My Bannsiders XI

My Bannsiders XI

MEDIA officer Steven Crawford was this week tasked to come up with his favourite Bannsiders starting eleven…

My first proper memory from watching Coleraine was my dad taking me along to the Cup Winners’ Cup tie at home to Spurs back in 1982 at the tender age of six. I started going regularly home and away in the early 1990s. Since then my career as a journalist with the local press (Coleraine Chronicle and Times) and now with the News Letter I have been fortunate to travel far and wide to watch the Bannsiders and report on them with total impartiality! My favourite all-time player is Pat McAllister. The Irish Cup finals of 2003 and 2018 would have to rank as my favourite games.

Goalkeeper:

Chris Johns 

We’ve been fortunate to have a number of really good keepers at the club during the last few years, but for me Chris has it all. He is calm and collected, comes up with the big saves when required and rarely makes an error.

Defenders:

Lyndon Kane 

He is a fantastic modern-day full back who not only does his job superbly well as a defender, but also gets forward as much as possible. He reminds me of Andy Robertson with desire to give everything for the cause, you can see what it means to him to play for Coleraine. I really hope he finally puts his injury woes behind him as he is such a fantastic talent and a great lad too.

Stephen O’Donnell

The big man might only have been at The Showgrounds for a couple of years but the impact he’s made on the club, on and off the pitch, is fantastic. He is a proper defender who has no fear putting his head in where others wouldn’t put their boot. Stevie is also in a select bunch of Coleraine captains to lift a major honour.

Paul Gaston

Another local player with fantastic talent. At times he cruised through games. None of the top strikers from his era enjoyed playing against him, and he had the knack of putting up with vital goals. I was so happy for him to win the Irish Cup in a Coleraine shirt as I knew what it meant to him.

Gerry Flynn

A quality left back who also provided a real attacking threat. We struggled to replace him after he left the club.

Midfielders:

Raymond McCoy

Another silky winger who loved torturing full backs. Again I didn’t get to see a lot of him, but he had that natural ability to glide past opponents.

Tony Gorman

Another player who got fans out of their seats thanks to his spectacular goals. I’ve never saw a player able to generate so much power from a dead ball but still be so accurate. As a keeper it must have been a nightmare when you saw him line up a set piece, no matter how far he was out. He could play a bit too though. Top man as well.

Pat McAllister

What can I say about Packie which hasn’t already been said? A true leader epitomised with his tackle in the last few minutes of the 2003 Irish Cup final when he could hardly walk. He took Coleraine to his heart and the fans took him to their hearts.

Stephen Carson

An absolute joy to watch. Every time Carsie got on the ball you could sense the anticipation in the crowd that something was going to happen. He was such a naturally gifted player. He dribbled past players at pace before cracking one into the top corner with either foot. He was a defender’s worst nightmare.

Strikers:

Dessie Dickson

I never saw Dessie in his prime but I’ve heard all the stories and boy how I’d love to see him playing now. His goal scoring record is phenomenal and rightly earned him call ups to the international squad. Goal scoring is a natural talent and Dessie had it in abundance.

Rory Patterson

Again another natural goal scoring talent. That single season he spent at The Showgrounds was like nothing I have ever witnessed before. It didn’t matter how difficult the chance was he tucked it away. Could you imagine the goals he and Dessie would score?

Credible Mentions:

Johnny McCurdy

An absolute club legend but I never got the opportunity to see him play.

Gareth McAuley

What a player he was and deservedly went on to have a superb career across the water.

Felix Healy

Cool, calm and collected. An absolute midfield maestro.

Jody Tolan

His goal in the 2003 Irish Cup final will live with me forever.