‘On one side, we had the army that would give us a bit of grief. On the other side, the IRA kinda left us alone because even though they weren’t political at that time, they recognised the usefulness of what we were doing’
THE PLACE
IT’S fitting that Tony O’Doherty was born in 1947, the year that the first houses were built in Creggan estate, because he has lived every bit of its history since moving there as a child.
The new community was the local corporation’s response to overcrowding in the Bogside. Housing for Catholic families was a pressing need and the geographical location – up a steep hill near the border with Co Donegal – allowed the Unionist majority to manage the electoral wards and maintain their inf luence.
By the time that O’Doherty had reached adulthood, the population was rapidly growing, and so too was the disillusionment. His football career was taking off and in 1970 he played at Wembley for a Northern Ireland side that included George Best in the game where Bobby Charlton won his 100th England cap. But as the Troubles accelerated and took hold, he lost his appetite for football. “I couldn’t see the point of it,” he sighs. “I was with Coleraine, a wonderful club, but I was coming home past barricades and burning buildings and people I knew getting hurt and even killed.
“I wouldn’t use the word ghetto, but people didn’t go outside the area because it was dangerous. The army was here. So a group of us decided to look at what we could do for people inside the area. I thought I was better off here so I took a year out.”
That was the beginning of the Creggan Football Association. The founding group, which held their first meeting in a disused launderette, included two other men that can be found stewarding at Derry City matches, Charlie Tierney and Gerry Duddy. The latter’s teenage brother Jackie was shot dead on Bloody Sunday. Six victims hailed from Creggan, including Charlie Nash’s sibling William – Charlie would go on to box for Ireland in Munich later that year. In difficult circumstances, the Creggan FA sought to provide hope. The Bishop’s Field became their playground.
“We used to have football morning, noon and night, especially in the summer, we had all leagues for all ages,” says O’Doherty. “I’d never felt so alive. To say I dedicated myself to it makes it sound like a sacrifice when the truth was I loved it. Just the sheer energy of being involved with great people. Gradually, it developed into a welfare association. Help for this, help for that. We ran film shows on a Sunday night on an 8mm projector. It wasn’t community work, it was just life.
“On one side, we had the army that would give us a bit of grief. On the other side, the IRA kinda left us alone because even though they weren’t political at that time, they recognised the usefulness of what we were doing. Martin McGuinness was a friend of mine, we went to school together, and remained that way until he died. We never had a problem. People saw it for what it was–it was something good.”
Word spread and the wellknown English reporter Peter Taylor came to Creggan to produce a documentary that was never broadcast. O’Doherty was told the British government had blocked it because it portrayed the community in a sympathetic light. They had the power to slap a Defensive Advisory Notice (D-Notice) on any material related to the Troubles. British Army Saracens came by in the following weeks to drive across the field and destroy the surface. O’Doherty and his counterparts persevered to try and offer positivity to a society that needed it.
McClean was born in 1989.
A year later, Charlie O’Donnell took over as the Principal of the Holy Child Primary School. The outlook was bleak.
“We had 96pc of the children on free school meals,” he explains. “And unemployment was probably 85pc to 86pc, the highest in Northern Ireland. There was no employment and then they would ask why people here were getting involved in alcohol and drugs and things like that and the answer is quite simply because they had nothing to get up for.
“Even now, while it has improved considerably, the problem we are experiencing here is the lack of employment. There’s very little investment in Derry. We’re still waiting on the good road from Dublin to Derry, from Belfast to Derry.”
These days, O’Donnell is chair of a healthy living programme that looks after residents of all ages. The HQ is just down the street from the Corned Beef Tin which is officially the home of the Creggan Neighbourhood Partnership – a registered charity that could reasonably be called a spin-off of the Creggan FA’s work.
The brief is wide, ranging from offering help with welfare claims and running back-to-work programmes to organising the cleaning up of the area and graffiti. The Heal to Hurt organisation supports those battling addiction.
At night time, there’s a kids club which McClean attended when the original Corned Beef Tin lookalike was still standing. When that was demolished and an enhanced version constructed in its space, he was the star at the official opening (2015) and drops in to say hello whenever he’s back. Martin O’Neill, an old acquaintance of O’Doherty, has stopped by too. (The host teased the Irish manager by reminding him that only one of them owns an All-Ireland medal
– a Hogan Cup with St Columb’s College in 1965.)
Creggan still has problems. Community leaders have to contend with anti-social behaviour and it’s a challenge to encourage kids to stay on the right path when there are negative influences in their midst. Sport is a positive vehicle. “We’re very proud of Trojans (football club) and Sean Dolans, our GAA club, because they don’t just make athletes or footballers,” says O’Doherty. “They make citizens. Kids who are involved rarely end up in trouble.”
In McClean, who lined out for both teams, they have a helpful example. “I’m always saying to kids now you could be the next James McClean and you can just see them smiling,” enthuses O’Donnell. “It’s about self-esteem. They’re six inches taller because they can say, ‘I’ve a hero that lives over the street.’ And he’s never forgotten where he comes from.”