Taken from Hogan Stand 2000 Lurgan! The North Armagh town scarcely ranks with towns such as Tralee, Tuam, Thurles or even Crossmaglen as a traditional heartland of Gaelic Games. It's image is still intertwined with some of the worst aspects of the Troubles but perhaps that's just a case of us having relatively short memories. The fact is that the Clann na nGael club is second only to Crossmaglen Rangers on the county's Senior Football Championship Roll of Honour and that two clubs from the town, Clann Eireann and St Peters also feature on the same list of title winners. And just as the feats of Crossmaglen may have inspired the Orchard County's succesive Ulster Championship successes in 1999 and 2000, the same can be said of Clann na nGael's influence on the county's return to prominence in the late 1970's and early eighties. The Lurgan club won no fewer than nine senior championships in a 14 year period from 1968 to 1981 inclusive and proved their pedigree by winning three succesive Ulster Club championships out of five final appearances. They also contested the All-Ireland final in 1974 but were beaten by UCD in a replay. No disputing that the Clann na nGael team of the early 1970's was not only Ulster's best, but one of the country's finest. And although there were several fine footballers on the team, it is arguable that Jimmy Smyth was the most outstanding. It was in 1967 that Jimmy first came to the attention of Orchard County supporters when he was a key figure on the St Colmans Newry team that brought the Hogan Cup to the border town for the first time. It was only the 3rd occasion that the All-Ireland Colleges title had been won by an Ulster team. The Violet Hill students, mostly from Armagh and Down, had a memorable victory over St Jarlaths of Tuam in the final in Mullingar, 1-8 to 1-7. They had won the McRory Cup by beating St Patricks of Armagh and qualified for the final by beating Belcamp OMI. Jimmy was at right-half-back on a team that also included subsequent All-Ireland SF medalists John Purdy and Peter Rooney. The St Colmans team was coached by Fr John Treanor and Gerry O Neill and Smyth was to retain his association with O Neill at adult level. The Lurgan lad made his senior debut for Armagh in 1968 but the county team was going throgh a bad spell at the time and it was with the Clann na nGael team that he found success. They bridged a gap of 18 years by winning the county championship in 1968 with a 2-6 to 0-4 win over rivals Clann Eireann. The boys in blue retained the title in the following year by beating Crossmaglen Rangers on a similar scoreline and although Crossmaglen gained revenge in the 1970 final, Clann na nGael were declared champions again in 1971 although the final against Carrickcruppen failed to materialise. The Lurgan team went on to qualify for the Ulster Club final which was played in Dungannon in December. Derry champions Bellaghy came out on top by 1-11 to 0-5 and went on to win the All-Ireland title. Jimmy Smyth and his colleagus were back again in 1972 to beat Crossmaglen by a point in the county final and went on to win the Ulster crown by beating Tyrone champions Ardboe. Their All-Ireland ambitions came unstuck against Dublin champions St Vincents in Croke Park. St Vinvents subsequently lost to Nemo Rangers in the replayed final. In 1973, Clann na nGael won the county championship for the third succesive year with a comfortable win over Wolfe Tones. The victory, while important in it's own right, was seen as a stepping stone to All-Ireland success and that target appeared quite realistic when they retained the Ulster title with a convincing win over the Donegal champions St Josephs. And it moved a step closer when, in front of their own supporters in Lurgan, they defeated the Munster champions UCC in the All-Ireland semi-final. UCD had hammered Knockmore of Mayo in the other semi-final thus setting the Armagh champions the difficult task of beating two University teams if they were to become All-Ireland winners. Jimmy's dream was still alive at the end of a pulsating final but the students came out on top in the replay. It was a shattering defeat for the Clanns but they could never be accused of lacking perseverance and they bounced back to win a 4th succesive county title with a comprehensive win over Carrickcruppen. They further enhanced their reputation by winning the provincial title for a 3rd succesive year by beating Trillick of Tyrone in the final and looked to have collected enough experience to go all the way to All-Ireland glory. The view was strengthened when they travelled to Cork in February 1975 and drew with Nemo Rangers. The replay would be in Lurgan and supporters felt that the hard work had been done in surviving at the Mardyke. It wasn't to be...Nemo got in for two goals in the replay and came out on top on a 2-5 to 0-6 scoreline. It turned out to be something of a last hurrah as far as the Ulster and All-Ireland championships were concerned. A pity! The winning of 3 succcesive Ulster Club titles represented a magnificent achievement and it is arguable that the sometimes forgotten Lurganmen were, along with their namesakes from Roscommon, the best club teams not to have savoured All-Ireland glory. They continued to be a force at county level and regained the title in 1976 after a two year gap by beating Maghery in the final and although they again worked their way through to the provincial decider, Ballerin of Derry proved too strong. Throughout the early years of Jimmy Smyth's county career, the Armagh footballers were not up to much. The good days of the early 1950's were rapidly fading from the collective memory of supporters and the 1953 All-Ireland defeat by Kerry appeared to have a shattering effect. The narrow defeat by Down in the 1961 Ulster final had an even worse effect and in the 15 Ulster Championships that followed, they won only 5 games! In that period they never won any more than one game in a championship and even Clann na Gaels' heroics failed to inspire the county team. There must have been times when Jimmy and his colleagues despaired at the prospect of ever contesting an Ulster final. League form wasn't all bad and winning the Division 3 title in 1976 was a minor boost. More significant perhaps was the addition of Derry-born Gerry O Neill to the management team. It was against this background that Armagh set out in the 1977 championship. Home advantage in the first round and a Colm McKinstrey goal helped to secure a rare victory over Cavan before neighbours Monaghan provided the opposition in the semi-final. The challenge was straightforward...could Armagh win a second game in the championship...a task that had been beyond their predecssors for a decade and a half. With Jimmy as captain, they swept to a place in the Ulster final with a 2-12 to 3-5 win over the Farneymen. Derry had accounted for Tyrone and Down, and were favourites to take the Anglo-Celt Cup for the 3rd succesive year. After all, they had beaten the Orchard County men by 11 points and 15 points in the previous two championships. But an upset was on the cards from the early stages as Armagh took the game to the Oak Leafers and goals from Paddy Moriarty and Noel Marley put them on the road to a memorable victory. Jimmy became the first Armagh captain in 24 years to lead his team to provincial success. It was a monumental breakthrough and the fact that they had scored 2-14, 2-12 and 3-10 in their three victories generated hopes of what had earlier been a mere pipe-dream...All-Ireland success. The county went wild in the build-up to the All-Ireland semi-final against Roscommon with huge crowds turning up to see the team training at St Patrick's College in Armagh. Jimmy scored an early goal but it was Roscommon who looked the likely winners throughout the first half...they led by 2-7 to 1-4 at the end of a fast and furious opening half. Most of the pre-match plans and tactics had been discarded by both teams in the early stages and the outcome was a major treat for supporters...the game was tense but often free-flowing and contained some great passages of tactics-free and enthusiatic play. Roscommon missed a couple of chances after the break but Armagh missed a great goal opportunity which appeared to signal their demise. With less than 20 minutes remaining Roscommon led by 7 points but a goal from a penalty by Paddy Moriarty revived the flagging fortunes of the Ulster champions whose supporters contributed immensely to their rally. Jimmy then played a captain's part with a truely inspirational point from an 'impossible' angle and you could sense that his team was going to survive...at least. He pointed a free with four minutes remaining and levelled the match with a point from play with just two minutes on the clock. There was further drama when Roscommon were awarded a late '45 but Demot Earley mis-kicked and the game ended all square. It was arguably Jimmy Smyth's finest hour in the Armagh jersey...certainly on so big a stage. His contribution of 1-3 from play plus a pointed free was crucial to Armagh's survival and was hugely influential in him being honoured with selection on the All-Stars. The psychological advantage was now with the Orchard County men and although they had only a point to spare in the replay, they looked the more likely winners from the outset. While the excitement among supporters had been unprecedented in the build-up to the semi-finals, it was nothing compared to the atmosphere which they created prior to the final against Dublin. If memory serves me right, this was the first all-ticket Final and the demand was overwhelming from one end of Armagh to the other. Dublin, the reigning All-Ireland champions were red-hot favourites having beaten Kerry in a memorable semi-final and there was a feeling that they were at the peak of their considerable powers as a team. Unfortunately for Jimmy Smyth and his colleagues, the belief proved to be well-founded and the destination of the Sam Maguire Cup was not in doubt from an early stage. Despite scoring 3-6, a tally that would have won most All-Ireland Finals, Armagh were beaten by 12 points, and the occasion was a huge disappointmemt to their colourful and enthusiastic supporters. Jimmy expressed the view that the team had been affected by the build-up...they were naieve and inexperienced...Dublin were appearing in their fourth succesive final. Armagh appeared on the pitch much too early and were soaked before the game got under way...the Dubs had a more patient approach. Disappointing as the All-Ireland defeat was, it paled in comparison with the 1978 first round championship exit to Cavan and there was also disappointment in 1979 when Monaghan came out on top by two points at the semi-final stage. But there was still a kick left in the team and with several of the 1977 team on board, they regained the Ulster title in 1980 but lost to Roscommon in the All-Ireland semi-final. It was Jimmy's last hurrah at this level and although he played in the 1981 Ulster final against Down, he was not on the team that won provincial honours in 1982. A terrific career had come to an end...the only blip being the absence of an All-Ireland medal from his collection. Jimmy's broad knowledge of Ulster football at all levels, most of which has been accumulated in the colours of St Colmans, Clann na nGael, Armagh and Ulster, led to his involvement with BBC television and he plays a major role in their excellent coverage of games in the province. His voice is even more assuring than that of the cuckoo in terms of signalling the approach of Summer. And the good news is that he now has a role with the Armagh team...a clear sign that they are going all out for a third succesive Ulster title...at least. Tweet

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