Past and present Armagh GAA stars will come together for one special night this Friday as the Carrickdale Hotel hosts a ‘Night with the 02s’ in memory of James Reel.
The event will look back at Armagh’s historic All-Ireland success of 2002 with a series of special guests in attendance including Armagh’s All-Ireland winning manager Joe Kernan and 2002 captain and current boss Kieran McGeeney.
They’ll be joined for a unique night celebrating the 2002 success by former friends and one-time rivals with Oisin McConville and Benny Tierney on the bill along with Tyrone legend Peter Canavan and former Kerry great Tomás Ó Sé.
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The event will be hosted by RTÉ GAA presenter Joanne Cantwell and the night is to help raise money for the 'Time2Play' charity which was set up following the tragic passing of James Reel, aged 35, last April.
The much-loved husband and father of two was a devoted Gael and his family and friends have been campaigning to build a play park at Silverbridge GAC near the family home in South Armagh.
Plans for the James Reel Play Park have already been submitted to Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and around £75,000 of the initial £100,000 target has been raised - although the cost of the project is expected to rise with the soaring cost of fuel and materials.
Prior to Christmas, Armagh played current All-Ireland champions Tyrone in a hugely successful pre-season friendly at the Athletic Grounds in aid of 'Time2Play' and this Friday's event will also be a chance for people to get out and socialise with other GAA fanatics after a difficult two years of lockdown.
One of the heroes of the 2002 squad, goalkeeper Benny Tierney, said he is looking forward to catching up with his former colleagues.
“I think people are looking forward to a good night out and they’re even prepared to listen to me for a few hours,” joked the former Armagh shot-stopper.
“It should be a great night’s craic. It is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since we won the All-Ireland - it has gone by in a flash.
"I am genuinely looking forward to seeing the guys. We don’t meet up as often as we should, everyone has their own lives when you finish football.”
While Armagh reached the holy grail in 2002, they endured a series of near-misses prior to finally getting their hands on the Sam Maguire.
For three successive seasons between 1999 and 2001, they lost out to the team who would went on to win the All-Ireland title - Meath (1999), Kerry (2000) and Galway (2001).
The Kerry defeat after extra-time in the All-Ireland semi-final replay in 2000 might have led several in the Armagh camp to ponder if they’d ever win a senior All-Ireland crown.
However, the Orchard Men went all the way in 2002 in Joe Kernan’s first year in charge of the county.
“I was the eldest member of the panel and I was 33 when we won. I’d been soldering for a long time without winning anything,” recalled Tierney.
“In the last four years, we won three Ulster titles and the All-Ireland in 2002. There was an impression peddled at the time that we were always going to be the bridesmaids.
“It was more relief than anything else to get over the line.
“It was a special bunch of players. When history is written, we’ll probably say that team should have won more, but I am always grateful that we did manage to win one.”
Tickets for Friday’s event at the Carrickdale Hotel are available to buy on the link below.
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/a-night-with-the-o2s-tickets-255239226397
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