As Gold Swords appear on the brink of their first championship in 20 years, Kickback looks back at that golden triumph of 1994, via the recollections of those who made it happen.
BOB EDWARDS (Gold Swords manager 1990-1997)
"At the beginning of the 1993/94 season, I was beginning to feel the pressure. I'd been in the job four years, and all I'd won was three North West Gold Cups. Gold Swords hadn't won a championship for nine years - a whole nine years! The city was pretty depressed, there were no jobs, no amenities, and the one thing Aroans had was football. I didn't mind the filthy looks I was getting in the boardroom, but the looks of disappointment I got in the street used to break my heart".
MARK CAMPBELL (Gold Swords striker, 1987-1999)
"I'd been with the club my whole life. I'd grown up half a mile from the ground, I'd stood in the terraces watching those great teams sweep all before them, and feeling that surge of pride. I so desperately wanted to be part of that. I think I kind of felt that it was now or never. We had too many good players who had underachieved for too long".
GEORGE BOYLAN (Chief Sports Correspondent, The Working Day, 1982-2004)
"You have to remember, in those days the season ran from August to May. The provincial cups were played in the summer, before the season proper, and when Gold Swords lost to Amergina in the final of the Gold Cup, I think people thought "here we go again". "Fool's Gold" was the headline we ran in The Working Day, and I think that encapsulated a lot of people's sentiments. We'd been told for years that Edwards was patiently developing this team of young prodigies who were going to erupt in triumph someday. Well, by now, most of those prodigies were in their mid-twenties, and they hadn't erupted anywhere".
BOB EDWARDS (Gold Swords manager 1990-1997)
"It was an extremely volatile period in Avrilian football. No-one had retained the title for over fifteen years! It was a short season in those days, you'd play the first 11 games in the autumn, break for the Christmas Cup, and then play out the second 11 games after the winter break. You didn't get the concentration of power you have nowadays. Anyone could be champions if they hit form at the right time".
HARRY SHAUGHNASSY (Gold Swords assistant, 1982-1997)
"We started the league season pretty well. We had a run of four fairly scratchy wins, but then in early October we went to insford and absolutely hammered them, 7-0. Mark Campbell scored five and all his self-doubt seemed to ebb away".
MARK CAMPBELL (Gold Swords striker, 1987-1999)
"I remember being on the train home from the Insford game - we took the public train in those days - and people pointing me out to their kids and stuff. Since it was the Insford train, they were mostly Bluestripes fans, our deadliest rivals. They looked at me with fear in their eyes. I liked that. Not in a sadistic way, but I did".
GEORGE BOYLAN (Chief Sports Correspondent, The Working Day, 1982-2004)
"By the time of the mid-season break, Gold Swords were ahead of Pearsons on goal difference, having drawn 0-0 against them at home. But that was an outstanding Pearsons team, the reigning champions, and I think we all felt that they'd be too strong in the latter half of the season. I know I did, I had a substantial bet on Pearsons with one of the illegal bookies who worked out of snooker halls in those days. I was gonna buy a car with the winnings. I even had it picked out in the showroom!"
BOB EDWARDS (Gold Swords manager 1990-1997)
"The Christmas Cup break came at the right time, people were beginning to whisper about the championship and it helped dampen everything down, particularly when we lost 0-2 to Pearsons at the Memorial Stadium in the semis. I remember being devastated that night, but also sort of euphoric, because I'd figured out how we were going to beat them in the return game in the league. They were still a great team, but a lot of their players had hit their peak. I knew if we worked our balls off in the winter break and started moving the ball quicker, we could completely overrun them in the return game. And that's what happened."
HARRY SHAUGHNASSY (Gold Swords assistant, 1982-1997)
"The Pearsons game, was, I think, the second game back after the break. It was hyped to high heaven. They were pretty confident, pretty cocky that they were gonna put us in our place. We dominated them for the whole game, but just as they were sucking air again, Mark Campbell poached a scrappy goal off Roy Dempsey and the bench went nuts".
MARK CAMPBELL (Gold Swords striker, 1987-1999)
"I didn't poach it! I've been saying this for twenty years, but it's never sunk in. Trust me, you can't see it on the camera angles they had, but Roy's shot was rolling well wide, before I got a toe to it. I actually thought I was offside, but figured I'd chance it because the shot was going so far wide anyway. It was my goal all the way".
BOB EDWARDS (Gold Swords manager 1990-1997)
"After the Pearsons game, it was a matter of cooling everyone down. We literally had to do that at one point. Harry got a huge bucket of ice-cold water and drenched everyone after training one day. I said to them - 'If that feels like a cold sharp shock, you'll feel a million times worse if you take your eye off the ball and don't wrap this title up'. In fairness, I think they got the message."
GEORGE BOYLAN (Chief Sports Correspondent, The Working Day, 1982-2004)
"Gold Swords cruised through the second half of the season, pretty much. They reached the final of the cup without being drawn away from home, and came up against Northwest Junior, our tiny neighbours who, in those days, didn't field players over the age of 22. Everyone knows what happened next, it's one of the great romantic fairytales of NFA Cup history".
MARK CAMPBELL (Gold Swords striker, 1987-1999)
"The cup final was surreal. We lost 3-2 to a non-league team, and we didn't get slaughtered for it. The whole city had been caught up in the romance of Northwest Junior's cup run, and the fact that we lost to them kind of got us off the hook. But were devastated. Nowadays, I look back and see what a wonderful heartwarming story it was, but at the time - gutted".
There would be no such slip-up in the league. Gold Swords eased to an eighth championship, and a first since 1985, with a 5-1 demolition of historical rivals Bluestripes at Galanta Hall, in front of 35,000 delirious fans.
BOB EDWARDS (Gold Swords manager 1990-1997)
"Did I think it would be our last title for twenty years, touch wood? God no! I thought we were gonna dominate Avrilian football for a decade. The next year we finished, but won the Christmas Cup and provincial cup, which was considered a great season, even for the outgoing champions. Fans were probably less demanding in those days. The team gradually broke up - even with our support and relatively wealthy patrons, we couldn't match what the likes of Pearsons, Bluestripes and even Ballinglin were offering. I walked away from it in 1997, to let someone else have a go at rebuilding the squad. Never in a million years did I think I'd be sitting here in 2014, talking about Gold Swords' first title in twenty years. But these guys won't let it slip. It's one of the best squads I've ever seen in 50 years following the club. They can rule this country if they all stick together".
BOB EDWARDS (Gold Swords manager 1990-1997)
"At the beginning of the 1993/94 season, I was beginning to feel the pressure. I'd been in the job four years, and all I'd won was three North West Gold Cups. Gold Swords hadn't won a championship for nine years - a whole nine years! The city was pretty depressed, there were no jobs, no amenities, and the one thing Aroans had was football. I didn't mind the filthy looks I was getting in the boardroom, but the looks of disappointment I got in the street used to break my heart".
MARK CAMPBELL (Gold Swords striker, 1987-1999)
"I'd been with the club my whole life. I'd grown up half a mile from the ground, I'd stood in the terraces watching those great teams sweep all before them, and feeling that surge of pride. I so desperately wanted to be part of that. I think I kind of felt that it was now or never. We had too many good players who had underachieved for too long".
GEORGE BOYLAN (Chief Sports Correspondent, The Working Day, 1982-2004)
"You have to remember, in those days the season ran from August to May. The provincial cups were played in the summer, before the season proper, and when Gold Swords lost to Amergina in the final of the Gold Cup, I think people thought "here we go again". "Fool's Gold" was the headline we ran in The Working Day, and I think that encapsulated a lot of people's sentiments. We'd been told for years that Edwards was patiently developing this team of young prodigies who were going to erupt in triumph someday. Well, by now, most of those prodigies were in their mid-twenties, and they hadn't erupted anywhere".
BOB EDWARDS (Gold Swords manager 1990-1997)
"It was an extremely volatile period in Avrilian football. No-one had retained the title for over fifteen years! It was a short season in those days, you'd play the first 11 games in the autumn, break for the Christmas Cup, and then play out the second 11 games after the winter break. You didn't get the concentration of power you have nowadays. Anyone could be champions if they hit form at the right time".
HARRY SHAUGHNASSY (Gold Swords assistant, 1982-1997)
"We started the league season pretty well. We had a run of four fairly scratchy wins, but then in early October we went to insford and absolutely hammered them, 7-0. Mark Campbell scored five and all his self-doubt seemed to ebb away".
MARK CAMPBELL (Gold Swords striker, 1987-1999)
"I remember being on the train home from the Insford game - we took the public train in those days - and people pointing me out to their kids and stuff. Since it was the Insford train, they were mostly Bluestripes fans, our deadliest rivals. They looked at me with fear in their eyes. I liked that. Not in a sadistic way, but I did".
GEORGE BOYLAN (Chief Sports Correspondent, The Working Day, 1982-2004)
"By the time of the mid-season break, Gold Swords were ahead of Pearsons on goal difference, having drawn 0-0 against them at home. But that was an outstanding Pearsons team, the reigning champions, and I think we all felt that they'd be too strong in the latter half of the season. I know I did, I had a substantial bet on Pearsons with one of the illegal bookies who worked out of snooker halls in those days. I was gonna buy a car with the winnings. I even had it picked out in the showroom!"
BOB EDWARDS (Gold Swords manager 1990-1997)
"The Christmas Cup break came at the right time, people were beginning to whisper about the championship and it helped dampen everything down, particularly when we lost 0-2 to Pearsons at the Memorial Stadium in the semis. I remember being devastated that night, but also sort of euphoric, because I'd figured out how we were going to beat them in the return game in the league. They were still a great team, but a lot of their players had hit their peak. I knew if we worked our balls off in the winter break and started moving the ball quicker, we could completely overrun them in the return game. And that's what happened."
HARRY SHAUGHNASSY (Gold Swords assistant, 1982-1997)
"The Pearsons game, was, I think, the second game back after the break. It was hyped to high heaven. They were pretty confident, pretty cocky that they were gonna put us in our place. We dominated them for the whole game, but just as they were sucking air again, Mark Campbell poached a scrappy goal off Roy Dempsey and the bench went nuts".
MARK CAMPBELL (Gold Swords striker, 1987-1999)
"I didn't poach it! I've been saying this for twenty years, but it's never sunk in. Trust me, you can't see it on the camera angles they had, but Roy's shot was rolling well wide, before I got a toe to it. I actually thought I was offside, but figured I'd chance it because the shot was going so far wide anyway. It was my goal all the way".
BOB EDWARDS (Gold Swords manager 1990-1997)
"After the Pearsons game, it was a matter of cooling everyone down. We literally had to do that at one point. Harry got a huge bucket of ice-cold water and drenched everyone after training one day. I said to them - 'If that feels like a cold sharp shock, you'll feel a million times worse if you take your eye off the ball and don't wrap this title up'. In fairness, I think they got the message."
GEORGE BOYLAN (Chief Sports Correspondent, The Working Day, 1982-2004)
"Gold Swords cruised through the second half of the season, pretty much. They reached the final of the cup without being drawn away from home, and came up against Northwest Junior, our tiny neighbours who, in those days, didn't field players over the age of 22. Everyone knows what happened next, it's one of the great romantic fairytales of NFA Cup history".
MARK CAMPBELL (Gold Swords striker, 1987-1999)
"The cup final was surreal. We lost 3-2 to a non-league team, and we didn't get slaughtered for it. The whole city had been caught up in the romance of Northwest Junior's cup run, and the fact that we lost to them kind of got us off the hook. But were devastated. Nowadays, I look back and see what a wonderful heartwarming story it was, but at the time - gutted".
There would be no such slip-up in the league. Gold Swords eased to an eighth championship, and a first since 1985, with a 5-1 demolition of historical rivals Bluestripes at Galanta Hall, in front of 35,000 delirious fans.
BOB EDWARDS (Gold Swords manager 1990-1997)
"Did I think it would be our last title for twenty years, touch wood? God no! I thought we were gonna dominate Avrilian football for a decade. The next year we finished, but won the Christmas Cup and provincial cup, which was considered a great season, even for the outgoing champions. Fans were probably less demanding in those days. The team gradually broke up - even with our support and relatively wealthy patrons, we couldn't match what the likes of Pearsons, Bluestripes and even Ballinglin were offering. I walked away from it in 1997, to let someone else have a go at rebuilding the squad. Never in a million years did I think I'd be sitting here in 2014, talking about Gold Swords' first title in twenty years. But these guys won't let it slip. It's one of the best squads I've ever seen in 50 years following the club. They can rule this country if they all stick together".