Player/manager, Gerry Brown, son of a Newry councillor, had been a P.T. Instructor with the Irish Army, and later Warden at the St John Bosco Boys Club in the frontier town. Founder of Newry Mitchels G.F.C., he was Sports Master at the Abbey C.B.S., guiding his students to success in the Rannafast and Mac Rory Cup competitions. Then, in 1968, he managed the Down side, which brought to Sam Maguire Cup back to the Mournes for the third time.

Paddy O�Hagan from Hilltown went on to become Clerk of the South Down and South Armagh rural councils in the 50�s and 60�s, and later was appointed as first Chief Executive of Newry and Mourne district council. He was succeeded in that post by another Down hero, Kevin O�Neill, a member of the 1960 Sam Maguire Cup-winning squad.

Senator Maurice Hayes explained that the All-Ireland Junior Championship had originally been intended to provide inter-county competition for those who played for junior clubs. Such teams would tend to be �a mixture of young, developing players, along with experienced footballers, who had faded from prominence for a year or two.

For example, the Down Junior side, which won the Ulster title in 1958, and seemed certain to win an All-Ireland title, included such former senior county players as Paddy Doherty, James McCartan and Tony Hadden, who had been suspended for playing soccer. Unlike the mid-40�s, the senior team management withdrew the key players to invigorate the senior squad in a failed bid to win the Ulster title, - though it provided the ingredients of glory in 1960.

The former county secretary described how club football in the Mourne county had been �at a high level in the mid-40�s. There were classic encounters between Clonduff, - then emerging as a force, - as well as Newry, Warrenpoint and Kilcoo. There was more good football, and better club competitions, in Down at that time than at any time since.�

Down�s year of destiny, when it came, was a tale of fits and starts, protests and setbacks. A foot-and-mouth epidemic and atrocious weather, which delayed the harvest, caused difficulties in training, as well as delays in fixing matches.

Indeed, the Mourne side had been defeated in the opening match against Antrim. But it was discovered that the saffron side had fielded an illegal player, Sean Carey, who had been on a Ballymartin team in the Down Senior Championship the previous year. He had not been properly transferred to the Queen�s University club. His brother, Jarlath Carey played a pivotal role in Down�s 1960 triumph by subduing the legendary Kerry midfielder, Mick O�Connell.

After defeating Tyrone and Donegal en route to the Ulster title, the men in red and black then demolished the Leinster champions, Louth in the All-Ireland Semi-final. They found themselves facing Leitrim in the �Home� Final, with the prospect of having to overcome the champions of Britain, Warwickshire, in the All-Ireland Final �Proper� at Croke Park. Both missions were accomplished with aplomb!

The Down squad had been busily preparing for their moment in history. They developed a high degree of fitness, understanding, tactics and team spirit, which was unusual for county sides until the late 50�s, when Down again set the example, through the leadership of Maurice Hayes and T.P. Murphy.

The Mourne side had been well-prepared, physically and psychologically, especially through the expertise of Gerry Brown, fitness expert and master tactician. Apart from his successes with the Abbey C.B.S., Newry G.F.C. and later Mitchels, he was in charge of the Tyrone squad, which won Ulster titles in 1956/57.

Gerry once said: �Most teams from the North were beaten before they stepped on to Croke Park. They were only interested in putting up a good show, to keep the score against them to a minimum, and not to disgrace themselves.�

After winning the All-Ireland Junior Championship, a huge turn-out awaited the heroes from the Mourne county, when they arrived home. Three bands and thousands of supporters paraded through the streets of Newry, carrying the players shoulder-high to the old St Colman�s Hall, with speeches from the balcony.

Newry Urban Council arranged a reception, at which the M.P. for South Down, Joe Connellan stated: �The G.A.A was established over 60 years ago, and for a long time the people of Down have ambitioned such an honour. Now it has been achieved. The tremendous reception, which the team has been accorded by the public on their return home, is a testimony of how popular their victory has been.�

And the chairman of Newry Urban Council, Tom Kelly, said: �County Down people have long struggled to obtain such an honour. I hope that, in the near future, the squad will add to their achievement by winning the All-Ireland Senior Championship as well.�

However, it would be another 14 years before the captain of a Down side would climb to the rostrum at the Hogan Stand in Croke Park to receive the coveted Sam Maguire Cup. Though Senator Maurice Hayes has insisted that, but for the short-sighed policy of the county board at the time, that supreme honour could have been achieved more than a decade earlier!

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