David Jeffrey has told his players to embrace the rich sense of history and occasion surrounding Saturday’s Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup final with Crusaders at Windsor Park.
While Ballymena United are chasing their first blue riband success since last lifting the trophy in 1989, seasoned boss Jeffrey is also targeting his eighth as a manager.
And with a milestone birthday on the near horizon, the 59-year-old accepts the opportunity to add to his tally is diminishing with every passing year.
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“The Irish Cup was never really kind to me as a player,” he said. “I think I only ever played in two finals for Linfield and the infamous trilogy of finals for Ards against Bangor.
“I never enjoyed any success as a player, but was very fortunate and blessed to lift the trophy seven times during my time as manager of Linfield.
“It is always a privilege to be in an Irish Cup final and given that - God willing - I will be 60 in October, I don’t know how many more opportunities I will get.
“It would be magical if we managed to bring the Irish Cup back to Ballymena. It would be immense, absolutely immense.”
Jeffrey accepts Ballymena, who finished in the lower half of the Danske Bank Premiership, will be underdogs to end the club’s 33-year wait for Irish Cup glory.
Opponents Crusaders ended the league campaign with a keen sense of momentum, en route to a fourth-place finish, and are strong odds-on favourites with the bookies.
“There’s no doubt we will be underdogs and that’s not playing mind games or anything like that, you only have to look at the facts,” said Jeffrey.
“Crusaders have a lot of excellent players, including the likes of Adam Lecky and Jonathan McMurray who are ex-Ballymena United players.
“They have been on a fantastic run of form in recent months and they’ll probably be frustrated that they weren’t up there challenging for the league title.
“But their performances have been highly impressive and it will be a big motivation to them to secure European qualification by winning the Irish Cup.”
Jeffrey, who lifted the cup seven times as Linfield boss in 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012, reached the 2020 final with Ballymena.
But in a surreal showpiece, played in front of only 500 spectators in the month of July due to Covid-19, Glentoran came out on top, winning 2-1 after extra-time.
“It was at the height of Covid and it was a bit surreal, although I was delighted that the IFA persevered to make sure the final was played that year,” said Jeffrey.
“We played really well and were actually really unfortunate not to win it, but afterwards everyone went home and it was such an anticlimax.
“Reaching the final again has been brilliant for us, but we know we’ll have to be at our best to make the most of the opportunity.”
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