It’s Thursday night in the heart of Ballinascreen parish and Tempo
native Charlie McNally is doing what he does best. Chatting about football! He is the owner of the appropriately named
Hogan Stand Bar at the top of the Five Mile Straight. On a lovely day the setting of Eagle’s Rock
in the distance is postcard material and today Charlie’s will have passed it as
he headed over ‘The Birren’ towards Celtic Park.
McNally has been in this neck of
the woods for twenty-five years but after spells in London and New York he
confessed it was ‘by accident’ that Ballinascreen was where he eventually
settled. After a decade working as a
publican in the ‘Big Apple’ McNally was looking to follow this up when he returned
to Ireland in 1991.
“I was living up in Trillick at
the time. I was looking for a pub and I
bought the local paper and this pub happened to be in it.” This coincided with the start of a golden generation
in the early 90s for Derry and Charlie rhymes their honours and achievements off
the tip of his tongue. Jimmy Magee
wouldn’t have a look in!
The renaming of the bar had
nothing to do with Derry’s regular visits to Croker. It was closer to his heart than that. “I was always going to name it The Hogan
Stand, my daughter’s Christening party was held at a bar called the Hogan Stand
in New York.” In fact locally to those
in Moneyneana [or whatever way it’s meant to be spelt] it is simply known as Charlie’s.
One of the first things you notice is the array of Derry
photos on the walls, images from battles between Derry and Down, with centre
stage a picture of the 1993 All-Ireland winning team. There is a roaring fire on
and the football chat is in full flow. On
the counter lie three newspapers, all with the sport pages open. It’s the type of scene you will find in any
Irish town or village.
Another item hung on the chair behind the bar is a Derry
jacket and when we mention it Charlie laughs, “Hugh Peter [McWilliams] gave it
to me, I wore it last week and I don’t think I’ll wear it for a while. I get too much stick.” He is now a fully-fledged ‘Screen man but as
we delve deeper into McNally’s archives, he has never forgotten where he came
from.
Fermanagh people will be glad to hear that Charlie has given
pride of place above the fireplace to a framed photo of Fermanagh’s team of
2004. He follows Fermanagh everywhere
whether it’s division four or division one and last year he was one of the many
supporters who applauded the Erne players after their epic battle with Dublin.
Jim McGuinness couldn’t fathom Fermanagh’s players and fans
celebrating despite defeat but McNally had a different outlook. “Everybody thought we were going to Dublin
and not score maybe but we scored 2-15 and we thought this was great, scoring
2-15 against The Dubs.” He also didn’t
miss the fact of Fermanagh hitting nine wides against the breeze. All those years of going to games the length
and breadth of the country, he misses very little. You’d want him in your quiz team, that’s for
sure.
The Tempo man predicts the Metropolitans to retain Sam this
summer with a tongue in cheek statement. “It’s hard to go by The Dubs; last
year I said the team that beats Fermanagh would win the All-Ireland!” When prompted about what has made the
difference to his county’s fortunes, McNally points to the influence of
Rostrevor’s Pete McGrath.
“He has nothing to prove in football and has had a big
influence on the whole thing.” Charlie added. “We are very lucky to get a man
like Pete. Down will surely regret not taking him back.” For now however he looks forward to the Erne
boss getting the best from their talisman Quigley but he knows they need more
than that. “McCloskey [Ryan] has been a
great servant over the years. There’s a
lot of young boys coming in now, young McMahon [James], the Jones brothers and
the Corrigans.”
In a recent interview Tony Scullion admitted that he had
received a few phone calls from McNally about the impressive Derry performances. Back in his younger days ‘Scud’ spent many a
Sunday night working in the bar and knowing Charlie well suspected he was
setting Derry up for a fall. It’s not just
Kerry men who play the ‘cute’ card you know.
During our chat Charlie is still singing the same tune,
playing down Fermanagh’s chances. “It’s
a big jump for us, Derry coming down from division 1 and us coming up from
division 3.” He knows the football scene
well and says the race for the Anglo Celt Cup is between Derry and Tyrone. “Derry won’t be far away but I hope they come
second and we [Fermanagh] win.”
With Gaels across the country debating the various proposed
changes to the All-Ireland Championship, this Fermanagh man gave his
opinion. “The back door made the like of Fermanagh! Just look at 2004 and going to the replay of
an All-Ireland semi final. We didn’t get
it easy against Meath, Donegal, Armagh and Cork, but with no back door there’d
be no fairytale.”
He is a fully adopted ‘Screen and Derry man at this stage, twenty-five
years on and he’s a well known character in this picturesque corner of the
Sperrins. One of the best games he ever
watched was Derry v Down in 1994, even though Derry lost to a late Ciaran McCabe
goal. McNally reckoned if there was a
‘back door’ that Derry team would have won at least another three All-Irelands.
Neither did he want a ‘Champions League’ format as he wants
to see his beloved Fermanagh win an Ulster title before the provincials are
done away with. They came closest in
2008 and when I asked him what the best game he ever attended was, he
immediately referenced the win over Derry in Omagh that summer. He would have had some smile behind the bar
that night!
McNally hadn’t met anyone from ‘Screen during his American adventure
but four days before opening the Hogan Stand that changed. While going into Healy Park for the 1991
Derry v Tyrone game, he got chatting to Ballinascreen man Brian Yarry
[McWilliams]. When he informed him about
his forthcoming business venture Yarry told him ‘I’m not a drinker, you’ll not
see me’!
Since that day he has built up a great rapport with the
locals. From that 1991 game he remembers
Seanie Meyler throwing the ball down quickly for a free, Derry took it quickly
and it resulted in a late Damien Cassidy winning goal. This level of detail is only found in
enthusiasts like McNally. That was twenty-five years ago and Derry fans
will be hoping it makes for an omen ahead of 22nd May.
McNally will be supporting Derry that day no doubt, but today
he will be in the stand at Celtic Park cheering on his native Fermanagh. When he catches up with Hugh Peter and Pele
[John Scullion] Charlie will be hoping the Erne County will have the bragging
rights. Regardless of the result, the
fire will be on, the game will be dissected and the chat will be aplenty.
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