‘I can’t remember not being around the Annagh...it’s a dream come true’

The 33-year-old manager helped to steer his side into the second tier of Irish League football last season and is preparing for the challenge now of protecting that position and building on progress since a 2017 appointment.

For McGurgan, connections with the Tandragee Road outfit date back far beyond recent points and promotion - with family roots making it much more than just a job.

Now, having grown up with countless memories and matchdays linked together from schooldays to playing days, McGurgan the manager wants to add his own chapter to the Annagh history books.

“This is my club, my dad Brian is a founder member so I’ve been spending time at Annagh United for as long as I can remember,” said McGurgan. “He made sure to host a barbecue celebration after our promotion was confirmed, which is exactly the same as when the club previously went up to the second tier and he loved the symmetry.

“His experience on committees over the years came into play too when I phoned to tell my dad about us going up after one of the Zoom meetings with the league and he reminded me not to celebrate until we got confirmation in writing!

“But he’s over the moon with the club going up and it was a nice moment telling him the news considering I can’t remember not being around the Annagh and all those years basically growing up around the place and going with him to games.

“It’s a dream-come-true given my connection to this club.”

McGurgan’s path into Irish League management was one initially born out of club duty over personal desire but life on the sidelines is one he has since embraced.

“I had a cruciate injury in 2015 and was then involved in the reserves and on the club committee when the opportunity came along with the firsts,” he said. “I was around the first-team squad when Niall Currie was manager but never really became established as a senior player.

“My mindset then was about wanting to play every week more than anything else and, to be honest, probably had the kind of attitude as a player I now dislike in my squad as a manager!

“At the time, it wasn’t so much that management was a massive draw for me but more a case of looking around and realising someone had to step up and fill the gap.

“That first night at training we had four players on the pitch but this is my club and I thought I would just give it a go.

“As time has gone on, I’ve developed a real hunger for management and my confidence has grown.

“It’s about utilising strengths and we all find different paths but I certainly love management now.

“We’ve a great coaching staff and I enjoy the man-management aspect of the job especially as team spirit plays such a major role in our squad progress.

“The season we managed to survive relegation was crucial - it would have left a huge task to rebuild the club at that point if trying to climb out of the Mid-Ulster Football League.

“Bringing in people with senior Irish League experience like Mark McAllister, John Convery and Michael Gault proved massive to help us stay up.

“We had five players or so on the books and the transfer window was closed so those initial January additions like Michael, Mark and John turned out to be so significant.

“So much dates back to staying up then and how that allowed us to push on to reach this point.

“Losing out next in a play-off was disappointing at the time but, looking back, promotion at that point would have been a season too soon.

“We gained a lot from last season’s extra experience for our younger players and the development of the whole squad playing together.”

With a special sense of the club’s proud past and a focus on future goals, McGurgan is relishing the next stage.

“Now we’ve been working hard on strengthening the squad for next season and preparing for that next challenge,” he said. “But I look around the squad already in place and with around half under the age of 22 years old it’s encouraging for the future.

“We have players I’ve always considered Championship quality and it’s about progress now together to protect our status as a Championship club.

“Senior players like Niall Henderson and Scott McCordick, as our captain and vice-captain respectively, offer so much experience.

“As well as those experienced names behind us, we want to develop youth players at this club and see the facilities and off-the-pitch support as helping create opportunities.

“Annagh’s position geographically means we have so many senior Irish League clubs around us but believe in building good relations.

“We’ve been able to bring in players previously at clubs like Dungannon Swifts or Portadown and offer a platform to develop or rebuild.

“It’s a collective effort, across the board from the club officials and the backroom management team.”