Donegal says farewell to former soldier and soccer stalwart, Terry Leyden

With over half-a-century devoted to the administration of soccer in Donegal and over 42 years of service in the Irish Defence Forces - including four tours of duty - Terry Leyden was given a fitting send off on Monday.

Football came to a standstill at the weekend following his passing. It did so again on Bank Holiday Monday to take Mr Leyden on his final journey to St Patrick’s Church, where he was a regular attender and where, less than a month ago, he served Holy Communion.

He passed away, aged 79, at Letterkenny University Hospital on Friday following a short illness. The news sent shockwaves to many corners of Irish football. For decades, Mr Leyden’s name was synonymous with all strands of soccer in the county.

Representatives from clubs in the Donegal League, Donegal Underage League, Donegal Women’s League and the Ulster FA - all of which Mr Leyden served at committee level over the last 50 years - as well as current and former members of the Donegal Branch of the Irish Soccer Referees’ Society formed a solemn guard of honour as Mr Leyden’s remains were brought from his home in Augheygault to St Patrick’s Church.

A bearer party from the 28th Infantry Battalion at Finner Camp, led by Sergeant Mark Gillen, took Mr Leyden’s remains, his coffin draped in the Irish tricolour, as UNIFIL veteran Jim O'Hagan played the pipes.

Former soldiers, UNIFIL veterans and military police also formed a guard of honour for their former comrade as Mr Leyden was taken to his place of rest in the adjoining cemetery.

He reached the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant in the Irish Army and he served on overseas peacekeeping missions in Congo, Lebanon and twice in Lebanon.

“He was proud to serve his country in the name of peace,” Mr Leyden’s daughter, Sharon, recalled in an emotional address. “He cherished, so cherished, the friendships made during those tours of duty.”

Having joined the Defence Forces in 1962, he served for 42 years and 162 days, retiring as a Company Quartermaster Sergeant. A ‘proud and loyal soldier’, he had a real love of shooting competitions and won All-Ireland medals.

Among the symbols of his life, which were carried to the altar by his four grandchildren, Ella, Ben, Tara and Paris, was a framed collection of military items which encapsulated his career in the Defence Forces. Those same mementos hung proudly at The Diamond Park in Ballyare, the beloved headquarters of the Donegal League, where he was based for many years.

Representatives of Donegal Junior League clubs form a guard of honour.

His lifetime achievement award, given to him by the Donegal League, rested proudly at the altar.

Most notably, he served as the League’s disciplinary secretary for almost 38 years. He also acted as registrar and was the administrator at The Diamond Park.

Statistics and numbers were his forte. Goalscorers were kept diligently, so too the yellow cards list, often to the chagrin of those at its peril.

“While he was hugely involved at executive level locally and nationally, his heart firmly remained at The Diamond Park in Ballyare,” Sharon told mourners of her father, whose service to football in Donegal spanned over 50 years ‘from nurturing the Donegal Junior League from its infancy to the present day’.

Donegal League Fixtures Secretary Christina O’Donnell delivered one of the readings. A mark of Mr Leyden’s standing in the game, former Donegal League and Donegal Youth League committee member Ursula Dunphy travelled from County Laois to attend the funeral of her former administrative colleague.

Jim McConnell, a former member of the Football Association of Ireland’s Board of Directors, was among the large crowd of mourners from football. In a tribute, the FAI said he was ‘a man who served the game in the North West so well and so diligently all his life and across so many levels’.

He was a founding member of the Illistrin schoolboys team and managed a Rockhill team - drawn from the soldiers attacked to Rockhill barracks - to win League titles in 1979 and 1980.

“He was a real football man,” his close friend and administrative sidekick Dessie Kelly told Donegal Live. “It’s a sad day for football.”

A piper leads the funeral cortege of the late Terry Leyden

The secretary of the Donegal Junior League, Nigel Ferry, said: “We are heartbroken. I think Terry and the work he did is irreplaceable. The time, effort and dedication he put into running football since he has been here has been phenomenal. It was a privilege to work with him and to call him a friend.”

Born at Old Market Street in Sligo, the second eldest in a family of five, in 1944, his early days were said by his daughter to be characterised by ‘devilment and of being full of fun’; things that would stay with him all his life. Prior to joining the army, he had been an apprentice to a ladies hairdresser and a barber and spent a short while as a porter in Sligo hospital.

Although based in Donegal since the late 1960s when, first to Finner Camp and then to Rockhill, he was posted by the Defence Forces, he remained an avid Sligo Rovers fan and was a season ticket holder at The Showgrounds.

Sligo Rovers were represented at the funeral and a Sligo Rovers scarf was placed at the altar. “His heart remained in his beloved Showgrounds,” the congregation heard.

A hand-painted stone, which was created by one of his grandchildren, bore one of his trademark sayings ‘keep the faith’ - something that took him through many of life’s challenges and many difficult seasons for the Bit O’Red.

Parish priest Fr Eamonn Kelly told how ‘his veins carried Sligo blood’ and how he ‘led by good example’. Fr Kelly said Mr Leyden helped young people to participate in sport and ‘nothing was a bother for him at the Donegal League’.

Former soldiers salute the funeral cortege of the late Terry Leyden

He said: “Give people a chance, encourage them to be the best.Today may be a bad day but tomorrow will be a better one; Encourage the youngster even if he is different from the rest.”

His homily, delivered in the form of a poem, recounted the same verse several times: “Our friend Terry knew much about time/He used it wisely, life itself to enhance/Holding what is wholesome, letting go off loss/Love of humanity, and family to advance.”

He is survived by his wife Vonnie, daughter Sharon and sons Derek and Paul, son-in-law Derrick and daughter-in-law Rena, grandchildren Ella, Ben, Tara and Paris, brother Pauric, sisters Evelyn and Jean and a wide circle of family and friends.

It was to poetry that Sharon turned to conclude her address, reading from ‘Let Me Go’, a poem written by Christine Georgina Rossetti which her father had cut out and hung on the wall of his office.

She added: “Our dad was a truly amazing man . . . words that were mentioned over and over again the past two days at the wake: ‘Some fine collector for the Donegal League, but an absolute gentleman.”