Night of nostalgia and celebration 50 years on!
In what was historically a very important year, 1966 also marked a sporting ‘rising’ of some significance when Ballyhooly claimed their first adult football championship success.
With no shortage of competition from throughout the division, winning ‘a novice’ title was no small achievement – it must also be factored in that this was an era of knockout competition with no possiblity of a second chance.
Prior to their football breakthrough, 1966 was an inauspicious year for the club as their more fancied hurling team crashed out of the hurling championship after a particularly bruising first round encounter.
At a low ebb after this defeat, long serving captain, Batty Cooney had the task of rallying the troops. As with all successes, you need to ‘catch a break’ and the decision of the then chairman, Jimmy Hickey to secure the coaching services of Owenie McAuliffe proved decisive. A man with some innovate tactics, it didn’t take long for Owenie to put his stamp on the team.
Any misgivings about bringing the famed Glanworth man on board evaporated when Ballyhooly hit a winning streak that earned them a place in the North Cork final against a formidable Kilshannig side. Played in Killavullen, Ballyhooly delivered spectacularly on the big day by totally overpowering their opponents, to win on a scoreline of 4-11 to 0-05.
That win ensured personalities like Liam O’Connell, Tim O’Mahony (who gave a wonderful rendition of his spledid composition ‘The Men of ’66’), Peter McCarthy and Tim McAuliffe would become household names and in true GAA fashion, all teams that followed, were compared against the men of ’66.
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