The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Christy Leahy is The Park’s leading light
WHEN the name St Brendan’s Park ever pops up in conversations around the county one name automatically springs to mind and that of course is my good friend the legendary Christy Leahy.
Leahy is a founding member of the club back in 1971. He has given a lifetime of service to the club both as a player, manager and official and has the same passion for the game today as he had over half a century ago.
Most people get playing facilities named after them when they are deceased but Christy is an exception to the rule as the club named their grounds after him 10 years ago. He says he is absolutely delighted with the facilities his club have in place at Cahermoneen and he is greatly honoured that his club have bestowed this honour on him. He has managed several teams that went on to win a lot of silverware. He was also manager of the Kerry Oscar Traynor Cup team for a few spells I have known Christy for over 40 years and I regard him as a great friend with an abiding passion for the game. His battle with Parkinson’s Disease has been widely documented in recent years but he is still involved in the game and is out there every weekend reporting on matches. He has adapted his lifestyle to deal with his condition and goes about his everyday chores as normal despite having to contend with his medical condition. His courage, perseverance and resilience is astounding and he is highly admired by his huge legion of friends around the county. A fanatical Chelsea fan he has followed them through thick and thin and enjoyed all their successes over the years. When it comes to statistics on Kerry soccer Christy is Kerry’s answer to the late Jimmy Magee as he is the memory man of the game in the county and beyond.
His small box room upstairs in his home is where all his data is compiled on his computer and it is his little sporting oasis in the sky when he wants to blot the world out and engage in his favourite past time of compiling his encyclopaedia of soccer paraphernalia. He is delighted to still be able to be write about his favourite game and get to know people all over the county. He is known with affection the length and breadth of the county and when he gives his opinion on a game soccer pundits sit up and listen.
Over the years Christy has made a phenomenal contribution to the game in the county and is considered as a true gentleman by everyone who knows him. He was the chairman of the KDL for 20 years from 1981 to 2001and he always had a listening ear for clubs that wanted changes and he was never shy of expressing his opinion regardless of how it would be interpreted. Leahy never allowed people who had only their own interests at heart manipulate how the KDL was run. He was never reluctant to bring in changes if they were required and done his job in a very responsible fashion. He was chairman of his own club for 16 years and is now the president of the club and also of the Kerry District League. He was appointed the first manager of the Kerry Oscar Traynor team in 1976. He was the recipient of the John Sherlock Services to Football Award in 2014.
In recognition of his outstanding voluntary work he was presented with the Golden Rose Award in 1998. His own club started out from scratch in 1971 and now they are in a very healthy state and can only grow further and prosper in the years ahead.
HISTORY OF THE CLUB
Christy Leahy says the club was formed in 1971 and in it’s first year it had a total of 22 members, which included players and committee with all of them, except one, being residents of St. Brendan’s Park.
“The only non-resident was Christy Leahy who was with Helen Brick, who lived in the square in the Park. When he would call for Helen more often than not there would be a group of young lads playing ball in the green area of the square which was opposite Helen’s house, and Christy would go out for a ‘few kicks’ with the local lads and this became more frequent as time went on.
“Ít was mentioned that there was a similar group on ‘the other side of The Park’ and eventually an invitation was issued to them to play a challenge game which was duly accepted and none of us ever imagined that this would become St. Brendan’s Park FC and in this year, 2021, we would be celebrating our 50th year in the Kerry District League.”
FIRST GAME
“I think our first game was against St. Pats (Blennerville). We were young and lacked the experience of Tralee Dynamos, Listowel Celtic and Killarney Athletic who had played for a number of seasons in the Desmond League, and we struggled for the first season. To raise finance we ran a number of weekly draws that were well supported by the residents of St. Brendan’s Park.”
IMPORTANT LEADERSHIP
“Our present secretary, Colm McLoughlin, whose roots, both sporting and physical, are in the heart of St. Brendan’s Park and anyone that has heard Colm speak about the club will realise how much pride he has in its members and he definitely speaks from the heart at all times when welcoming visitors to the club. This was very evident in 2018 when the club hosted an U-16 international game between Scotland and Northern Ireland (who used the club as their home base for the week) in the Victory Shield. At an organisational level The Park, under the guidance of excellent chairmen Chris Nugent, Conor Maguire, Tim Leahy, John Hoare, Colm McLoughlin and George Dineen has always been to the forefront in the promotion and development of soccer in both Tralee and Kerry.”
PROUD OF OUR ROOTS
“Our ancestral home was, and always will be, the playing area adjacent to the St. Brendan’s Park housing estate where we played our first games and this pitch is synonymous with both The Park FC and Kerry soccer. It is part of our history and we have always maintained it, and still do, to the highest possible playing standards. “Some of our greatest victories were there but as the club grew we had to look seriously at our future.”
LOOKING TO FUTURE
“When the decision was made to purchase land it gave the club the encouragement and the belief that we would progress and develop our facilities over the following years. We eventually purchased land from Tralee Town Council in Croogerts, Cahermoneen with enormous help from Sean Crispie who was the Town Clerk, and what stands there today is the end result of the foresight of the excellent chairmen coupled with the hard work and fund raising of dedicated club members and management committees over the years. It would be remiss not to mention the unbelievable contribution made by successive governments and to former Minister for Sports and Tourism, John O’Donoghue, who made many grants available to the club. In more recent years Brendan Griffin has made some grants available.”
THE CLUB GROUNDS
“We were fortunate to secure the selling of the tickets for the Festival of Kerry Car Raffle which we had for many years which made it possible to raise the finance necessary to purchase the lands that today are Christy Leahy Park which I find rewarding, and humbling, to have them named after me. When I first heard that the pitch was to be called after me I was dumbstruck. It is an honour that cannot be equalled.”