THE STORY of Red Star – the successful football team from Lenadoon – is a short but enduring one.

Although Red Star FC aren’t around anymore, the strong memories remain with the men who played for the various teams when they were growing up. This photo is from the Andersonstown News archives, 4 April 1981; a time when young people in working class nationalist communities in Belfast were being caught up in street disturbances surrounding the H-Block hunger-strike.

However, the tension that was flaring outside on the streets never made it onto the pitch, or into the youth teams, and the story that emerges is of young people carrying on life as usual, going about the business of playing each other in football leagues and tournaments, but in extraordinary circumstances. What is also most prevalent in the story, is the gratitude for men who helped run Red Star for the boys, and gave their time, money and attention to see that the lads’ interest and joy in playing football was kept up, no matter what was happening.

Paddy McCabe, who appears in this photo as the goalkeeper is now Principal of St Oliver Plunkett Primary School; a school which himself and the boys in the photograph had also attended before moving on to local secondary and grammar schools.

Paddy recalls the great memories he had of Red Star FC and the men who helped keep the team going, including Tony Rooney.

We met up there every Saturday from about eight or nine-years-old until we were about seventeen, and we were taken to the matches in Tony’s black taxi which was our team minibus. We’d all be squeezed in the back, there’d be fellas on the floor, fellas lying across each other on the backseats, about three or four in the front seat – they wouldn’t have it now in these days of health and safety!”

“Tony was always our coach, he was a great man.” said Paddy. “It’s great seeing that photo again and all those names, and it’s hard to believe it’s been 40 years. We were all good friends, and the majority of us went here (St Oliver Plunkett Primary School), this was our school team.

“It was really nice to see some of those names which I haven’t seen in a long while, but I did see Johnny Cassidy and Liam McArdle recently. Liam’s dad was a good man too, he was always helping out with us at the club. There were some fantastic footballers in that team. Some of those guys were exceptionally good. Gerard ‘Tucker’ Straney was a brilliant footballer. Joe McLarnon, I never saw a faster footballer in my life, he was unbelievable.

“We met up there every Saturday from about eight or nine-years-old until we were about seventeen, and we were taken to the matches in Tony’s black taxi which was our team minibus. We’d all be squeezed in the back, there’d be fellas on the floor, fellas lying across each other on the backseats, about three or four in the front seat – they wouldn’t have it now in these days of health and safety!

“Tony must have had a really sore head at the end of every Saturday from all our carrying on. We’d be stopped all the time at police or army roadblocks, but they mostly turned a blind eye to it. What I will say about Tony, is the entire time we were at the team, I can’t remember a single time we ever had to put our hands in our pockets. He held the odd fundraisers, but the majority of it came out of his own pocket. I’m really grateful for the commitment he showed towards us.”

Recalling the atmosphere in Belfast at the time with the ongoing hunger-strikes, Paddy said: “It was a very fraught time, and I remember it very well. I remember standing on my coal bunker watching Joe McDonnell’s funeral cortege go past, and walking down to the bottom of Shaws Road to see Bobby Sands’ go past. It was a very difficult time, with riots and everything else.

"Our one big constant was sport, and the close and tight-knit community of Lenadoon, and that was reflected in our team. It was all about the community, we were from the community, it was founded and ran by men from the community. Tony wasn’t getting any financial support but he continued for the benefit of us. I look back very fondly on those times, and on Tony and all the lads I played football with.”

Red Star’s main rivals in the area were St Michael’s Youth Club from Finaghy Road North, and many of the boys from both teams attended school together, and were great friends off the field, keeping the rivalry only for the pitch.

“St Michael’s Youth Club were our main rivals, and we had some real ding-dong matches against them," smiles Paddy. "I think we were undefeated in the league that year, I remember we got knocked out in the first or second round of the cup, but I think we went undefeated in the league.”

Speaking about the dedication which Tony Rooney and other men involved with Red Star – such as Sean Hanna, Billy McDonald and Thomas ‘Dinky’ Boyd – had for the boys who played for them, Paddy praised the community spirit involved, and said it is something he is glad to see has been replicated throughout Belfast by later generations.

“One thing which makes me happy about the future, is back then there were loads of men in West Belfast, men like Tony Rooney and Sean Hanna etc who freely gave their time – not just for Red Star, but all the teams out there – and all those who willingly gave up their time and money to help us have a great time playing football.

Tony did it all out of goodwill, he didn’t earn or receive a penny for all his work. A lot of other clubs seemed to have a lot more resources and clubhouses, but we operated mostly out of the back of Tony’s black taxi! It got 14 or 15 of us squeezed in there every Saturday and we got our kits washed too. We never had to play in a dirty kit, I think it was his mother and sister who washed our kits.

"The thing that makes me happy is seeing how that has been replicated today, with men and women and the number of boys and girls who are involved in sports. That sense of community, and of giving has very much flowed out from those guys who gave up their time. A lot of the children at our school play for teams all over West Belfast, and it’s great to see that carrying on and being passed down.”

Dee McDowell, is pictured back right in the photo. Growing up in Lenadoon he also has fond memories of playing for Red Star and the rivalry with St Michael's Youth Club.

“St Michael’s were our main rivals, we played them in Woodlands, and played them a few times a season," he said. "We were all mates with each other, but we were rivals when we got onto the pitch.”

Dee has nothing but praise for his former coach Tony Rooney.

“Tony did it all out of goodwill, he didn’t earn or receive a penny for all his work. A lot of other clubs seemed to have a lot more resources and clubhouses, but we operated mostly out of the back of Tony’s black taxi! It got 14 or 15 of us squeezed in there every Saturday and we got our kits washed too. We never had to play in a dirty kit, I think it was his mother and sister who washed our kits.

“I remember playing teams up in Mallusk, it was a difficult time in wider society with the Troubles, but Tony just made sure we kept focusing on playing football. I remember it was Tony, Sean Hanna and Billy McDonald in the early days of the team, and Thomas ‘Dinky’ Boyd too. I remember Dinky managed the Under-10s team.

“The great thing about all those guys was they went out and gave their time, and there wasn’t much in it for them, apart from seeing the teams going on to do well. They were all great at making players who weren’t the best, feel just as good as the ones who were the best.

“Everybody loved playing for Red Star and everyone really respected Tony.”

Seamie Rooney, a nephew of Tony Rooney, who also played for Red Star and is standing next to Dee in the photo, says he still keeps in contact with a lot of the former players. Seamie recalled his uncle driving everyone around in the back of his taxi, and also a few stand out games and goals from their time on the pitch.

“Playing for Red Star was great, you were playing football, and with all your friends, and plus, we were good! We won quite a lot, which is always good too. I remember one time we were playing Star of the Sea, and Dee McDowell was benched the entire time. I was running up the wing and my uncle called me off and put Dee on. Dee went and scored a 25 yard screamer as soon as he came on!”

“We did get a minibus later on to take us to big games, but most of the time we were in the back of my uncle’s taxi. He paid for everything, from the kits, to training in Andersonstown Leisure Centre, and took us everywhere.

"My uncle still talks about Red Star all the time, about all the players and the matches we played, and the funny things that happened. Himself and the other men who helped run Red Star did everything so we could have a great time playing football.”