Fermanagh sportsman Tony McGourty looks back at his impressive past.

A quiet-spoken born leader, he has had great success in local soccer and was also very prominent for his native Belcoo O’Rahillys.

He played local soccer from the early 1970s to 2011 – surely the longest-ever player in the region!

Despite his triumphs, he is grounded and gives all he can to his community. And the remarkable thing about Tony is that he has achieved so much, despite virtually zero power in his right hand.

It is something the extremely modest and down to earth Tony does not dwell on, but it has certainly not defined him in the slightest.

There is not a scintilla of self-absorption, but he refers to working with what life has given him.

His calm positivity is truly inspirational, and he has been at the heart of his community in so many facets.

Most recently, Tony played ‘The Blind Man’ in ‘Robin Hood’, where The Impartial Reporter’s Ciarán Flaherty played ‘The Sheriff of Nottingham’, in the hugely successful Belcoo GAA club’s OsKars, which was attended by more than 700 people in The Great Northern Hotel a few weeks ago.

The club’s impressive OsKars event raised more than £300,000 for club development, which includes new dressing rooms, a gym and a store at their scenic location on the shores of Lough MacNean.

This was a magnificent community event for Belcoo, with up to 90 people taking part in a series of films and TV show scenes drawn from such fare as ‘The Field’, ‘Derry Girls’ and ‘The Shawshank Redemption’.

Tony was among a host of locals who helped run various fundraisers for the event, which was a unique and highly successful project in his native place.

But he has been a real leader on and off the sports fields, and he has always done so by example.

In Tony’s rich and varied world, there is no need for bombast, ego or a need to be in charge.

The fit and feisty 72-year-old has always embraced the concept of ‘we’ instead of ‘me’, and that is reflected in his phenomenal record of success with Lisbellaw United in the Fermanagh and Western League.

But it is equally ingrained in his almost equally remarkable record with his beloved Belcoo O’Rahillys GAA club, who must be one of the unluckiest sides ever to grace Fermanagh football fields after losing Championship finals in 1981 and 1988, and two League finals in 1986 and 1987.

However, from the early 1970s until 2011, Tony was a key part of Lisbellaw Utd.

“I played until I was 59,” explains Tony in his candid understated manner as he sits in his fine home on a hill overlooking Lough MacNean.

Gaelic and soccer have been an ever-present part of the Belcoo man’s life since he was a schoolboy.

But he has also run 24 marathons, and is currently preparing for the London Marathon in a few weeks’ time, and he and his niece, Catherine Walls, are doing it for the Alzheimers Society.

Catherine will be playing the ukulele en route, a feat that has attracted the attention of UTV, and Tony and Catherine will be interviewed about the marathon shortly.

“My sister, Mary, passed away from Alzheimers, and Catherine’s sister, Eithne, who was a doctor, was killed in an airplane crash.

“We are going to give some of the money raised to the hospital that Eithne worked in; she passed away in 2009.

“I am looking forward to it, and I would like to do the New York Marathon as well, but I am told that it could be raining, or it could be roasting, so I will be hoping for something in between.”

Tony has also done a few marathons in Malta, where his daughter, Sara, lives.

His first attempt at the marathon was when he was living in Belfast in the 1980s, but he had gone with his football club, Lisbellaw Utd, for a weekend to the Isle of Man.

“I came back on the Monday, and I went for a run on the Tuesday, and I felt a bit dodgy, and it was a mistake on my part.”

So, what was the thing that attracted Tony to marathons?

“This was the 1980s, and my first marathon was the Belfast one, and I enjoy the challenge, and I don’t stress over it.”

He added that in preparation for the London Marathon, he had run two 13-mile stretches around the roads last week.

“You get a great buzz out of running, and it is very good for your all-round health, both physical and mental.

“There is a group of us who run together, and there are seven or eight girls who will be going over to run the half-marathon in London.”

But the calm and pragmatic Tony will never get carried away with anything, and he always tries to be the very best that he can be in all facets of life.

Tony has had a varied career, having worked as a postman, an office administrator with Enterprise Ulster, a farmer – which he still does – and a glazier with local man, Sean Timoney.

He then worked in the Filling Station for several years, and he is currently working with Neven Maguire as a GDB, or ‘general dogsbody’, he quips.

Now he is back working with Gregory and Dara Timoney at the glazing, two days a week.

“Why should you retire? 65 is a very arbitrary age, and you always need something to get up out of bed in the morning for.”

Like many people, the Covid-19 pandemic had an effect on his life.

“It had pluses and minuses, and we had our son Michael here, and one of our girls, Kate, was here too, and she came home from London, and she had Covid, and stayed here for six months – but we would never have had her home otherwise.

“It was a very difficult time for a lot of people, and I went out for runs and we did work on the farm, clearing the wood, and there was great weather.

“The first year was a novelty, and the second year was more difficult, and we were glad to have been living where we were living when Kate came home – she had been living in a flat.

“But Sara was stuck on Malta, and could not leave the island. I am lucky that I am blessed with good health.”

He was also a mentor to countless Belcoo O’Rahillys teams, including being co-manager with John Joe Stewart when they won a Senior Football League title.

Throughout all his careers, Tony has made countless friends, through his engaging personality, his dedication and his ability to motivate others.

In an era of burn-out, he never got tired of playing both GAA and soccer, and was one of a number of Belcoo players such as James McGrath, Eamon McPartland and Ken McPartland who also pulled on the shirt of the ’Law under the charismatic character that is Sammy McFrederick, who also played Gaelic for Belcoo.

Tony was also Captain of the fabulous Lisbellaw Utd side of the late 1970s and early 80s.

It is worth remembering the Lisbellaw side won four consecutive Mercer League titles from 1977-1980, and a slew of Mulhern Cups in the same period.

But it was not all golden success, as Tony was a key part of a Belcoo GAA team that included the McPartlands, Eugene Greene, Hugh McCabe, Paul Greene, Colm Maguire, Hughie Keaney and Patsy Treacy that lost a big half-time lead to Erne Gaels in the Fermanagh Senior county final of 1981 in GAA.

Arguably the pinnacle of his career was when the ’Law won the Irish Junior Cup in 1978, and Tony was Captain – a role he had for all of those great victories.

Tony started his long career with Lisbellaw up front and started by scoring a hat trick for their Reserves in a match in the early 1970s against Tamlaght.

“There were some great players and we won five Mercer Leagues, starting in 1975, and won five Mulhern Cups.

“We had players like Sammy and Ian McFrederick, Eamon McPartland, John McBride, Harry McConkey, Glenn Nixon and James McGrath.

“Enniskillen Rangers had some great players in that period, like Jimmy Cleary, Fred Cleary, Denzil McDaniel and Joe Keenan, and we had some great battles with them.”

Tony was picked at left-back and stayed there right through that golden period, and was a first teamer for around 20 years.

“We had a great time in Lisbellaw, and we had great camaraderie with Sammy and Ian McFrederick, who was a good Gaelic footballer, and all the rest of the lads.

“There was a great team spirit in Lisbellaw.”

Incredibly, he played for the ’Law from 1968 to 2011, when he lined out for the Third team, and that was a remarkable 44 years playing in local football.

In 2017, Lisbellaw gave Tony a well-deserved merit award, and he was also picked on the Fermanagh and Western Team of the Century at the Club’s Centenary Dinner in 2007.

Part of his citation in the 2017 Award said:

“Tony has always been regarded by his opponents as a highly skilled player, a great competitor and above all a supreme sportsman.

“In all his years of football, he was only ever cautioned twice; indeed he can claim never to have been shown a yellow card, because his two cautions were received before yellow cards were introduced.

“For that reason alone he is a worthy recipient of the Fermanagh and Western Merit Award.

“But in fact the example he has shown to all during those six decades ensure that his contribution to our local game must be recognised here tonight.”

Also, even though he would never say, Tony has overcome a fairly major obstacle to carve out a highly-successful career in sport.

He has very little power in his right hand, and you would imagine this would have pretty severe implications for playing Gaelic football.

Instead of complaining, Tony played with the cards he was dealt with, and used his other talents of pace, movement, positional sense and ability to catch a ball one-handed.

“I used judgement. It was just the way it was, so if I wanted to play I had to adapt, to a degree. It did not hinder me, because you never miss what you haven’t got.

“I could catch a ball as handy as anybody. They talk a lot about fitness nowadays but I think a lot of it is in the head.

“If you want to work for a team you will do it. You might get tired, but it is very seldom you will be running full time. I found it easy to run, and I wanted to run whether it was to help out somebody else or whatever.”

At his peak, he was one of the finest wing forwards in Fermanagh GAA – a fleet-footed, jinking bag of tricks that had some great battles with Charlie Cullen of Erne Gaels.

“I am very lucky that sport has been such a big part in my life, and I am very lucky that I got to play with so many good players at both Belcoo and Lisbellaw.”

The feeling would be entirely mutual for the above mentioned, as Tony was always an inspirational force as well as a committed and creative performer.

He first played soccer in the old school yard in Corryglass, and later went to St. Joseph’s and Fermanagh College, where he came under the influence of Sammy McFrederick and began his long career with Lisbellaw.

St. Joseph’s had a very good Gaelic team that included Eamon McPartland, John McGowan and Frankie Roofe, and they won an Ulster title. “Eamon McPartland was a great player.”

Tony remembers Belcoo getting to a Fermanagh County Final in 1970, but losing to the multi-talented Tempo.

But arguably his greatest success came in 1975 when a Belcoo team that included the McPartlands, Tony, John McGowan, Hughie Keaney, Ignatius McGovern, and Pat Joe McGinley faced Enniskillen Gaels in the Fermanagh SFL Division Two Final.

Belcoo beat a Gaels side that had Jimmy Cleary, Sean Sheridan, Niall Corrigan, Ciaran Corrigan, Clive Irvine and Vincent Corrigan on board – a memorable achievement, as the Gaels won the Fermanagh Senior double the following year.

“I don’t remember much about the game, but we took our chances, and they did not take theirs.”

A multi-talented Belcoo O’Rahillys lost finals to Erne Gaels, Devenish and Newtownbutler in a period from 1981 to 1988 and broke their bad run by beating Erne Gaels in a Division Two Final in 1990.

Tony and Hugh McCabe were joint managers in 1988. “There is no doubt we were a good side, but we just never performed in finals.

“Maybe if we had got over the line in one, then it might have given us the know-how of how to do it.

“We lost two finals to Jim Carty’s Devenish in 1986 and 1987, but Jim reckons Belcoo would have won plenty if he had been our manager.

“But what I enjoyed most about it was that everybody was trying to play for the team, and there were no individuals.

“There was nobody saying that he was better than anybody else, because they would be brought back down to earth fairly quickly.”

When asked about his longevity in both codes, he said: “A game of football is a game of football. It’s great when you can then maybe help some of the youngsters to come along.

“You can do a lot more for some young player if you are playing alongside them, than shouting at them from the sideline.”

Tony managed a Belcoo Minor team back around 2004 and 2005 – a team that subsequently won a double Minor title with teams that included the Leonards, Jonathan Feely and Ciarán Flaherty.

He has also served Belcoo as Chairman, Secretary, and also managed the Ladies Football Team.

Tony is also a very successful ticket seller for the club. “If you are doing things that are right for the club, then no position is ever any bother.

“That good Minor team, quite a few of them came through. I used to enjoy going training because I was getting better at what I was supposed to be doing on the field. I could never see myself as not training.”

These days, Tony can be seen running around the back roads of Belcoo and around the Gaelic pitch in Blacklion.

“I always thought I would like to do a marathon. I was still playing football in 2007, so I was fairly fit anyway.”

Tony runs with Lucia Barrett – a daughter of the famous Ignatius Maguire, Conor Barrett and their children, and with the MacNean Runners – the Oisin McGrath Running Club.

For all of his life Tony has been involved in youth teams, and he has some wise words to say about the impact of drink and drugs in all types of sport.

“When I asked my son Michael if anyone had offered him drugs, he said he could get them any time he wanted.

“They are everywhere, in every village in Fermanagh, and alcohol and drugs affect people differently. Some people who have issues turn to drugs as a comfort to them, and that is sad to see.

“I have advised young people in the past that if you want to compete on the football field, you have to be as fit as you can be, and you must give your body a chance, and of drinking, do so in moderation, and keep away from drugs.

“A few pints after a game might not be too bad, but never before games.”

Tony is still involved in the club and has managed Belcoo Senior, Junior and Minor teams.

He paid tribute to the late great Belcoo clubman, Hugh McCabe, who passed away in 2017.

“He was a great footballer, and was also 100 per cent in every way, and he did not expect anything less from anyone else.

“He was a real leader, and he had a wonderful way with people, and he was so well known, and he managed Fermanagh Senior team as well.”

These days, Tony does that most thankless of jobs – that of umpire, for Belcoo.

Tony’s native Belcoo has a great rapport with Blacklion and the local Shannon Gaels GAA club.

Tony also has a special affinity with the legendary Harold Johnston, and his unique drapery shop in Blacklion.

“He is a wonderful character, and I buy some of my clothes in his shop. Harold is a real legend, and he is a great historian, and loves this area, and loves talking about the area and he loves people.

“Joe Mahon of UTV came to do a piece on Harold, and a researcher was greatly taken with Harold’s shop as it was a throwback to the 1950s.

“She loved the whole chaos of the shop!

“But she said she would be back in a few weeks to do the programme, so Harold got the world and his wife to tidy up the shop.

“When she came back, she got wild gunk as everything was in its place, and it was not what she wanted at all!

“But somebody told her that if she gave it a week, things would be back to normal in the shop! Harold is a real treasure in our areas.

“We have a few other great storytellers, in Gerry and Dessie Timoney of Belcoo, and this area is coming down with characters.”

Tony’s philosophy of life and sport is simple. “I have been very lucky to have been involved with some great people, and some great teams.”

And so were they!