Former Linfield star 'will always love' Irish League club - but hoping to get better of them as a manager
When the Premiership fixture list was announced for Bangor’s top-flight return, the visit of his beloved Linfield was always going to be amongst the first which former player Lee Feeney searched for.
Nicknamed ‘The Golden Child’ by legendary Irish League figure David Jeffrey, Feeney enjoyed two spells with the Belfast giants either side of a three-year stint at Rangers and his close family remain avid supporters.
He’ll be on the opposite side to good friend David Healy on Friday evening when the reigning champions visit Clandeboye Park in a league fixture for the first time since February 2009.
Feeney made 44 Premiership appearances for the Blues, scoring 10 times in the process, and admits time spent working with the likes of Trevor Anderson and Jeffrey have helped shape his own managerial style.
"I've always loved Linfield and always will,” he said. “My family are all Linfield and they've been good to me.
"I still went and watched them before I was involved with Bangor and David is my friend. I have a lot of connections there and they still look after me when I go up to the games. I have a lot of respect for Linfield and for me they are the best club in the country.
"I loved it there. I had ups and downs, but I have great memories.
"Trevor Anderson gave me my debut and then you had David Jeffrey. David was there a long time and it looks like Healy is going to be here for a long time too!
"It's a club where you need to be a good manager to be there in the first place, but you need to be a very good manager to stay there.
"You try and take wee bits from every manager you played under at every club, even managers you talk to. You listen to people like Healy, who would phone me often and give me advice. You try and take everything on board from people that have been there and done it."
Feeney took over at Bangor when the Seasiders were sitting in the Premier Intermediate League and the dream of taking on Linfield was based solely on luck of potential cup draws.
Welcoming Northern Ireland’s elite to Clandeboye Park is Bangor’s new normal, and having made a positive start to the campaign, Feeney insists his side hold no fear.
"This is the glamour of it all,” he added. “These are the big games in front of the big crowds that you want to be playing in and you want to test yourself against the best.
"When you're in the lower leagues, you're saying 'I'd love to play against Linfield' and you were always wanting them in the cup draws, now you're playing them in a league game.
"We know how hard it's going to be. They are a great side, champions and on the back of a decent European run.
"They know how to win games, how to score late goals, how to get clean sheets, they are just the team that everyone wants to be.
"You want to aspire to be like them, have all those credentials and attributes they have...they've work-rate, talent, organisation, brilliant manager.
"It's going to be really tough, but we don't fear anybody and that's the truth. We respect everyone, but we know we can make it hard for them and they'll know it won't be an easy game."