By Cian O’Connell

Mort Reidy has learned plenty of sporting lessons during two decades of unstinting service for the St Kiernan’s cause.

These truly are encouraging times for the proud and progressive club, who return to a London SFC Final against Fulham Irish at McGovern Park on Sunday.

That, though, is only part of the St Kiernan’s story. Remaining relevant since eventually capturing a senior title in 2016 has been a challenge, but the sheer graft taking place on a daily basis matters for the future.

Kiernan’s thriving underage system is a source of real hope. “We have U7, U9, U11, and U12 girls on Friday evening - there could be 200 kids on a Friday evening, it is organised chaos, but it works,” Reidy laughs.

“Then you have U13, U15, and U17 training on Tuesday and Thursday before the seniors and juniors come on to the field. We were lucky enough to get funding from Barnet Council because we were moved out of our old area for development - where we used to play.

“We lost that field, we got our own new pitches in the borough of Barnet - a beautiful full sized pitch and a training pitch. We have planning permission for our clubhouse and car park which will hopefully start early in the new year if everything goes to plan.”

Something is stirring in London with the juvenile work being carried out critical according to Reidy. “They get more games, you have far more blitzes,” he says. “What they have done since Covid is they have split the blitzes up. A host club would take three or four clubs on any given Saturday or Sunday, you will have that running from as soon as Easter right through to the break up for the schools.

“Then you have it for the month of September when they come back, culminating in the ABCs in September when clubs travel from all over Britain to Greenford. I think this year they had something in the region of 2,500 children playing.”

Bringing players through the age grades is the mission most clubs in London want to accomplish. It isn’t easy, but progress has been made according to Reidy.

“Looking through our 26 or 28 man panel for the weekend, we will have about four or five homegrown,” he responds. “We have set-up our own homegrown junior team that play in the junior championship, we were beaten in the junior semi-final by Wandsworth, who went on to win it. So we have a homegrown team exclusively, we have a reserve or a B team, and we have the A team.

“The level of player here is higher than would have been before or there is more of them maybe. You always had two or three, but now you have more.

"You have some in all of the top clubs - Tír Chonaill Gaels, Parnells, St Kiernan's, Tara, Harlesden - the level of homegrown player has got a lot better.

“The popularity of the game here is gone crazy. Football from U7 to U17 has gone off the scale, both for girls and boys.”

Different outfits have fielded all homegrown teams in junior competitions which is another sign that players are being kept involved. “There will be more in the future - it is a great way of retaining lads,” Reidy says.

“After U17 it is a very big jump to senior football. It is a great way to give them a pathway to go on to senior football. If they are not that way inclined, at least it keeps them with their mates, keeps them in the club. If they aren't players of the future they are administrators of the future. So you try to retain every one you can.”

For that to happen facilities need to be provided with St Kiernan’s establishing significant links in Barnet. “Tír Chonaill Gaels have their own base, others are using council grounds or are sharing with rugby clubs,” Reidy explains. “That is how it works here.

“To have our own base in that particular area and borough where there is a very high level of first, second, and third generation Irish. Not just that, they bring along their friends from school, that is what makes it popular.

“The numbers are staggering. You see rural clubs at home, they are merging, they are having to merge to survive. We don't have that problem here. We are so lucky when it comes to underage here.”

This week Sunday’s encounter with Fulham Irish dominates the GAA conversations in London. Laois native Cathal Óg Greene, a capable footballer for London, has won senior titles as a player and manager for St Kiernan’s.

“He has been a very good fit, he is living a good way down in Kent so it is a big dedication for him to come up,” Reidy says.

“You have Cathal Óg, Ger O'Shea, Liam Brennan, myself, Chris Byrne - we are all doing it. We are all training, we help each other. If someone cannot make it, somebody steps up, that is how we are.

“Nobody is more important than the next man in our club. The same on the field, we have a very, very good side, but we are facing formidable opposition on Sunday.”

Reidy can remember demanding days with St Kiernan’s too. “I have been with the club since 2001, I have been outside the gates of a football pitch ringing to see if we can get 15 for a championship match,” he recalls.

“So I have seen both sides of the club. The way we are now, how organised we are now, it doesn't happen by accident. It takes an awful lot of hard work - with the underage, behind the scenes, everything that goes into it. Ógie has been great, we are spoiled really to be back in the final again. Hopefully we can do the job.”