The 70's
The early seventies saw local emigrant Michael Keaveney return home from London where his love for the game of ‘association football’ was nurtured under the shadow of Arsenal’s Highbury Stadium.
Michael saw the need for something to be done for the youth of the area and having canvassed opinion in the locality, was of the opinion he could form a team.
At the time, the only sporting organisations in the village was the local Ballyglass Sports Club which held two annual sports each year, doing a superb job in organising the children’s and adult’s sports.
Farming impacts on most things in rural Ireland, and so it was with the formation of Ballyglass Football Club.The cattle crisis of 1974 was the unlikely setting for the birth of an institution which has played such an important role in the life of the Ballyglass community.
The spring of 1975 was extremely difficult for farmers; money and fodder were scarce commodities. In order to get out of a tight corner Michael’s late father Martin invested in a half cock of straw. He made a deal with the late Tommy Walsh, father if Tommy Joe, and Michael and Tommy Joe were given the job of shifting the straw. During the transaction Michael mentioned the notion of setting up a football club. Tommy Joe mentioned the games he had seen involving Balla F.C. and they agreed that if they could do it in Balla it could be done in Ballyglass.
Having discussed it with among others, Seamus Burke and Padraig Heverin, the Ballyglass Babes were formed.
The group started having kickabouts in the ground of Ballinafad College on Sunday afternoons and in the summer of 1975 they played their first friendly against a ‘Connaught Telegraph’ selection and when a match report was printed the following week every line was read and every word savoured.
The first officers of the club were Chairman Tommy Joe Walsh, Treasurer Padraig Heverin and Secretary Michael Keaveney.
Because of the low profile of soccer in Mayo at that time, Michael wrote to Joe Redmond of the Connaught Telegraph to get information on how the game was organised in the county. Joe passed the letter on to the Mayo League and Ballyglass joined Division 3 in the 1975/76 season.
Pat Quigley suggested he could get jerseys at £1.75 each, a particularly nice red and white-stripped set, and from that day to this Ballyglass F.C. have worn the red and white with pride and affection.
During the summer of 1975 the young players trained hard and it they did not know what to expect when they arrived at the Attymass pitch for their first league match.
Seamus Burke had the distinction of scoring the first League goal for Ballyglass F.C. on his way to completing his first hat-trick, a double from P.J. Brett and one each from Joe Heneghan, Stephen Heneghan and Tom Quinn sealed an 8-2 victory. Seamus went on to make 195 appearances and scoring 20 goals for the club.
The clubs first few matches went well, the team being well organised and extremely fit, but there were tough times ahead. As the season moved on, their weaknesses were exposed and the club experienced some bad seasons. The 1975/76 season read, Played 17 Won 4 Drew 2 Lost 11 For 39 Against 58. In fact in the first four seasons the club won only 15 out of 56 games played. The most successful season was the 78/79 season when they won 16 out of 26 played and this was a sign of some good times ahead. This season saw the club contest its first final, losing 4-0 to Enniscrone in the Travenol Shield.
Michael saw the need for something to be done for the youth of the area and having canvassed opinion in the locality, was of the opinion he could form a team.
At the time, the only sporting organisations in the village was the local Ballyglass Sports Club which held two annual sports each year, doing a superb job in organising the children’s and adult’s sports.
Farming impacts on most things in rural Ireland, and so it was with the formation of Ballyglass Football Club.The cattle crisis of 1974 was the unlikely setting for the birth of an institution which has played such an important role in the life of the Ballyglass community.
The spring of 1975 was extremely difficult for farmers; money and fodder were scarce commodities. In order to get out of a tight corner Michael’s late father Martin invested in a half cock of straw. He made a deal with the late Tommy Walsh, father if Tommy Joe, and Michael and Tommy Joe were given the job of shifting the straw. During the transaction Michael mentioned the notion of setting up a football club. Tommy Joe mentioned the games he had seen involving Balla F.C. and they agreed that if they could do it in Balla it could be done in Ballyglass.
Having discussed it with among others, Seamus Burke and Padraig Heverin, the Ballyglass Babes were formed.
The group started having kickabouts in the ground of Ballinafad College on Sunday afternoons and in the summer of 1975 they played their first friendly against a ‘Connaught Telegraph’ selection and when a match report was printed the following week every line was read and every word savoured.
The first officers of the club were Chairman Tommy Joe Walsh, Treasurer Padraig Heverin and Secretary Michael Keaveney.
Because of the low profile of soccer in Mayo at that time, Michael wrote to Joe Redmond of the Connaught Telegraph to get information on how the game was organised in the county. Joe passed the letter on to the Mayo League and Ballyglass joined Division 3 in the 1975/76 season.
Pat Quigley suggested he could get jerseys at £1.75 each, a particularly nice red and white-stripped set, and from that day to this Ballyglass F.C. have worn the red and white with pride and affection.
During the summer of 1975 the young players trained hard and it they did not know what to expect when they arrived at the Attymass pitch for their first league match.
Seamus Burke had the distinction of scoring the first League goal for Ballyglass F.C. on his way to completing his first hat-trick, a double from P.J. Brett and one each from Joe Heneghan, Stephen Heneghan and Tom Quinn sealed an 8-2 victory. Seamus went on to make 195 appearances and scoring 20 goals for the club.
The clubs first few matches went well, the team being well organised and extremely fit, but there were tough times ahead. As the season moved on, their weaknesses were exposed and the club experienced some bad seasons. The 1975/76 season read, Played 17 Won 4 Drew 2 Lost 11 For 39 Against 58. In fact in the first four seasons the club won only 15 out of 56 games played. The most successful season was the 78/79 season when they won 16 out of 26 played and this was a sign of some good times ahead. This season saw the club contest its first final, losing 4-0 to Enniscrone in the Travenol Shield.
