'The realisation hit quickly that we're not 17 anymore, but we're doing this for David': Football squad takes to pitch for first time since disbanding 25 years ago, for charity match honouring fallen teammate's cancer battle
For most people, getting back up and running again after the indulgences of Christmas is difficult enough – but spare a thought for one bunch of lads, who are taking to the football pitch for the first time in more than 20 years to bring their long-dissolved old side out of mothballs.
Now in their 40s and 50s, the veterans of Olderfleet Swifts FC will be putting down the leftover turkey and trimmings to stage a triumphant return on Sunday afternoon in Larne’s Brookvale Park, holding a charity match against a much younger current side.
They’re getting back together to honour the memory of one of their teammates, David McKeen, who tragically lost a battle with cancer.
Said manager JP O’Boyle: “Our friend David died about three years ago. We'd always had an inkling to do something again, but nothing ever came of it; now, we’re going out there to do our best for David in aid of Cancer Fund for Children NI.”
Still, getting back into training has been a culture shock for the lads, some of whom moved away from football altogether after Olderfleet Swifts ceased to be.
“The realisation hit quite quickly that we’re not 17 or 18 anymore,” JP told the News Letter. “Some of the lads took their glasses off and thought ‘Oh my God, how are we supposed to play football? I can’t see’.
“The training was light at the start, but as things went on and we played a couple of friendlies the guys have stepped up. It’s spurred a lot of them to really get active; at our age that’s good, the youngest player’s 42.
“The guys are giving their all; we’ve been training for three months and we’ve even had some broken ribs, just determined to get ready for Sunday. There’s been a lot of effort put in by the lads.”
The returning squad did have one request from the organisers, however – please put a little bit of space between Christmas and the match.
“We had looked at playing the day after Boxing Day,” smiles JP, “but most of the team shot that down immediately. They want a couple of days to recover, so we pushed it back.”
Formed in the late 1990s, Olderfleet Swifts kicked around the Ballymena Saturday Morning League for a couple of years before disbanding as some players moved away.
But their time in the black and white stripes always meant a lot to the boys, and they’ve even developed a jokey, good-natured rivalry with younger guys who years later formed a team called just Olderfleet FC.
In fact, revealed JP, that was the spur for this weekend’s match. “We need to show them that, no, we’re Olderfleet,” he joked.
As Olderfleet Swifts FC Legends v Olderfleet FC nears, he admits to few nerves, as their similarly-named rivals not only have youth and match form on their side, but an enviable amount of talent.
“They seem to be winning four-nil or five-one every week,” he said. “We never had that level of playing; if we could win two or three in a row, we were happy.
“We know we’re up against it, but we’re going out to play for David; it’s good to be back, but the day’s about him.”