Bidding Adieu to the playing fields - Cute, Intelligent and swift wing forward Sean Devlin. A vital part of the great Armagh run of 1977 The nearly men of gaelic games over the past couple of decades? When one begins to ponder and think about the list of teams who could readily be included in such a slot, the array of candidates number more than the gaels you're likely to see bagged in any Munster Senior hurling final or the number of points scored from play in your average Ulster Senior Football final. Spoilt for choice in essence. Failure to realise one's potential isn't a crime yet and thank goodness too, for come the time when teams are pulled into the dock for not capitalising on their true capabilities, there'll be no room for witnesses to testify in the courtroom. In no particular order, making out a list of those squads patently guilty of missing the boat one automatically thinks of teams such as the Limerick hurling sides which skipped two National League titles back to back, in seasons '83/'84 and '84/'85, the Laois team which flattered to deceive when hurtling to their League triumph in season '85/'86 and of course there's the perennial nearly-men of Wexford: the county whose hurlers have been banging so hard and so often on the door of success that it's a miracle the door is still upright. Then there is the Armagh team of '77. Surely one of the most frustrating of all the so-called uncrowned kings of modern day gaelic games fare. Armagh Harps old boy Sean Devlin was a member of that famous Orchard County team from all of sixteen years ago Too old at forty, he says, to strut his stuff on Armagh's football catwalks, Sean bid adieu last summer to gaelic games for all time. After a twenty-four year stint firing shots over and under the bar, he's called it quits and will watch from the sidelines like many's another former star who's done it all etc. He maintains it'll be no sweat getting used to such a perch but friends and team mates have their doubts. The ironic thing about Sean Devlin's decision to hang up his boots is that up until he took superannuation (in the gaelic game sense) he was playing great stuff, playing like a gasun for the Armagh Division One mid-table side. So good in fact that he was sorely missed by the Harps side which went down to Crossmaglen in the first round of the county Senior Championship. "The whole team were poor that day. Very few of the players played well but in all honesty it was a dreadful day for football at Killeavy but we still thought we'd win it and it was a shock to us to lose", explained the man who figured on the Harps Senior Championship winning sides alongside such other notables as county stars Mark and John Grimley, John Toner and Dominic Clarke. An Intermediate Championship medallist with the Harps in 1974, the affable Devlin was too young to feature in his local club's 1968 Minor County Championship triumph but he did benefit in later years from playing beside some of the talent inspired by that underage success. Players like Sean "Dingle" Daly, Martin Kelly (a member of the Ulster Minor Championship winning Armagh team of '68) were key Minors then and they along with Sean and Colm Doran helped make Sean Devlin's graduation to Senior club ranks all that more comfortable. A one-time underage hurler with the Saint Malachi's school in the city, Sean was born into a gaelic games friendly environment. His father John was a Cuchulainn's star of the past too, winning seven Senior County Championship medals with them during the forties while also representing his county and province with distinction. Still, it's been through his involvement with big ball code that Sean Devlin promised and delivered most with the team that have vied with city rivals Pearse Og for pole position in the Orchard County football stakes for a decade and more. Under the tutorship of such stalwarts as Paddy McArdle youngsters like Sean Devlin and Niall Laffin were afforded every opportunity to develop their football skills at the Harps. Both palls made the county Minor team but there was little in it for either of them as their peers from Down enforced their superiority. Nevertheless the always stout hearted Harps teenager had the satisfaction of stepping onto a Harps Senior team which was led by county man Brian Connolly just one player who succeeded ex-fifties star Jack Bratten (winner of four Senior Championship medals with the Harps) as a firm favourite with the local gaels. Like several other seasoned players at the Harps, Sean ploughed a barren furrow for a long number of years and a period of Division Two League football during seventies reflected the Harps struggle to live with the big boys of the time such as Tom McCreesh led Crossmaglen Rovers and the Jimmy Smyth powered Clann na nGael sides. "The players at the club at the time just weren't good enough, it's as simple as that. It wasn't until the likes of the Grimley's started figuring on juvenile winning teams that the club began to get players coming through that were able to do well at Senior level". When Kevin McGlinchey (trainer of the successful St. Gall's, Belfast side of the eighties) came on board, men like Sean Devlin prospered as players and before long the Harps hurtled to an historic Senior county Championship title in 1989, their first such success in well over twenty years. A similarly delightful run two years later reaped the same result and wasn't everyone at the Harps G.A.A. Social Club on the city's Loughall Road deliriously happy. As a player who winged his way up through club and county underage ranks to feature on the biggest stage on the biggest day in gaelic football, Sean Devlin can well appreciate the importance of laying good foundations at underage level in club and county. A county Senior debutante with the Armagh Seniors against Offaly in a National Football League tie in 1973, Sean doesn't just have the time to get himself involved with the coaching scene, because of his business background, but nevertheless is keenly aware of the very good useful work that is being done at grassroots level by the Harps. "The Harps are doing great work at underage level, they're well organised and have a lot of good workers to bring the young fellas through. People like former county player Brian O'Kane have been doing great work and I think the club realise that underage coaching holds the key to success eventually", explained the former Armagh ace and current proprietor of the Strawberry Bar in Armagh's English Street. Surprised but greatly heartened obviously to receive the call up from then Armagh team manager Gerry O'Neill to join the county Senior squad in '73, Sean Devlin was a cute, intelligent and swift specialist half forward who will never forget the thrill of being part of the great Armagh team of '77. a quality player on a quality team Devlin was thankful that he returned to the 'oul sod after a three year spell across the water, for a prized provincial Championship medal in '77 awaited him and club colleague Dingle Daly and much more besides - a place in the starting line up against Connacht champions Roscommon in the All-Ireland semi-final that year. It was in the replay however and after he had appeared as a substitute in the game that he came into his own. "Everything I did when I came on seemed to go right for me. I got the rub of the green and managed to score two points after coming on", Sean reflected. "I was extremely proud and left privileged to have played on that Armagh team. It was the best I ever saw and probably the best ever that emerged out of the county but it's probably unfair to pass judgement on the comparisons". Rewinding the tape isn't piece of work Sean is too enamoured with but on the question of assessing the worth of Armagh's '77 final opponents, the Harps die-hard is very forthcoming. "I think that Armagh team would have won the All-Ireland title during any other period were it not for the likes of that Dublin team and famous Kerry side of the time. Dublin were a quality team, everyone of their team were the kind that made good leaders on and off the field. Each and everyone of them possessed great skill and awareness", acknowledged the husband of Marian and father of Aishling, Cian and Liam. A bricklayer by trade, Sean still believes that the self-same Armagh team didn't really fulfill it's potential and their successors three years later missed the boat, ironically again when pitted against Roscommon. Once again, Sean appeared in the '80 semi-final as a substitute. "The 1980 team was perhaps a more mature team, but expectations were greater and I'm afraid the team sat back after being well in the driving seat at half time". The same side went down heavily to Kerry in the 1982 All-Ireland semi-final and that was probably the end of that Armagh squad, the one that was assembled in '77. In his review of the 1993 season in terms of Armagh's Senior Ulster Championship campaign, Sean expresses himself pleasantly surprised with the spirit and performance displayed by Jim McCorry's men. "From a spectator's point view, the team provided great value for money and entertainment and engineered some great scores. They were probably lucky to have got the draw against Fermanagh but overall the team surprised me with the quality of their play in the Championship". As for the business of crystal ball-gazing Sean is a reluctant participant but keen to talk football and helpful to a hopeful scribe. "I'll stick my neck out and go for Donegal to regain the Ulster title and maybe Kerry will be the dark horse to win the All-Ireland". And as for Armagh? "I'll put any prediction on them on hold for the moment", exclaimed the knowledgeable punter. Written by the Hogan Stand Magazine. 26th Nov. 1993 Tweet

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