Title-winner Neil McCullough’s Portadown pride in past glory and work with future generations

Hours before the Ports walked out on the Shamrock Park green turf to seal a first-ever Irish League title, Stevie Cowan, Sandy Fraser and Vic Kasule helped to relax across the green baize.

Completing the quartet that evening was Neil McCullough, a former Ports ballboy who by April 1990 had graduated from boyhood fan to teenage player alongside those signings from Scotland in over half of the previous title-chasing fixtures.

Although the two-sub rule meant McCullough would miss out on playing time against Linfield in the following day’s landmark 2-0 win, his part in a defence that conceded just seven goals before the New Year ensured any contribution by that point stretched far beyond supporter alone.

“Portadown will always be my club, I used to be a ballboy at games, Barry, my dad, was manager of the reserves and two of my cousins, Gary and Dean, were former players,” said McCullough. “I feel a great sense of pride in having played for Portadown at all and to be part of helping my hometown club win the league title for the first time ever will always be special.

“I was 19 years old at the time and had joined the club from Linfield.

“Linfield was a great club, massive and so professional, I had been training with the firsts and there was talk of making the breakthrough - but Ronnie McFall sold me that I would get opportunities at Portadown.

“I had been playing across pre-season and got my competitive chance sooner than expected when Brian Strain was ruled out with a knee injury for months.

“My last league game that season was a big January win at the Oval over Glentoran and I watched us beat Linfield from the stands with the other players not in the matchday squad.

“As a local lad I would socialise a lot with the players who would fly in for games and that Friday night we went to the Fairgreen Snooker Club then my mum, Emerald, picked us up and dropped the others back to the Seagoe Hotel.”

McCullough was not the only 19-year-old in Portadown who slept that night with dreams of finally watching his team lift the league.

The next day, fans of all ages packed inside Shamrock Park from early afternoon to play a part in the most significant 90-plus minutes on the Portadown record books.

Second-half goals by Stevie Cowan and Gregg Davidson secured the three points needed to finally place the Gibson Cup in the Shamrock Park trophy cabinet and ensure that squad’s names would forever be etched into club folklore. McCullough’s starting spot in 15 of those 26 steps towards glory affords the centre-back his place in that 1989/90 story.

“When I signed for Portadown I was making the move with the aim of grabbing my chance when it came - I just didn’t think it would happen so soon,” said McCullough. “I arrived halfway through the previous season but struggled with some injury problems carried over from my time at Linfield.

“But I was included in the squad for a pre-season trip to Scotland and got minutes in those games then stayed in the side for the Ulster Cup that was played before the start of the league and we went on to reach the Gold Cup final.

“We lost to Linfield after a replay but that is still a big memory, playing for the Ports in a cup final.

“Brian Strain was the captain and never once looked on me as someone who had taken his place in the team, instead he would talk to me before games about the strengths and weaknesses of rival strikers I would face that day.

“He was a class act but it was the same across the board, everywhere you turned you had big characters across the team willing to support and offer advice.

“Alfie Stewart was a gentleman but vocal, then you had someone like Roy McCreadie keeping you right as well, plus playing in front of a goalkeeper like Mickey Keenan was brilliant.

“My last league game came in January at the Oval and it was pretty tight between the two teams at that stage but we came away with an important win.

“So many of those players could have played across the water you would think, when you look at someone like Ian Curliss before his injury or what Joey Cunningham could do.

“When Stevie Cowan came in for the second half of the season he added so much experience and was a wonderful professional.

“You got a great education as a young player.

“With Ronnie McFall as manager and Bob Nesbitt the number two it was like they played good cop, bad cop.

“Bob mixed with the players and was a first-class coach, doing things back then that would be considered part of the modern game.

“We worked really hard in training and it could be competitive but then it would be cleared with a handshake afterwards, everyone just had that desire to win.

“Because of the players flying in from across the water, often we would go to the local park on a Saturday morning to get in some final set-piece work, then head to the ground.

“But even on that final day against Linfield it was calm inside the dressing room.

“We knew the crowd was building early on and you could hear the noise and music but no-one started to panic because of the occasion, even with it scoreless at half-time.

“I worked for a car dealership in the area so would often be talking to fans about the football, then the build-up around the town leading up to the final day was amazing.

“I had watched Portadown suffer so many disappointments growing up as a fan so to be there as a player on the day it finally came together in the league was something I’ll never forget, just a really special moment.”

McCullough’s links to his hometown club continue and the current boss of the under 20s has been involved for more than a decade helping the next generation experience that same bond he enjoyed.

“I’ve been working with Portadown Youth teams and now the under 20s for about 13 years and it is something I take a lot of pride in,” he said. “I’ve been around to watch or try and help current first-team players like Luke Wilson, Ryan Carmichael, Lee Bonis and Callum Ferris progress from an early age in a Portadown jersey.

“My own son, Dane, last year became the youngest player to ever represent the firsts in a league game and it was a really proud moment for us all, with my dad also a former player, making it three generations.

“I feel that awareness of the club’s history and connection to Portadown is a big part of helping us move forward and Matthew Tipton as manager is a big believer in giving young players opportunities.

“Having Trevor Williamson involved as first-team coach for so many years is another link to that 1990s era and hopefully the younger players can draw inspiration from the past achievements that make Portadown so special.

“In recent years, after some difficult times, it has been brilliant to see the club moving back towards that sense of unity between the fans, team and officials that was such a big part of our previous success.”

--

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world.

But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you