New documentary about Rovers shines a light on the club
A NEW documentary about Sligo Rovers shines a light on the club’s meaning to fans, players and managers.
‘Shine’, filmed and produced by Oisin Moran and Michael Moran, takes an in-depth look at the club’s place in the community for those living locally, elsewhere in Ireland and around the world.
Kevinsfort native Oisin, a lighting cameraman with Virgin Media and Michael, a former sports reporter who is actively involved with the Sligo Rovers Heritage Group, put their heads together at a family function to come up with a video which captures the essence of the Bit O’Red.
The visuals are paired up with the constant presence of original music by Pearse McGloughlin, a local songwriter who Oisin also knew from their days in Summerhill College.
“Myself and Michael were at a family wedding in October 2019 and we got talking about doing a Rovers project.
“I had gotten the club’s new history book as a present and having read through it I said we should look at doing something. Before Covid19
came along we started by interviewing Joe Martyn and just grew from there and we also interviewed Billy Sinclair when he was in town for the opening of the outdoor museum at The Showgrounds.”
Oisin went on to explain other plans they had for the documentary which were curtailed by Covid-19 restrictions, but the summer did present an opportunity to get a selection of familiar faces and voices on camera.
“When restrictions had eased we started getting the likes of Tony Fagan, Gavin Dykes and Conor O’Grady, we got the girls team training and other bits and pieces that we simply couldn’t do during the first lockdown. “We had plans for getting footage such as fans supporting the club at a game in Dublin but that just went out the window.”
One of the locations we are shown in the documentary is club volunteer Anthony Kilfeather’s impressive collection of Rovers memorabilia.
One item shown by Anthony was a cup presented to the club by Everton when they met for a friendly in 1949 – a poignant moment as the clubs have joined forces in an official partnership since the documentary was recorded. “Anthony Kilfeather has a fabulous collection, it’s like walking around a museum – I was in awe. Where he showed me that cup I was just thinking what an amazing piece of history that is, especially with the clubs developing a new partnership a few weeks ago.”
‘Shine’ can be viewed on YouTube by searching for ‘Shine – A Sligo Rovers Documentary’.