armagh were strong, and St Mary’s were strong at MacRory level and a lot of the time it ended up being St Paul’s players playing against St Paul’s.

“I remember the Rannafast final one year, there were five on the St Mary’s team and five on the St Pat’s team which was strange.”

The success at underage would lead to the creation of the St Paul’s minor tournament.

Finnegan said: “We knew each other so well in those days, and the clubs were so strong. I can remember the conversation happening between the schools and the clubs. We were debating about who was the best and then we just said, lets have a tournament.”

Another factor in their success was their coaching.

“A lot of us would have played basketball. The game we played was similar to the game that is played now. It was about hand-passing and possession. We were ridiculed for it. Sometimes we even thought about losing the ball up front for a while.”

At one stage there were 10 St Paul’s players on the county senior team playing in the National League.

Yet in those days, in the late ’80s, there was no senior success.

Finnegan said: “I think if we had won one earlier then we might have had more success. We could have had a significantly greater amount.

“We ended up with three but we could have had more.

“I remember talking to PJ O’Hare at the time. He was county manager at the time. I asked him why we couldn’t win a senior championship. He said ‘Donagh, don’t worry you will always win more on your way down.’ He was right.”

Finnegan played senior football for his club from 1980 to 2003. But it took a long time for him to experience the level of success expected from them after their underage exploits.

Their first final was in 1986 which they lost. And they had reached plenty of semi-finals and quarters.

The club won its first senior championship in 1994 when Donagh Finnegan was 30, Charlie McStravick was 31, Greg, Donagh’s brother, was 34. The players were more experienced.

Finnegan said: “I look back on it now, you would have been playing for the county on a Sunday with the group of players. Then that week you’d be sitting in the changing rooms and then you’d be wondering if you’d get on. That’s how strong we were. County players weren’t training with the club, so there was an element of boys training with the club and they had to get the game time. So you were sitting in the changing room wondering if you were going to play. But that drove people on.

“We were a strong team eight to 10 years before we won a championship.”

But losing so often was causing a problem for the team.

“We had some very able managers. But after a while it became a burden. It became baggage,” Finnegan said.

“People reminded you of it on a regular basis. We had got to a number of finals, Sarsfields beat us in a final. There were semi-finals regularly. We were at that stage, where we had the biggest representation on the county team. We were playing National League in Division Two. We beat Meath in Casement Park by eight points. The main line of that team were St Paul’s men. So we would have liked to think we could win a club championship.

“Even though Antrim couldn’t win a senior championship game it was a competitive club scene in Antrim.

“We were playing against teams that had players from other counties.

“Sarsfields had some, St John’s had a few, St Gall’s had a few.”

A turning poin for the club was the introduction of Peter Finn as manager, who had came in at the start of the 1994 season.

Finnegan said: “He was able to put the jigsaw together. But we had a lot of top quality footballers. We were regarded as a classy team, but we had steely players, Paul McErlain, Chris Murphy. Then you had Aidan Donnelly and Ryan O’Neill. If teams tried to mix it we were able to.

“Peter came in and was full of beans and had new ideas. He had had success with St Mary’s. The club put everything up for us.”

Finnegan said that the 1994 season did not start well and the numbers were low at training. But they gradually picked up the pace as the season wore on.

“We didn’t have as big a panel as we had had in previous years, that was one of the differences.

“Peter brought a man-management style that was different to what had been there before. Maybe it was that extra one or two percent that he was able to provide. You’d be on the phone to Peter for an hour, getting all the views. And he was doing that with a lot of players.”

Finnegan remembers that first final.

“We didn’t perform in the first half of the final against Cargin. We were thinking here we go again.”

But they would go on to win that game and end the doubts.

“I watched the Dungannon Clarkes win the Tyrone Championship earlier this year, and that was exactly like it was for us. I can remember the night we won. I just remember going, ‘my God.’

“That’s part of the joy of winning, the relief.

“Maybe it was the most club team that we have had in along time. There weren’t players leaving. It was the most close-knit teams.

“This team had been so long, we didn’t have people coming in and leaving. There were four sets of brothers, Finnegans Donnellys McStravicks, McManus.”

St Paul’s didn’t win the following year, but they were victorious in 1996 and 1997.

Finnegan said: “Those four years were fantastic, particularly going in to play in Ulster. We celebrated too much in the first year and we had to play Clan na Gael – we really weren’t ready for that.

“But the other two years we did very well. Dungiven beat us in 1997. Anto Finnegan had joined us from Lamh Dhearg. Joe Quinn had come on at that stage. We had some great players Joe Kennedy, John McManus, Barry O’Neill, players of great skill. Dungiven beat us. We thought we could have won an Ulster Championship that year.”

Joe Quinn joined the senior team in 1995. He tasted the championship defeat that year, but got two senior championship medals before he was even 20.

“The 1995 year was my first on the panel. There was a bit of a hangover that year. Getting over that hurdle was brilliant for the club. The defeat in the semi-final refocused the boys to go again. Though at the time you probably didn’t sense that.

“I remember watching them winning Antrim in Casement in 1994, and then going watching them to play in Ulster. You could see they were more focused on winning Antrim and breaking that duck.

“In 1996 they were more focused on going further in Ulster.”

The 1995 season had taught Joe Quinn a few things about how he needed to prepare to play club football.

“It was eye-opening to see what way they prepared. We had some very good players, players who were very focused. Peter Finn was the manager and he had some very strange training processes. They were regarded as strange at the time but five or six years later they were adopted by everyone. It was all the plyometric stuff you see nowadays. Not everyone was doing that in the early 90s. It was good as a young lad to see that set up.”

In 1996 Brendan McGeary, an Armagh man, joined the management team and his influence changed the mindset and helped to deliver the titles in 1996 and 1997.

The personnel of the team that won in 1994, changed again in 1995. Then in 1996 Hugh Tohill joined the team from Derry. He was living in Belfast, and chose St Paul’s. Paul Hickson also joined the club, having been introduced to the club by Paul Donnelly.

Quinn said: “There was a strong squad, and a great camaraderie. The team was very focused. We went undefeated on year with the same 17-18 players all year. The season was very long but the numbers never really dropped off. The dedication was always there.

“I was young, and wet behind the ears, but the team was very confident. I didn’t have the confidence that Donagh had. It might have been that I didn’t know the opposition. I had only been playing for a few years for the seniors.”

They played St John’s in 1996, and won by a point.

“It was a horrendous game. It was dog eat dog. When we got over that hurdle that gave us the confidence.

“I remember the final against Cargin in 1996. I remember that very well. It was us and Cargin that were the main teams. St John’s were in the mix as well.

“I remember playing Bellaghy in the Ulster Club that year. They were always in control. But I remember that the following year we should have beat Dungiven. It was one of those games that you feel you should have won. We had a lot of possession. We did a lot of good things. It was there for the taking.”

Anto Finnegan joined the club for that third championship winning season in 1997. He had been a member of Lamh Dhearg in the years previous. He was coming in hoping that he could make a name for himself.

“By the time I joined they had a couple of championships under their belts already. I was just hoping I could get a place given how successful they were.

“When I started with the county in 1993 and 1994 there would have been five or six St Pauls boys on that squad. There was Donagh Finnegan, Charlie McStravick, Joe Kennedy, Aidan Donnelly, Sean McGreevy. They were well established county players as well as exceptional club players. They were any amount of leaders on that squad.”

He was able to connect with the group quickly.

Anto said: “I was brought into the fold and made to feel very welcome. I slotted in very nicely, and it helped that I was a dual player. I knew a lot of the lads who played in the hurling squad as well. I played with or against them at school or playing with them at county. Where I lived a few streets away from the club on Lenadoon Avenue.”

He wasn’t daunted about coming in to the team either. There was no animosity towards a guy coming in from another club trying to take their place.

“It happened more seamlessly than I would have imagined.

“What Peter and Brendan always encouraged was competition for places. At that stage there was a really strong squad. There were 20 or 30 players who could have started. You either thrive in that environment or you flounder. There was good competition and that helped to deliver the required results.”

Anto remembers that it was the battles with Cargin that were the toughest games they played.

“They were good shoot-outs. Cargin had Kevin Doyle and Eddy McKee. Shenny McQuillan was the free taker. St Paul’s had Donagh, and Joe Kennedy, John McManus. The teams were well matched in terms of personnel.”

Finnegan recalls that in 1997 the league run was good. The championship culminated with a win over St Gall’s.

“We won that game handy enough. Then after that we played Ballyshannon in the quarter-final and then Dungiven beat us in the semi-final.”

Anto, like his team mates felt that they should have won more.

“Absolutely. There were a couple that got away, 1999 in particular. If you go back over that period, from 1994 to 2004 St Paul’s were in six or seven finals. You always think you can win more, but that’s why they are so hard to win. Everyone thinks the same.”

Joe Quinn reflected upon what made the difference in those years.

“It was one of them teams that should have won a lot more prior to 1994. You had the McStravicks, the Donnellys, Finnegans, Joe Kennedy. Joe Kennedy was one of the best forwards in Ulster. Peter Finn was just able to harness that.

“With the talent there we should have won more. But there were a lot of people there who were on the other end of 30. They were still fit, but we didn’t have the feed into the team. St Gall’s for example had players who were able to step in when older lads were leaving.

“Trying to replace Charlie McStravick would have been nigh on impossible.”

Quinn thinks that St Paul’s is on its way to returning to the top level. They just have the usual hurdles to overcome.

“It’s the perennial problem of the city, and trying to hold on to young boys and young girls. We just have to try to keep them focused. Hopefully we will be able to get back to the top.

“The numbers that we have at underage speak for themselves. As much as it is great being a successful club. But the GAA is more about the community. If we can keep them involved in the club and keep them supporting it, then that is success.”

The frustration is that the club are in Division Two now and it seems like a long way since they have won those senior championships.

Donagh Finnegan said: “The club was very successful in those years. It continues to be very well run. Paul Donnelly has been very important in getting the club running well. We took our eye off the ball for a time with regards juvenile, but we think we have got back there.”

A fight with Cargin in 1999 meant that the club had all teams banned out of the championship the following year. That included a very good u-21 team.

“Some of the boys drifted away after that,” Donagh Finnegan said.

“That ban was very expensive. They went to play soccer and maybe didn’t come back in our direction.”

Yet Donagh Finnegan still believes that it is a great club.

“It’s still a great club. I took the senior team for three years. It’s still a great club. Maybe we don’t have the quality that we had but that doesn’t diminish the effort that is being put in. They were a kick of a ball away from getting to an intermediate final. There are quality footballers there and it is just a case of getting a few more of them.”