I didn’t care what team I played for, I just wanted to play with Castlebar Celtic

CLUB CENTENARY SPECIAL: RICHIE BERKELEY

My time at Castlebar Celtic began in 1994.

I had just moved to town and knew literally nobody bar my wife and a few of her family.

She suggested I go to Celtic Park, join a team and make some friends.

It was one of the best decisions I ever made.

I started with the B team, ably coached by Scobie Moran and Paddy ‘Bull’ Gannon.

Over the next few years I worked my way up through the ranks to the Super League team, Connacht Senior League team, back to the Super League team, the B, the C team, and finally the masters.

I didn’t care what team I played for, I just wanted to play with Celtic.

I played with some greats along the way, Lar Morahan, Charlie Davis, a very young Stevie Gavin, Kevin Ryan, Danny Lawless, Kieran Murphy, Dec Kilkelly, Bobby Feeney, Marty McNicholas, to name but a few.

I was also lucky to be coached by so many good people, including Gerry Walsh, Mick Kelly, Barry Redmond and Stevie Quinn, Kevin Ruane and Mick Kilcourse, Brian Healy, Mick McDonagh, Nicks (Michael McNicholas), and, of course, my old mate Ivan Mohan.

I finally hung up the boots at the age of 44. The knees just wouldn’t take it anymore.

While I was playing I also began my coaching journey. I did my coaching badges and got involved with teams in Celtic.

Joe McDonald, Adrian O’Brien, Fintan McHale and I took on a very talented Under-16 team. Stevie Ryan, Sean McHale, Emmet Feeney and Lorcan Rowland were the backbone and we had great success.

I also coached my own team, and was player/coach for lots of the teams I played with.

I joined Nicks as coach with the first team and we managed to win the Connacht Cup in 2003, having been beaten finalists the year before.

Around that time, I was also playing with the B team and we had great success. We won titles and promotion a few times to the Super League, but we couldn’t go up as the first team was already there.

Around 2010, Noel Coll approached me and asked would I get involved in setting up a girls team.

My daughter and his daughter were in the school together and some of the girls in the class were having kickabouts. I said I would.

We started in Celtic with about eight girls. We moved on to St. Gerald’s Sports Hall for the winter. Eight players turned into 10, then 12, then 15, then 20 and before long we had to move outside. We didn’t enter a team the first year as we did not have the numbers. But we kept training away. We went into the national schools to promote the club, ran fun events, and before long the new Castlebar Celtic girls academy was up and running.

More and more players began to arrive, with some very high quality players coming in.

Rachel Baynes, the O’Neill girls, Leah Byrne and Leah McHugh, Lauren McLellin, Aisling Reilly, Kirsty Kelly, the list of top quality players is endless.

At this time, the late Jeremy Dee was bringing WNL football to Celtic with a senior women's team, so girls football was on the rise in Celtic.

As the academy grew, we began to enter teams in the Mayo league and success soon followed.

Before long we became the dominant team in Mayo, winning leagues and cups every year at all ages.

The club won Connacht cups, national cups, and we began to get more and more players into the international setup.

At one stage, we had a large Under-8 and Under-10 academy, three Under-12 teams, two Under-14 teams, two Under-16 teams, an Under-18 team and a Women's WNL team.

One of the groups won every game for five years, winning five league and cup doubles from Under-12 to Under-16.

The girl’s club was so much fun and we always tried to be positive and make sure the girls always enjoyed themselves.

We went on a trip to England, trained at the Arsenal Academy and played Spurs Under-15s in a friendly.

We also went to games in the Showgrounds in Sligo, and the Aviva for the WNL Cup final to see Celtic play.

We had a small group of coaches, but very committed.

Myself, Noel Coll, Amy Robinson, Mick Wallace, Tom Ryan, Jim Fox, Mags, Terry Pattison, Brendan McHugh, Mark Togher and of course Aisling Reilly in the academy, ably helped by Sophie Rawson and Holly Berkeley.

To be fair, I have to thank the committee which always backed what we were doing.

Brian Hope was a big supporter of the women’s game, Joey Burke, in the clubhouse, always looked after us, and Marian Robinson left no stone unturned to get the best for the girls. Unfortunately, the tragic accident which saw us lose Jeremy had an impact on the senior club.

It was hard to keep it going, plus Galway’s new WNL team began to make it harder to recruit quality players, and it was decided to end our involvement in the WNL.

Around this time, I began to get involved in the international setup. I had less time to commit and eventually, with a very heavy heart, I had to step away.

The girls club struggled for a little while with no one to lead it, but it is great to see it thriving again and bringing silverware back to Celtic.

Celtic is a fantastic club with brilliant people who are friendly, welcoming and passionate about their football.

I have made so many great friends through this club, friends I am still close to now, even though my association is less now.

It will always be a part of me and I am very proud to have been a small part of the history of this great club.