Glenavon FC forms honour guard at funeral of former chairman and IFA mainstay Adrian Teer

The Mourneview Park legend was paid tribute by his beloved club as his body was escorted from St Gerard’s Church in Newtownabbey after a funeral mass.

Adrian, who passed away aged 79 on New Year’s Eve following a period of ill health, was on the board of the Lurgan club for almost 40 years, including 27 years as chairman and two years as managing director.

Also a former chairman of the Irish Football Association, he was heavily involved in setting up the Northern Ireland Football League and chaired it for close to five years.

A fixture in footballing circles, he was known for his inspired leadership – and rarely missed a game at Glenavon, the side he supported since he was a boy.

As Father Gerry Cassidy said during the funeral: “I have no intention of trying to outdo the tributes paid to Adrian by all those associated with Glenavon Football Club, who have far and wide expressed their esteem for and profound gratitude to Adrian for his lifelong, wholehearted dedication to the team he loved so much.

“Adrian was by profession a civil servant; a clever and very capable one, according to one who spoke to me of this area of his life.

"As an only child, family – his parents, and in particular his aunt Mary – were especially important to him.”

He also paid tribute to Adrian’s late wife Mary Rose, adding that her “sudden death during the isolating period of Covid affected him deeply.”

Said Fr Cassidy: “A love of sport, the forging of an identity shared with other supporters, creates a great body of companionship. It can be a force for building community, all appearances to the contrary not withstanding.

"We all know cases of people who have hacked the legs off one another, meeting later to reminisce and discuss their earlier not so friendly encounters in nostalgia and the spirit of forgiveness.”

Forgiveness, he said, lies at the heart of God’s love for man, adding that the heart of the community’s prayer during the mass would be for Adrian to “live in the very heart of God until one day, in the words of Sir Thomas More, we shall all meet merrily in heaven”.

The service, attended by friends and family as well as Glenavon officials, players and supporters, saw many well-known faces from Northern Irish football attend to remember Adrian, including the chairman of premiership rivals Linfield, Roy McGivern, and former Linfield player and manager David Jeffrey.

One of the longest-serving and most influential directors in his club’s 135-year history, Adrian made a huge impact nationally as well as becoming a Mourneview legend.

After his passing, Irish FA president Conrad Kirkwood said: “Adrian was quite simply one of Northern Ireland football's most respected administrators.

“The word gentleman is used a lot but it surely is synonymous with Adrian. The warmth of his welcome at Mourneview Park was beyond compare and he was incredibly kind during to me in my time as President.

“He could have given chairs anywhere lessons on how to perform the role with respect, dignity and honour.”