Damian Cassidy (born 22 July 1965) is a former

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and former player for the Derry county team in the 1980s and 1990s, who was part of the county's 1993 All-Ireland Championship winning side, starting at left half forward. He also won two Ulster Senior Championship medals, three

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

titles, and a range of under-age inter-county medals with the county. Cassidy played his club football for Bellaghy Wolfe Tones and won five Derry Championships and the 1994

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship The Ulster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition played between the top clubs in Ulster GAA. The trophy awarded to the winners is the Seamus McFerran Cup ( ga, Corn Shéamuis Mhic Fearáin). The winners and th ...

s with the club. For both club and county he usually played as a forward. Cassidy was also a talented hurler. Since retiring from playing football he has managed a number of teams. He guided home-club Bellaghy to success in the 2005 Derry Championship, and Tyrone club

Clonoe O'Rahilly's Clonoe () is a small village and a civil parish in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It includes O'Rahilly Park where the Clonoe O'Rahillys Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club play their home games. It was the scene of the Clonoe ambush in 199 ...

to the Tyrone Championship in 2008. He was the manager of the Derry Senior from 2008 to 2010 and Under 21 teams. His brother

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

also played for Derry.

Playing career

Style

Cassidy played the majority of his career in the forward line (corner forward for Bellaghy and half forward for Derry), but also had a spell in the half back line early in his career. Adrian McGuckin who coached him at St. Pat's,

Maghera Maghera (pronounced , ) is a small town at the foot of the Glenshane Pass in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Its population was 4,220 in the 2011 Census, increasing from 3,711 in the 2001 Census. It is situated within Mid-Ulster Distric ...

said he had a superb left foot and was very comfortable on the ball. GAA journalist and former Derry team-mate

Joe Brolly Joe Brolly (born 25 June 1969 Dungiven, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland) is a Gaelic football analyst, former player and barrister who played at senior level for the Derry county team. Brolly played for Derry in the 1990s and early 2000s ...

said that despite the presence of many other great footballers at the time, Cassidy at his peak "was easily the best club footballer in Derry".

Inter-county

Cassidy was part of the Derry

Minor Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...

side that won the 1983 Ulster Minor and All-Ireland Minor Championships. Cassidy scored 2–03 (2 goals and 3 points—each goal equals 3 points; 2 × 3 + 3 = 9 points, see GAA scoring rules) in the Ulster minor final victory over

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7 ...

. He scored 0–04 from left half forward in the All-Ireland semi-final victory over

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

, before going on to defeat

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in the decider, playing at left half forward. He also won back-to-back Ulster Under 21 Championships with the Derry

Under 21 Under may refer to: * "Under" (Alex Hepburn song), 2013 * "Under" (Pleasure P song), 2009 *Bülent Ünder (born 1949), Turkish footballer *Cengiz Ünder (born 1997), Turkish footballer *Marie Under (1883–1980), Estonian poet * Under (restaurant) ...

side in 1985 and 1986. In 1985 Derry Under 21s were defeated by Cork in the All Ireland Under 21 Championship final and by Cork in the 1986 All-Ireland semi-final. He made his Derry Senior debut straight out of Minors the following year (1984) and was on the 1987

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in early May. The final is usu ...

winning team, at right corner forward. The side defeated

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

in the final. In 1992 Cassidy was part of the Derry panel that won the

. It was 1992 until Cassidy and Derry got back to an Ulster final, however this time they were beat by

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

. Derry however defeated Donegal in the 1993 Ulster decider and went on to win the 1993 All-Ireland Championship with a semi-final victory over

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and a final victory over Cork. The success was the county's first ever

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

. Cassidy won further National League medals in 1995 and 1996.

Club

At underage level with

Bellaghy Bellaghy () is a village in County Derry, Northern Ireland. It lies north west of Lough Neagh and about 5 miles north east of Magherafelt. In the centre of the village (known locally as The Diamond) three main roads lead to Magherafelt, Port ...

he won Derry Under 16 (1981) and Derry Minor Championships. He made his Senior debut for the club in 1982. He won his first

Derry Senior Football Championship The Derry Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top sixteen Derry GAA clubs. The winners receive the John McLaughlin Cup and qualify to represent Derry in the Ulster Senior Club Football Champi ...

medal with Bellaghy in 1986, with victory over

Ballinderry Ballinderry () is a small civil and ecclesiastical parish on both sides of the County Londonderry / County Tyrone border in Northern Ireland. It is a rural parish of about 350 houses and lies on the western shores of Lough Neagh. The parish c ...

in the final; Bellaghy also won the league that year. Despite Bellaghy not reaching the final, Cassidy was the Derry Championship's top-scorer in 1991, with a total haul of 4–06 (18 points). The club won the Derry Championship again in 1994, and also won that year's

. The club went on to contest the 1995

All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament which began in season 1970–71. It is the top-tier competition for the senior football clubs of Ireland and London. The current champions are Kilcoo of ...

final against

Kilmacud Crokes Kilmacud Crokes ( ir, Cill Mochuda Na Crócaigh) is a large Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Stillorgan, Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Background Kilmacud GAA club was formed in 1959 following a historic public meeting in Saint ...

. Bellaghy were beat by three points and unfortunately for Cassidy he missed a vital penalty late in the match. Cassidy won further Derry Championship medals with the club in 1996, 1998 and 1999 —winning Derry league medals in the latter two years as well. Bellaghy were also Ulster Club runners-up in 1996 and 1998. He was awarded the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

accolade in both the 1994 and 1999 Derry Championship finals. Cassidy won player of the tournament in the All Ireland 7's hosted by Kilmacud in Dublin in 1996. He was also on the 7's team that won the All Ireland 7's in 1986. Cassidy won Player of the Tournament at the 1997 Castlewellan 7's, which Bellaghy won. Cassidy retired in 1999.

School

Cassidy won three

MacRory Cup The MacRory Cup is an inter-college (school) Gaelic football tournament in Ulster at senior "A" grade. The MacLarnon Cup is the competition for schools at senior 'B' grade. Players must be under nineteen at the start of the tournament. The win ...

medals in 1982, 1983 and 1984 whilst at St. Patrick's College,

(secondary school). He also played hurling for the college and won a Mageean Cup in 1984.

Management career

Inter-county

Cassidy was Derry assistant manager to

Eamonn Coleman Eamonn Coleman (1947 or 1948 – 11 June 2007) was a Gaelic football manager who had previously played for the Ballymaguigan club and the Derry county team. He had two separate stints as manager of the senior Derry county team, and his chief ...

from 2000 until 2002. Derry won the National League in 2000 and got to the All-Ireland semi-final in 2001. Following the resignation of Coleman in July 2002, Cassidy said he was not interested in becoming Derry manager.

Mickey Moran Mickey Moran is a former Gaelic footballer and manager-coach, who has been manager of Kilcoo since 2019, with a background as an inter-county manager who most recently managed the Leitrim county team. He played at senior level for the Der ...

in the end succeeded Coleman. In late 2002, Cassidy was linked with the vacant Antrim manager's job, but rejected it. The post eventually went to PJ O'Hare. Following illness to then

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

manager Eamonn Coleman before the start of the 2005 Championship, assistant Martin McElkennon became acting-manager and Cassidy became McElkennon's assistant. He described his position as a "consultancy role", but was assigned an assistant manager / coach's role the following year. In 2008 he applied for the vacant Derry Senior football manager's job. Cassidy was announced as new Derry boss late on 7 October 2008. His backroom team will include former Antrim star Kevin Madden, as well as Martin McConnell, Brendan McCrory and goalkeeping coach Kevin O'Neill.

Club

He managed the

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

and Under-21 teams of St. Teresa's Loughmacrory in 2003 and led the club to the Tyrone Under 21 Championship title. Cassidy became Bellaghy manager for the 2004 season and managed them to the county final of 2004 where they lost to Slaughneil by 2 points. He also secured the league title in the same season. They captured 2005 Derry Championship title and they also reached the final of that year's Ulster Club Championship. Then reached the Derry final again in 2007 under his leadership, but lost by a point to

Glenullin Glenullin was previously a rural area but has now expanded to become a small village in a valley between the villages of Garvagh, Swatragh and Dungiven, and lies in the borough of Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The nearest c ...

after a replay. He announced in December 2007 that he was stepping down as Bellaghy boss. He was appointed manager of Tyrone club

in January 2008. He successfully guided the club to success in the 2008 Tyrone Championship, the club's first title since 1991. They shocked the "big two" of Tyrone club football –

Errigal Ciarán Errigal () is a mountain near Gweedore in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the tallest peak of the Derryveagh Mountains and the tallest peak in County Donegal. Errigal is also the most southern and the highest of the mountain chain called the ...

and

Carrickmore Carrickmore () is a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Omagh East, the civil parish of Termonmaguirk and the Roman Catholic Parish of Termonmaguirc between Cookstown, Dungannon and Omagh. ...

in the first round and quarter-final respectively. Clonoe then defeated Donaghmore to progress to their first Championship final in 17 years. They faced defending champions Dromore in the final, who went in as red-hot favourites. However, Clonoe beat Dromore by a point after extra time. The feat is all the more remarkable, considering Clonoe are a very young team and have no Tyrone county players on the team. They were however beaten by St Eunan's of

in the quarter-final of the 2008 Ulster Club Championship. Cassidy was reappointed manager of Clonoe O'Rahilly's in 2011, where he guided them back into the Tyrone championship final against Dromore, a repeat of the 2008 final, this time Dromore got their revenge winning by a point. In 2012 he guided Clonoe to their first All County Senior League title, defeating Coalisland in the final. In 2013 he once more lead Clonoe O' Rahilly's to senior championship success, beating Carrickmore in the final. He quickly followed this up with winning the U21 county title and then the Ulster U21 championship with Clonoe, defeating Truagh Gaels of Monaghan. 2015 the O' Rahilly's recaptured the All County Senior League title for the second time in their history under Cassidy's stewardship. Cassidy became manager of Erin's Own Cargin in County Antrim in 2018. Winning the senior championship at his first attempt, beating St Galls in a pulsating high scoring semi-final and then beating parish neighbours Creggan, where the rivalry is intense, in a low scoring championship final. In the same season, Cassidy also lead Wolfe Tones, Bellaghy to their first minor championship win since 1994, by beating close rivals Lavey Gac in the Derry minor championship final at Derry GAA Centre of Excellence, Owenbeg. He followed this up by leading the 'Tones' to the Ulster minor club championship, hosted by Belfast club St Pauls on New Years Day, by heavily defeating Crossmaglen Rangers Gac in the final. Cassidy won his second senior club championship with Cargin in 2019 by beating Lamh Dhearg in a final replay and then extra time in a pulsating final. He also won the All County senior league title to do the double. In 2020 in the year of the Covid virus, he led Erin's Own Cargin to their first historic three in a row, by again defeating Creggan in extra time in a classic high scoring game.

Playing honours

Inter-county

Senior

: **Winner (1):

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

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: **Winner (3): 1992, 1995, 1996 *

: **Winner (2): 1987, 1993 **Runner up: 1985, 1992 *

Dr McKenna Cup The Dr McKenna Cup is an annual Gaelic football competition played between Counties of Ireland, counties and List of universities in Northern Ireland, universities in the province of Ulster GAA, Ulster. It is the secondary Gaelic football comp ...

: **Winner (1?): 1993

Under-21

All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship The GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the EirGrid GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association ( ...

: **Runner-up: 1985 *

Ulster Under-21 Football Championship The Ulster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Ulster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest in ...

: **Winner (2): 1985, 1986

Minor

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under ...

: **Winner (1): 1983 *

Ulster Minor Football Championship The Ulster Minor Football Championship is the Minor "knockout" competition in the game of Gaelic football played in the province of Ulster in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Ulster Council. The trophy for the winning side is Th ...

: **Winner (1): 1983

Club

– Runner-up: 1995 *All-Ireland Kilmacud Crokes Sevens Championship – Winner (1): 1986 *Castlewellan Sevens – Winner (1): 1997 *

– Winner (1): 1994 *

– Runner up: 1996, 1998 *

– Winner (5): 1986, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999 *

– Runner up: 1995 *Derry Senior Football League – Winner (3): 1986, 1998, 1999 *Derry U16 Football Championship - Winner 1981 *Derry U18 Hurling Championship - Winner 1983 (Lavey)

School / college

– Winner (3?): 1982, 1983, 1984 *Mageean Cup (hurling) – Winner (1) – 1984

Individual

* All Star – Nominated (runner up): ? *Derry Championship First Trust Top Scorer award – Winner (1): 1991 *Derry Championship Forbes Kitchen Man of the Match award – Winner (2): 1994, 1999 *All-Ireland Kilmacud Crokes Sevens Championship Player of the tournament – Winner (1): 1996 *Castlewellan Sevens – Winner (1): 1997 *Sunday Independent Inter-county Team of the year (Left Half Forward) – Winner: 1993

Managerial honour

* 2003 St Teresa's Loughmacrory, Tyrone U21 Championship * 2004 Wolfe Tones Bellaghy, Derry All County Senior League * 2005 Wolfe Tones Bellaghy, Derry Senior Championship Wolfe Tones Bellaghy, Derry Ulster Club Championship finalist * 2007 Wolfe Tones Bellaghy, Derry Senior Championship finalist * 2008 Clonoe O'Rahilly's, Tyrone Senior Championship * 2009 Derry, National League finalist D1 * 2011 Clonoe O'Rahilly's, Tyrone Senior Championship finalist * 2012 Clonoe O'Rahilly's, Tyrone All County Senior League * 2013 Clonoe O'Rahilly's, Tyrone Senior Championship Clonoe O'Rahilly's, Tyrone U21 Championship * 2014 Clonoe O'Rahilly's, Tyrone Ulster Club U21 Championship * 2015 Clonoe O'Rahilly's, Tyrone All County Senior League * 2018 Erin's Own Cargin, Antrim senior Championship Wolfe Tones Bellaghy, Derry Ulster Minor Club Championship * 2019 Erin's Own Cargin, Antrim senior Championship Erin's Own Cargin, Antrim All County Senior League * 2020 Erin's Own Cargin, Antrim senior Championship

References

External links

Where are they now

BBC interview with Cassidy after being appointed Derry manager

Official Derry GAA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassidy, Damian 1965 births Living people Bellaghy Gaelic footballers Derry inter-county Gaelic footballers Derry hurlers Dog breeders Dual players Gaelic football managers Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football)