Cousins in arms: The family ties driving Finn Harps’ latest Cup dream

At training last week, Joel Bradley Walsh pulled on a luminous yellow Finn Harps jersey as he geared up for a shot at some FAI Cup magic.

The 26-year-old relic is steeped in family history.

He knew all about its meaning and its memories as he pulled it over his head in his grandfather’s home at Woodlawn in Stranorlar.

Shane Bradley came on as a substitute in the two replays of the 1999 FAI Cup final and, although Finn Harps ultimately lost, the jersey remains a treasured possession. 

In all, Shane played for Harps 291 times and scored 39 goals. His brother, Damien, a goalkeeper, also made 35 appearances for Harps.

Cousins Joel Bradley Walsh and Shaunie Bradley grew up on the terraces of Finn Park and are hoping to write their own piece of FAI Cup magic this Friday when Premier Division Cork City visit Ballybofey for a tasty quarter-final tie.

“I’m still a Harps fan, big time,” Joel Bradley Walsh says. “I still have the old jerseys and my idols from watching Harps. I didn’t miss a home game for 10 or 11 years at one stage. Dad (John) took me to all the games. Growing up, that was a huge thing.

“Dad still stands there in the same spot, behind the nets on the Town End. 

“Now I’m a player, I try to get involved as much as possible in anything outside of a match. I know what the club is about and what it means to me. I know what it means to the people there.”

Bradley Walsh was behind the net when Harps lost 6-1 to St Pat’s in the 2014 semi-final, but for a brief moment, after Packie Mailey scored, he dared to dream.

“When Packie scored that header we thought ‘maybe this is on’, but that was the closest they came,” Bradley Walsh says. “There still would be big talk in Granda’s house, especially any time there’s a big Cup game on.”

Damien Bradley (right) and Shane Bradley (front right) with Finn Harps team-mates ahead of the 1999 FAI Cup final. Also included are players Gavin Dykes, Jonathan Minnock, James Mulligan and Jonathan Speake and coach Michael McGeehin. Photo: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Shaunie Bradley was born in 2006, the year his dad Shane played the last of his 291 games for Harps - only 10 players have featured more for Harps.

He wasn’t too old when he realised he was in the company of a bona fide Harps icon.

“I’ve supported Harps since the day I was born - I was born into Harps,” he says. “I remember I was always up behind the net supporting Harps. It’s a proud thing for us that dad played for Harps so many times and it’s proud now for me and Joel to be playing together at Harps.

“When I was going as a wee fella, I remember boys coming over to chat to him and I’d be wondering ‘who is he’ and ‘how does he know him’. I don’t remember him playing for Harps, but he was really popular with the supporters.”

In the ’99 FAI Cup semi-final at Terryland Park, with Harps winning 2-1, Galway United started to pile on the pressure. Just after the hour, Luther Watson slipped the ball through the legs of Harps ‘keeper Brian McKenna only for Shane Bradley to appear from virtually nowhere to make a telling goal-line clearance.

One group of Harps fans later appeared waving a sign proclaiming ‘Rita Saves The Day’!

As a defender, Joel Bradley Walsh still takes the wise counsel of uncle Shane.

“It’s massive to have that,” he says. “You’re always learning and Shane still talks to me after games. He played in a similar position so I take in every word he says. Last week, I went to the house and picked up the yellow jersey from that cup final, just to throw it back a bit. They still talk about it a lot in the house, how they went to the two replays and the players all bleached their hair.”

The tales of Joel Bradley Walsh and Shaunie Bradley aren’t at all dissimilar.

Both came up the ranks of the Harps Academy and had a brief stint away before returning this year. 

Bradley Walsh won a League and Cup double with the Harps U17s in 2018. They beat a Shamrock Rovers side that included Gavin Bazunu, now of Southampton, 3-0 in the Cup final, Bradley Walsh scoring one of the goals.

“It’s brilliant to be back,” he says. “It was something I always wanted to do. It was really fast at the start of the year and taking game by game has really helped me.

“It has been a big one for me coming back. I’ve always wanted to play at the highest level possible. 

“I knew the step up from the Donegal League was massive and it might take me a while. I had a bad rap on the ankle at the start, but once I came back from that I was 100 per cent focussed on making my name hard to take out of the team.

“I don’t take it for granted at all. I know I’m playing for the people behind that wall where I stood, people who might be looking in, like I was, dreaming of playing for Harps. Those people looking out, especially my family who are at the games always, and the young supporters…I know what they feel.”

Shaunie Bradley had a successful spell with Buncrana Hearts and was their player of the year in 2024, while also winning the Ulster Junior Cup.

“That got me ready and got me liking my football again,” he says. “I definitely wanted to come back again to Harps at some stage.”

It is 10 years now since he stood, at eight years old, behind the goal where BJ Banda scored a goal to take Harps into the Premier Division.

“Those kinds of nights were just brilliant,” he says. “We’re definitely looking forward to a big crowd this week and a packed Finn Park. We’re going in against Cork as the underdogs, but we’re on a good run.

“We’ll need a big crowd behind us. That kind of an atmosphere can definitely help the team.”

Read next: ‘Massive loss’: Key pair absent as Finn Harps host Cork in Cup quarter-final

Growing up, they’d have watched each other’s games regularly, although there are almost six years between them in age. 

“I’ve always looked up to him,” Shaunie says. “To be playing with Joel now in the same team is brilliant and this means a lot to us. We play every game as players, but we’re there as fans too.”