Having rubbed shoulders with Manchester City greats Georgi Kinkladze and George Weah, it’s a sunny afternoon in east Belfast that Shaun Holmes picks out as his most memorable moment from a distinguished football career.
t’s an occasion that is still talked about and celebrated in that part of the city. Big Two games are always special, but this Glentoran-Linfield clash had a dash of added spice.
The 2004-05 Irish League season was about to reach a breathtaking climax. The Oval was packed to the rafters for the penultimate game of an intriguing campaign. Saturday, April 25 was billed as a title decider.
Victory would have guaranteed David Jeffrey’s Linfield the Gibson Cup for the second successive year, while even a draw would have kept them firmly on course. Everything was going to plan.
The Blues responded twice with goals from Paul McAreavey and Davy Larmour to cancel out strikes from Stephen Parkhouse and Colin Nixon.
With the clock ticking down, you just couldn’t have written the script. Michael Halliday’s downward header was saved by goalkeeper Alan Mannus but when the ball broke to Chris Morgan, he stabbed it into the empty net.
One half of the ground went into hysterics, the other half began to file out. Just to twist the knife, Morgan was a former Linfield favourite who had moved across town earlier that season. He even had the day named after him.
“That’s a game I’ll never forget,” laughs Londonderry-born Holmes.
“It was a mental afternoon, incredible. There was a massive crowd building even when we were warming up, the grass bank at the back of the Sydenham end was crammed with fans. In fact, that match had to be delayed by 20 minutes to get everyone in.
“You just couldn’t have made up what took place. The clubs were neck-and-neck all year with the Blues at the top of the table. With only two games left, all they needed was a draw to see it out.
“As the game unfolded, it was like a boxing match. We led twice, they hit back. It was left to Morgo, a former Blues favourite, to get the winner in the dying seconds.”
Shaun played an instrumental part in the winner because it was his free-kick that landed on the head of Halliday, whose header was pawed out by Mannus.
“It was incredible, hard to get your head around,” he adds. “The win nudged us ahead of the Blues, but we still had to finish the job as both teams still had another game to play.
“Coyler played big Parky (Parkhouse) in midfield and it paid a huge dividend. Not only did he score, but he had a cracking game. It was a stroke of genius from the gaffer.
“The Blues were a smashing side — (Peter) Thompson, Spike (Glenn Ferguson), (Noel) Bailie, and (Winkie) Murphy, but we had big players in Leeper (Paul Leeman), Locky (Darren Lockhart), Sass (Mark Glendinning) and Pat McGibbon.
“We also had a few from Derry in Gavin Melaugh, Tommy McCallion and I. It was great craic travelling up and down in the car.”
That was Shaun’s first season at Glentoran and it justified his decision to move back home after spending the best part of a decade in England after joining Manchester City as a raw 16-year-old.
“I was attached to City from a young age, having played with a local junior club, John Boscos, in Derry,” says Shaun.
“I spent five years at the club. That was before Manchester City became a millionaire’s club, of course. I suppose you could say I arrived at the wrong time!
“It was the days of the old Maine Road. The club used to fluctuate between divisions, being promoted and relegated on a regular basis.
“We may have been in the old Second Division, but were still getting 30,000 going to games. Joe Royle was the manager and we had boys like Kinkladze, Weah, Ian Bishop, Richard Jobson, Kevin Horlock and the Whitley brothers, Jeff and Jim.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t get near the first team. I was a regular in the reserves, but I was at an age that I needed to be playing first-team football. When my contract ran out, I got an offer to move to Wrexham, Brian Flynn was manager.
“I signed a three-year deal, which worked out well for me. Joey Jones and Kevin Reeves were part of Flynn’s coaching staff. Wrexham was only 40 minutes from Manchester, so it was a good move and I was playing regularly.
“In my last year, I was in and out of the team and my contract was ending. It was either try somewhere else or pack my bags and return home. I was left in a dilemma.”
Once Shaun received a telephone call from Roy Coyle, it was an easy decision.
He explains: “I knew all about the Irish League because I kept tabs on it when I was in England. I knew Roy had built a good side at The Oval.
“Roy was old school in terms of his management. He got the best out of players and he had a great sidekick in Jimmy Brown. It really worked for us.
“Morgan Day was the climax to my first season at the club, it was Roy of the Rovers stuff. I enjoyed my time in football, but that season at Glentoran was absolutely fantastic, probably the highlight of my career.”
When Coyle and Glentoran parted ways in 2006, it was the signal for Shaun to move on as well.
“Big Paul ‘Windy’ Millar was appointed,” he recalls.
“I was the only Derry man left, the other guys had moved on. When a new manager comes in, he has his own ideas and wants to have his own men around him. I knew I wasn’t in his plans.”
Shaun, however, got the move he craved when Stephen Kenny offered him terms at Derry City.
“I jumped at that, it was a dream for me,” he admits.
“I arrived in mid-season, just when the club were involved in the great UEFA Cup run in 2006-07. They beat IFK Gotenborg and Gretna to reach the first round against Paris Saint-Germain, but I was Cup-tied.
“I signed a contract for the rest of the season with the provision of a new one, only for Stephen to move on to Dunfermline. I was caught in the same predicament I was in at Glentoran — a new manager, new ideas and new players. I was absolutely gutted because I thought I would finish my career at Derry City.
“Wee Pat Fenlon came in and he brought a load of players from Dublin with him. It meant that I was squeezed out again. Pat didn’t last long, it just didn’t work out for him or for the club.
“I moved on. Paul Hegarty was Stephen Kenny’s assistant (at Derry), but he took over at Finn Harps. I spent three years at Ballybofey. We had a fair amount of success, being promoted to the Premier Division. It was handy for me, because it was only a half-hour drive away.”
Although he had reservations, Shaun was transferred to Sligo Rovers, managed by Paul Cook.
He says: “The Derry thing still bugged me, it kind of left me in limbo. It had put a different perspective on things. I thought to myself, ‘I have been in football all my life and it was about time I began to think about something outside of the game’.
“I never really had a job as I moved to Manchester at such a young age, so I applied for a position in the Post Office. Although I got a contract at Sligo, I was in a situation that I had to think of my family’s security away from the game. I told Sligo I’d sign, but I wasn’t going to give up my job.
“The club was willing to work with me. I knew my football days would not go on forever. I was just married and had my first daughter, so I had to think of them. I got away with it for a while, but the travelling became a chore.”
Shaun eventually moved back to the Irish League with Institute but, deep down, his heart wasn’t in it.
“To be totally honest, I kind of fell out of love with the game at that time,” he concludes.
“I was working on Saturdays at that time, finishing my job in the Post Office, jumping in the car and driving to games. I was shattered on Saturday evening.
“Things finally took their toll. I thought it was time to pack it in, even though I was only 30.”
