Skip to content

Blue and white showdown - the towns battling for Irish Cup glory

Niall McCracken,Mid Ulster reporterand
Maria McCann,North east reporter, BBC News NI
News imageBBC A composite image showing two football fans. On the left is a woman with shoulder length blonde hair. She is smiling at the camera and behind her you can see lots of blue and white balloons. On the right is a young boy. He has light brown hair worn short on the sides, and longer on the top. He is wearing dark framed glasses, a blue Coleraine FC zip up top and has a blue and white flag draped around his neck. BBC
Ahead of Saturday's Irish Cup final football fans in Coleraine and Dungannon have been gathering to show their support for the teams

The Irish Cup is one of the most coveted pieces of silverware in Northern Irish football.

For more than a decade, the finals of the prestigious knockout competition have been dominated by a string of Belfast clubs.

But this Saturday, the cup final lineup sees two football teams based outside of Northern Ireland's capital city for the first time since 2014.

Last year's cup champions, Dungannon Swifts, are taking on Coleraine FC in a highly anticipated match at Windsor Park on Saturday afternoon.

'The town has been buzzing'

For Dungannon Swifts, many in the town are still riding high on last year's victory which saw them win the Irish Cup for the first time in the club's history.

As well as the Swifts' on-the-pitch success, perhaps one of the most memorable parts of their silverware campaign was the Tyrone club's emerging association with the Queen of Country herself.

Irish country singer Philomena Begley and her popular song "Blanket on the ground", became the Swifts unofficial anthem for last season.

News imagePhilomena Begley is an older woman with short dark blonde hair. She is draped in a blue and white football scarf and is singing into a microphone. She is surrounded by a number of football players who are clapping along.
As part of this year's build-up to the final, Philomena Begley performed for Swifts fans, players and management in the team's clubhouse

And it continues this year, with the 84-year-old once again performing in the team's clubhouse as part of the build-up to Saturday's final.

She said: "I'm still getting my head around it all, I never thought I'd see the day I'd become the soundtrack for a football team, but I must say I'm really enjoying it.

"I'm singing Blanket on the Ground for over 50 years now, and there's no word about football in it, but it has really caught on with Swifts fans and I'm delighted."

News imageA woman with shoulder length blond hair is smiling and looking at the camera. She is wearing a brown fleece top.
Arlene McFarland has converted her shop into a Dungannon Swifts fan zone

Parts of Dungannon town centre have once again been draped in the Swifts' traditional colours of blue and white and lifelong Swifts fan Charlie Calderwood said it's the only thing people are talking about.

"The buzz about the town this year again has been second to none," he said.

Meanwhile, a few miles away in Newmills, Arlene McFarland has converted her entire shop into a mini Dungannon Swifts fan zone.

She said: "I think it's important for a local business to support a local club, because that is an investment back into the community.

"You can see the whole village has just come alive with colour and the shop has been bouncing with activity, it's fantastic."

News imageMoygashel Regeneration Group An overhead shot of a green football pitch with white markings. On the pitch dozens of children are standing in formation which spells out UTS, for Up The Swifts. Moygashel Regeneration Group
Pupils from Howard Primary School in Dungannon show their support by forming an "Up The Swifts" message for the team ahead of the final

Trevor Boyd is the bus driver taking the Dungannon Swifts team down to the final in Belfast on Saturday.

It is a repeat journey to Windsor Park for him, as he also drove them last year.

"The atmosphere was unbelievable, it's something I'll never forget, and I'm hoping we can do it all over again."

'Have you ever seen Coleraine?'

News imageA person inside a large brown bear costume, wearing a Coleraine Football Club kit, is dancing on a stage. Behind the bear there's a band dressed in blue tops and there are lots of blue while balloons and Coleraine FC scarves and flags.
It has been eight years since Coleraine won an Irish Cup final.

Almost 50 miles away on the north coast, preparations in Coleraine are also underway.

The last time the Bannsiders got their hands on the Irish Cup was back in 2018, before many of the young fans at Millburn Primary School in the town were born.

This week the pupils dressed in blue and white and held a special assembly for the club's players and mascot - Benny the Bannsider.

They were treated to a performance of Have You Ever Seen Coleraine? by the local band Cellar Door who have recorded their own version of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song Have You Ever Seen The Rain?.

The tune's been playing out of school classrooms, cars and businesses in recent weeks, something frontman Gary Anderson said is "surreal".

"I got sent a message and it was of another school and all the kids were singing the lyrics and I realised that this is me coming over the tannoy and all these kids are singing along to my words.

"It was phenomenal... actually, the hairs on my arms were standing up instantly."

News imageLeo is a young boy of around 10 years of age. He has light brown hair worn short on the sides, and longer on the top. He is wearing dark framed glasses, a blue Coleraine FC zip up top and has a blue and white flag draped around his neck.
The special assembly was a hit with young fans like Leo

Leo said: "It was the best assembly I think this school has ever had."

He has been supporting Coleraine FC for five or six years and he's hoping for "lots of cheers, drums, goals, saves… and celebrations" on Saturday.

Tobin had some advice for the squad: "Don't take any pressure and then if you get a goal early, wait for Dungannon to make a mistake and then you can go on the counterattack."

Noah is looking forward to being a mascot at the final. He doesn't know which player he's walking out onto the pitch with yet, but said "it will be very fun".

Football fever

News imageSharon has dark blonde hair, parted on right worn down to her shoulders. She is wearing a blue denim shirt over a white t-shirt and is smiling at the camera.
The principal of Millburn Primary, Sharon Lamont, says the big game is bringing everyone in the town together

The principal of Millburn Primary, Sharon Lamont said they have a close relationship with Coleraine FC and taking part in the pre-match build up is "special".

"This is just fabulous, the excitement, the buzz bringing the whole community together. I think is very important because life's rough at the minute.

"When you drive across the bridges and you're seeing blue and white it's bringing everybody together."

News imageJamie Selfridge is a middle aged man with greying dark brown hair and a short grey beard. He is smiling at the camera and is wearing a dark blue polo shirt
Coleraine FC's Jamie Selfridge said there's a real "feel good factor" about the final

Jamie Selfridge, Head of Business and Community at Coleraine FC, said football fever has taken over the town.

"We are a community club and we are so excited to be able to give them this week and particularly the build up to the cup final.

"The excitement is just buzzing, we are excited as they are… so it's just a real feel-good factor moment."

The Irish Cup final kicks off at 14:30 BST at Windsor Park. The game will be live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport NI website.