Antrim have work to do for glory days to return

As the heavens opened at Casement Park on Sunday, 28 May, 2000, Antrim's players and supporters shed tears of joy as the Saffrons put 18 years of hurt behind them with victory over Down in the Ulster Senior Football Championship.

Since their quarter-final win over Cavan in 1982, the Saffrons had known nothing but defeat until Brian White's men created their own storm.

Three years later, they got the better of Cavan at the quarter-final stage and bigger days would follow, none more so than the run to the 2009 Ulster final.

However, Antrim have recorded just one victory on the provincial stage since - a 2-18 to 3-13 win over Fermanagh in 2014.

Outside of the Tailteann Cup, Antrim have won just two senior championship games in the years that followed - both in the All-Ireland qualifiers - against Laois in 2015 and Louth in 2019.

As they prepare to face Derry in Saturday's Ulster quarter-final at Celtic Park, Mark Doran's side are considered long shots, but can they summon the spirit of 2000 or is the provincial malaise to tick into a 13th year?

"It's going to be a huge task on Saturday," admits Paddy Cunningham, captain when Antrim last graced Ulster final day.

While Antrim prop up Ulster's power rankings, they do come into this weekend on something of a high.

A poor start to their Division Four league campaign saw them ship three losses, but responded well, rattling off four straight victories.

It wasn't enough for promotion and playing at a higher level is "crucial", according to Cunningham, who played Division Two football at one stage in the saffron jersey.

Next season, Antrim will be joined in Division Four by Fermanagh with the remaining seven Ulster counties in the top two tiers - reflecting the ground they must make up to become a viable threat come championship time.

"Ulster is fiercely competitive with high-quality teams and unfortunately, Antrim are at the lower end of that.

"If Antrim were in any of the other provinces, that wouldn't be the case.

"If we'd have got Fermanagh or maybe even Cavan [in Ulster], you'd go in this weekend thinking you've a better chance.

"Derry have played in Division One recently, had a really good league campaign this year - albeit in Division Two - and they are at home."

Casement Park can become a beacon to boost numbers

Casement Park is where Antrim once called home and hope to again in future with demolition work continuing at the Andersonstown Road venue that closed for redevelopment in 2013.

It's hard to shake the feeling the absence of Casement has not just affected teams on the pitch, but also the clubs whose future hinges on attracting young people.

"Every kid between 10 and 16 was in Casement Park, no matter of it was a university game, county game or a club game," Cunningham says of his childhood, where dreams of running out on to the sod which fuelled his own ambitions.

"People say Casement won't fix the problem and I know it won't fix all of them, but it would certainly give young people something to aspire to.

"You will have an Ulster final there [when redeveloped] and it may not be Antrim involved, but it would build an appetite in young people to get involved in Gaelic games and aspire to play for the county team.

"The primary school finals are taking place this week at four or five different venues whereas in the past, the biggest day in a child's life was running out onto Casement Park to play in them, same with underage club finals."

Belfast decline feeds into county woes

Image caption,

Cunningham captained Antrim to their last Ulster final appearance in 2009

The drop-off in Belfast is an issue when it comes to Antrim's future.

In December 2024, the county launched a new five-year strategic plan, addressing a range of issues including player retention and development.

At present, there are 51 clubs in Antrim, comprising of approximately 20,000 members of which 15,000 are players, but when it's considered the population of west Belfast alone is over 100,000, there is potential for much more.

Since St Gall's record-breaking run of of eight county titles in a row ended in 2014, the Padraig MacNamee Cup has been in Belfast just once when Cunningham's Lamh Dhearg triumphed in 2017.

"There is a question of participation levels, but the standard of underage football in Belfast is quite poor and there's no point dressing it up," Cunningham insists.

"Aside from St Brigid's and St Paul's who can compete at U16 and minor level because of the numbers they have, the rest - and I include my own club - are scrapping to get teams out on the pitch."

No school from within the county plays in the Ulster Colleges MacRory Cup and exposure to top-level competition at a young age is one area Cunningham, a teacher at St Mary's CBGS, feels is vital to raising standards which will feed into county teams.

"There is no school competing at colleges' 'A' football apart from St Louis [Ballymena] in Year Nine.

"If the Gaelfast, Belfast city combined team is harnessed correctly over a number of years, there is something in that, but it requires buy-in.

"They've piloted it this year with Year Nine and Year 12, but does that continue into Year 10 next year? It needs to be continued with the same panel or else by the time they get to Year 12, you're back to square one as it takes time for a squad to gel.

"It needs to be piloted from Year Eight right through to Year 14 to see how it goes."

The hard work starts now

It's not all doom and gloom as advancements have been made.

Winning over young people is crucial to the future of the GAA and in Belfast, it has never felt more urgent.

For an Antrim captain to climb the steps of the Hogan Stand on All-Ireland final day, it will take consistent work to raise numbers and levels.

In Cunningham's own school, St Mary's, there is now a Gaelic Games development coordinator, same with St Louis in Ballymena and others look set to follow suit.

"That shows a willingness from school leaders in Antrim to develop Gaelic games and their commitment to student athletes.

"There's so many more layers with development squads because you can see the physical development of them going up because there is a gulf in physicality.

"Six to eight weeks for a development squad really needs to be expanded to year-round to bridge that gap."