25 years on: Kevin Rafferty looks back on St Eunan's 2001 final win over Four Masters

But there is no doubt that the big midfielder was one of the real driving forces as St Eunan’s emerged from the doldrums approaching the turn of the new millennium.

The Letterkenny outfit lifted the Dr Maguire Cup in 1983 but fell off the radar right up until 1997’s controversial win over Aodh Ruadh.

It was a saga that will forever be remembered as ‘the Leslie McGettigan affair’ and a medal that, in the end, officially at least, went up the road towards Ballyshannon.

Stung by the manner in which they were denied that season, Eunan’s doubled down and returned in 1999 to obliterate Aodh Ruadh as Brendan Devenney lit up MacCumhaill Park in a storming 1-19 to 1-11 victory.

Rafferty was still a teenager at that stage, looking on from outside the wire in Ballybofey. But two short seasons later he was in the engine room alongside John Haran as the Cathedral Town lifted the 2001 SFC crown.

A little like ‘99, Eunan’s had some hurt in the fuel tank a quarter of a century ago after the 2000 decider didn’t go their way against underdogs Ardara.

Rare old times

Rafferty admits that growing up in the 80s and early 90s, it wasn’t that glamorous a thing to play for or, indeed, follow St Eunan’s.

He recalls a decrepit O’Donnell Park that was still in some desperate need of real cosmetic improvements.

Letterkenny itself was on the verge of booming into the 2000s but it was a much different time and place for the emerging Rafferty and his mates.

“God, it was bang in that time and space where quite a few of us were just sort of exiting our teens,” he says.

“I look back and I can still sort of hear those times if that makes sense? The music in the cars on the way to games, the faces and just the pace of it… it wasn’t as manic as it would become.

“I remember going out to the old O’Donnell Park with my dad; it wasn’t anything close to what’s there now.

“There was that old wall around the muddy pitch, the old dressing rooms with the tiles hanging off the walls. But at the same time, it was home and we didn’t know any better.

“I remember the first new pitch - it’s the training one now out the back; when that was opened, it just felt like the start of something different.

“Growing up, at underage, you wandered down through the town, out towards the park, and you hadn’t a care in the world.

“But 1997 and 1999 especially, it just sort of energised the club. The main field in O’Donnell Park was now ready and the seated stand was taking shape. So it was an important period.

“A good chunk of us were just in the right place at the right time, just in that age bracket where the next logical step was senior football.

“And looking back, and I’m sure the rest of the lads would say the same thing, we were just fortunate to have had that sort of introduction to it all”.

That cluster of fresh faces would include the likes of Brendan Roache, Vernon Gallagher, Rory Kavanagh, Damien and Adrian McClafferty and Conall Dunne.

For Rafferty, it’s not so much the actual games that he recalls but more so the times in and around the actual action.

He describes the 2001 final win over Four Masters as a “dour affair” - a game that ended 1-10 to 0-8 in St Eunan’s favour.

That squad will be paraded at half-time in Ballybofey on Sunday and a little like 25 years ago, it’s the meeting up, the chat and the reminiscing that Rafferty is most looking forward to.

“A lot of people look back at some of those games and recall them like they were these amazing spectacles.

“The truth is, they often weren’t. But the important thing for St Eunan’s at the time was traction and keeping that foothold in place.

“Honestly though, we found the going tough from then right up until 2007, when we got over the line again. We’d do the ‘three-in-a-row ’, and that was a brilliant spell.

“I don’t have that many regrets but that spell between 2001 and 2007 might be one. Ulster never quite went the way we’d have liked. We came up against some brilliant sides like that Crossmaglen one.

“I know when we all meet up at the weekend, there’ll be a serious amount of chat, even slagging and you’ll wonder where the time went.

“And we’ll probably focus in on the losses as much, probably even more, than the actual wins.

“But 25 years is crazy. It’s the blink of an eye. But it’ll be lovely just to see everyone again in the one setting, in the one room”.

Rafferty says so many of those big occasions, when the blood was up, are now just blurs in the memory bank.

The action doesn’t take residence in the upper storey like the times before, during and after still do.

“I often see people describe games and they recall every kick, point and goal. But it’ll be very interesting to see how it’s all remembered on Saturday when we meet up”.

And that’s one of the things he says has definitely changed over the years, that the chance for pause and even some mild reflection is now gone.

He’s not saying it’s for the worse or even better but, he explains the game he started playing in the late 90s bore little resemblance to the one he left back in 2015 - especially at club level.

He added: “Back then, the routine was so much different. It felt like you were giving it absolutely everything and you were for the times that were in it.

“But you see what the lads put into it now and it’s just at a different level completely.

“But back then, it was Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday and you fitted everything else around that.

“I remember heading off to the likes of Ardara, Kilcar, Gaoth Dobhair and so on and it was important to hang about after.

“And I don’t mean for any kind of crazy session. But there was always a designated spot for tea, sandwiches and even a few pints.

“They were great times. You bump into lads now from other clubs and you can stop and have a yarn still because of those same times.

“You were treated so well and it was the same in town, here, with Blakes Bar. I’m not saying it was better or that the way they do things now is wrong.

“It was just a different time and I’m happy that I kind of got to experience both sides of that”.

Threshold

Jim McGuinness coming on board with Donegal in late 2010 was a seismic shift in both pace and direction and one that eventually filtered down to how teams went about their business at domestic level.

Rafferty didn’t come into the county senior set-up until just prior to the Division 2 league final against Laois in 2011.

So he missed out on McGuinness’ now infamous pre-season training camp that has, over time, attained almost mythical status.

To this day, none of the loyal lieutenants from the dunes of Downings go into any great detail on that grind.

But when it is touched upon or referenced, they will say it opened their eyes to the glass ceiling that was there, and what was on the other side of it, if you were prepared to go through it.

So Rafferty was probably playing catch up right away but it was a chase he emptied himself into none the less.

“For me, and this is the honest truth, it was always St Eunan’s and I never really looked too far beyond that.

“But once Jim McGuinness came in and I got the chance to get into that sort of cycle, it was an unbelievable change of pace.

“I’d got married in 2010 and after games, lads my vintage, were rushing off home to kids and family. Pints and long Sundays were out the window anyway.

“So getting that chance with Donegal at that stage, I found that entire experience such an eye-opener. I mean that in the most positive fashion.

“It just made me wonder what level I could have reached, and I’m sure some of the lads in their late 20s at that time also think the same.

“I don’t think I was anything too special, but I do wonder sometimes what I could have done if I had had that same two-year base in my late teens or early 20s.

“I probably could have pushed on a bit more. But I played parts here and there for Donegal, seen good minutes in 2011 especially.

“You’d love to have seen more but I’d a few niggles and injuries here and there. But I’d tell anyone, even that role is worth it as you’re there pushing everyone on.

“I’ve no doubt that the likes of myself, Martin McElhinney and Christy Toye pushed on the likes of big Neil Gallagher and Rory (Kavanagh) and that competition was really important for that group.

“Jim was intent at the time and very vocal on having two options for every position. It kept everyone honest. I loved that experience under Jim and I have no regrets.

“My advice to anyone that is on the periphery of that right now is to stick with it. It won’t always be there, that chance or opportunity I mean. Even now, people will ask about certain things from back then.

“I know I was only a bit part of it but that will always be better than not being a part of it at all”.

Buzz

Rafferty admits that he’s probably taken in more club games in the last two seasons than he’d previously done in the period since he won the last of six SFC titles back in 2014.

Retirement, starting a young family and, like so many others, not finding Gaelic football that engrossing a spectacle from the outside looking in, meant interest sort of drifted.

“You can kind of have tunnel vision when you’re playing. But when it’s over, you look at it a different way.

“I played in 12 county finals and I just didn’t really have the heart for it anymore when I did eventually call it a day.

“Club sides were trying to imitate inter-county approaches and it became very negative.

“Gaelic football did get very hard to watch. But the new rules have really rejuvenated the game because they were badly needed.

“I have been along to loads of games this season, the quarter-final and semi-final wins over Dungloe and Gaoth Dobhair, and they were just amazing watches.

“You couldn’t take your eyes off it. Like, the power, pace and just conditioning of the players now have gone to a whole new level.

“But the extra time and space is allowing them to show exactly what they can do. The shackles are off and the players are the ones that are now in control.

“Management teams do their due diligence and preparation but it’s ultimately up to the players when the game starts. And I can’t wait for this Sunday’s final for all those same reasons.

“Also, Jim has come back in with Donegal. My oldest girl is showing a real interest in all of that so I’m going along to Donegal games as well and they’ve been brilliant days out.

“Even the chat in the lead-in to Sunday, the match-ups the approaches and what might happen - it’s great to be chatting like that and there is real anticipation as the weekend approaches.

“That had gone out of it as well for quite a while - that sort of discussion before big games.

But there is real excitement now for the weekend.

“It’s brilliant to be looking forward to 25 years on since 2001. And the fact that St Eunan’s are back in the final adds to that as well”.

The teams and scorers from the 2001 decider were:

St Eunan’s: Tony Blake, Jonathan Scanlon, Mark Crossan, Brian McDermott, Damien McClafferty, Adrian McClafferty, Brendan Roache, Kevin Rafferty (0-1), Paul Crampsie, Damien Daly, Shane O’Donnell (0-1), Barry Kavanagh, Brendan Kilcoyne (0-2, one free), Brendan Devenney (1-2, one free) and Kevin Winston (0-2).

Subs: Conall Dunne (0-1) for Daly (41 mins), John Haran for O’Donnell (44 mins), Terence Gallagher for Roache (53 mins) and David McGinley (0-1) for Kilcoyne (58 mins).

Four Masters: Paul Durcan, Damien Cassidy, Don Monaghan, Pauric McGlynn, Conor Quinn, Gareth Britton, Francis Cassidy, David Hand, Ciaran Cassidy, Shane Carr, Francis Cassidy, Derek McGinty (0-1), Barry Dunnion, Rory O’Donnell (0-5 all frees), Barry Monaghan and Joel Carr (0-2).

Subs: Marcus Monaghan for Hand (40 mins), Sean Durkin for Ciaran Cassidy (51 mins) and Peadar Espey for Quinn (53 mins).

Referee: Mick McGrath (Aodh Ruadh).