Special Guests

COLERAINE FC is pleased to announce that six special guests will be at The Showgrounds tomorrow afternoon…

William McConaghie, Gareth McConaghie, Hugh ‘Chuck’ McIntyre, Ryan McLaughlin, Ronnie McDowell and Trevor McLernon will return to the Ballycastle Road for the game against Carrick Rangers.

The six gentlemen are guests of Honorary Vice President, Frankie Moffatt, who gave a glowing reference for the sextet.

I am delighted to welcome a few boys from the wee village of Dervock. It is renowned over the years for producing great players and for those of us who played against any team from Dervock you certainly knew you were in a game.

The six players certainly fit into that mould as all were very skillful yet great competitors. They represented Coleraine Football Club with great distinction covering from 1979 to 2022 with four of them playing in European competitions for the club.

You would have the dream back four with two gifted midfielders in front of them. What more could you ask for? Let’s give them all a big Bannsider welcome to the ground on Saturday.

HUGH ‘CHUCK’ MCINTYRE

The first is Hugh Chuck McIntyre who was a skilful attacking full-back who also knew how to defend.

He played between 1975 and 1979 representing the club in Europe along the way.

WILLIAM MCCONAGHIE

Chuck was joined in the team by William McConaghie in 1978 and what an exciting young player he was.

Willie was a product of Johnnie Magee’s very successful youth team and was a powerhouse in midfield with great vision and passing ability.

RYAN MCLAUGHLIN

We then have Ryan McLaughlin and excellent young defender who had two spells at the club between 2001 and 2009, also representing the club in Europe.

Ryan was much admired and went on to also play for Linfield with great distinction.

GARETH MCCONAGHIE

The next player is one I have huge admiration for.

Willie’s son Gareth proudly represented the club between 2017 and 2022 when his career was sadly cut short by injury.

Simply a fantastic defender who had great feet and passing ability. An Irish Cup winner and also represented the club in Europe on a number of occasions.

RONNIE MCDOWELL

Furthermore, we welcome back the one and only Ronnie McDowell but this time representing his home village.

I owe him a big apology for calling him a Ballymoney boy during his previous visits and he wants everyone to know just how proud he is to come from Dervock.

Ronnie played over 400 games for the club and in my opinion was second only to the great Johnny McCurdy in his position of full-back.

A fierce yet skilful player and one I would want in my team every week.

TREVOR MCLERNON

Last but not least is Trevor McLernon who played as a left-sided midfielder for the Bannsiders during Kenny Shiels’ spell in charge.

Trevor would make 16 appearances for the Stripes after joining from Crusaders following a spell at Wimbledon.

Trevor would later play for the likes of Ballymena United, Coagh United and Moyola Park.