What's the secret sauce powering Tyrone's underage football success?

The 42

11-05-2025

THIS AFTERNOON, THE Tyrone U20 footballers seek to defend their Ulster and All-Ireland titles when they face a Kerry side managed by Tomás Ó Sé.
In this century, taking into account the U21 grade as it was, only one side have successfully managed to go back to back with All-Irelands, and that was the Tyrone side of all talents in 2000-01, managed by Mickey Harte, and a group that contained the likes of Brian McGuigan, Cormac McAnallen, Owen Mulligan, Enda McGinley, Ciaran Gourley and so on.
A quick look at the recent roll of honour reveals that Tyrone are building another serious winning culture. Since 2019, they have now won five Ulster U20s, the last one achieved against Donegal in Owenbeg a couple of weeks back.
They have claimed two out of the last three All-Ireland titles at that grade. They struck for a senior All-Ireland in 2021. Omagh CBS were back to back Hogan Cup champions in 2023-24, while Tyrone have also grabbed two recent Ulster minor titles.
How is it done?
Fanaticism, basically.
Tyrone is the only county in Ireland that has a full-blown media operation exclusively covering their games, county and club, in TeamTalkMag. They endeavour to cover as much as they possibly can and every year hold a black tie event where they hand out their club All-Stars for all levels and all codes.
Kevin Kelly is their main journalist and last year he covered 143 games, around 90% of them club, schools and county games involving Tyrone teams.
He puts the success down to the level of coaching in clubs and schools, the quality of facilities, competition structures and the loyalty displayed by those that have achieved at county level, still retaining involvement in their clubs.
'You see lads who are involved in county set-ups, nearly every club you have gone to, you see club stalwarts or lads who played county who are coming back full circle and putting something into the clubs,' he says.
'I was up at our grounds (Galbally Pearses) last night. We have four fields and they were all full last night of children. Just one senior team training, the rest of them were minors, U15s getting ready for the Feile finals, U14s, U12s and it's just a sight to behold.'
Galbally is a perfect example of a Tyrone club. Aside from Liam Rafferty in recent years, they do not receive much county recognition. But although they are a very remote community, their facilities are incredible. And they also have the benefit of having a figure such as Paddy Tally weighing in whenever his commitments allow.
Last year they won a Grade 1 double of league and championship. They were only the sixth and seventh titles they have ever won at Grade 1 underage in their history and understandably meant a great deal.
And yet, they don't drop down to Grade 2, where titles might be more forthcoming.
'You have to test yourself and from what I have seen around the majority of clubs, they have the right people in the right place,' says Kelly.
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'The groundwork is being done at club level. There's no doubt about that. But then when you go to schools, it takes on another level altogether.
'Especially in the east of the county, there are schools in Dungannon, Cookstown, Donaghmore that are all within an eight or nine-mile radius of each other and vying for students. There is a healthy competition there.
'Years ago, there would have been Omagh CBS in the west and Dungannon Academy in the east and that's all there was in college football.
'But the emergence of St Ciaran's Ballygawley and Dean Maguire in Carrickmore, Donaghmore College becoming a mixed school rather than just a girl's school, it means the rivalry there is unreal.'
Captain Joey Clarke with the U20 Ulster cup. Lorcan Doherty / INPHO Lorcan Doherty / INPHO / INPHO
Take the current Tyrone U20 team, and the side that started the Ulster final against Donegal, and let us examine their exposure to school's football.
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Conor McAnenly: Won MacRory and Hogan cups with Omagh CBS.
Fiachra Nelis: Captain of the Dungannon Academy team beaten in the MacRory final.
Ben Hughes: Won an All-Ireland B title with St Joseph's Donaghmore.
Conor Devlin: Played in a MacRory cup final with Dungannon Academy.
Callum Daly: Won back-to-back Hogan Cups with Omagh CBS.
Joey Clarke: Won an All-Ireland B with St Joseph's Donaghmore.
Caolan Donnelly: Won a Hogan Cup with Omagh CBS.
Conal Devlin: Played in a MacRory Cup semi-final with Holy Trinity.
Conor O'Neill: Won an All-Ireland B with St Joseph's Donaghmore.
Conal Sheehy: Played in a MacRory Cup final with Dungannon Academy.
Eoin McElholm: Won a Hogan Cup with Omagh CBS.
Matthew Quinn: Played in a MacRory Cup final with Dungannon Academy.
Noah Grimes: Won an All-Ireland B with St Joseph's Donaghmore.
Ruairí McCullagh: Won back-to-back Hogan Cups with Omagh CBS.
Liam Mossey: Won back-to-back Hogan Cups with Omagh CBS.
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Take all that into context and the conveyor belt looks incredible.
And it's worth noting that in their two MacRory Cup final wins, Omagh CBS beat Tyrone opposition in Holy Trinity Cookstown, and St Patrick's Academy.
Now, look at the people involved. Holy Trinity Cookstown have come from playing in the Vocational Schools' competitions and have benefitted from the restructuring of the Ulster Colleges.
They have Peter Canavan and 2021 Footballer of the Year Kieran McGeary coaching teams. Former Antrim footballers Kevin O'Boyle and John McKeever, local coach Aidan O'Hagan of Galbally and former Armagh footballer Stefan Forker, and brother of current county captain Aidan.
At St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon, Kevin Collins has achieved plenty with various Derry teams. Tyrone All-Ireland winner Ciaran Gourley is the MacRory team manager and is assisted by James Slater. Former All-Ireland winner Collie Holmes, who was a coach of the Tyrone senior team when they won Sam Maguire in 2021, is the principal of the school and also puts on his boots to help with teams.
Omagh CBS have Fermanagh manager Kieran Donnelly, and Diarmuid McNulty, who also doubles up as a coach with the county U20 team, along with Ciaran 'Dinky' McBride, former Armagh footballer Finian Moriarty and Pat McNabb of Trillick.
Omagh CBS celebrate. Presseye / Matt Mackey/INPHO Presseye / Matt Mackey/INPHO / Matt Mackey/INPHO
Even though Omagh came up short in the MacRory Cup in 2025, they still won the Dalton, the Oisin McGrath and Rannafast Cups.
The other side of it is that Tyrone club facilities are the envy of the rest of Ireland. Clubs are locked in a perpetual cycle of self-improvement with facilities including stands, dressing rooms, gym and additional pitches constantly being upgraded.
It is not unheard of for clubs to raise around £500,000 in infrastructure fundraising drives.
And once one phase is complete, there is normally a break for a few years before the cycle repeats itself.
'I drive to different county venues around the country and always notice the club grounds on my way through the various counties. And we in Tyrone take a lot of things for granted,' says Kelly.
'I remember pitches when I was playing and you had to chase sheep or cattle off. It's come a long way. And every club, right down to junior clubs, they would put to shame senior clubs in other counties.
'There's a pride there and it goes back to the competitive nature of club football in Tyrone. League football means a lot in Tyrone. I think that's a big thing that has to be highlighted. In other counties you could be knocking your pan in for fourteen, fifteen games and there's no promotion or relegation at the end of it.'
To illustrate the point, a godson of Kelly's was managing a junior club last year. They lost just two games all year; one in the league and then the championship final, so ended up with no silverware, but still achieved promotion to intermediate through a sequence of three games in the play-offs.
That's before you get to the passion of the only straight knockout championship left in football (barring, of course, Kilkenny) where thousands of spectators can fit in as many as three games in a day.
The Tyrone club championship is ferociously fought. Leah Scholes / INPHO Leah Scholes / INPHO / INPHO
All of this according to Mickey Donnelly, who managed Tyrone minors to the 2013 All-Ireland final, might be the underlying reason why the Tyrone senior support is not as strong as it used to be.
'You take your average Tyrone man now,' he explains.
'He might have a child at Go-Games in the morning. Then there could be a minor match at 2pm. After that, the notion of going to Clones for a 6pm throw-in is just too much.
'Added to that, with all these facilities, there could be a club clean-up of the grounds on a Sunday morning, a club Mass, early morning training session, it just becomes your life.'
In January of this year, the Tyrone county board were well aware of this trend. Before the first home league game, Club Tyrone produced a fanzine for primary school children on Gaelic Games, with addresses from managers and a request that as many children, along with their parents, would get along to watch Tyrone play this year.
It hasn't cut through, with the paltry 6,700 attendance at the Tyrone-Cavan Ulster championship game being a particular low point.
But when trees aren't growing taller above ground, they are going deeper with their roots.