Glen GAC - History

History

The Watty Graham club evolved from the Pearse's club formed around 1933, when Fr Anthony Doherty among others arranged a South Derry league. The club reached the 1944 South Derry final and a few of their players represented Derry.

After the folding of the Pearse's club, Watty Graham's GAC Glen was officially formed in 1948. In the early 1950s it competed in a number of South Derry Finals and in 1953 they defeated St John's Mullan (a townland of Ballinderry) to win the South Derry Junior Championship. They won the same title six years later defeating The Loup in the final.

In 1964 they won the South Derry Junior and Derry Junior Football Championship by beating Littlebridge (part of the modern day Ógra Colmcille club) and Sarfield's respectively. The side repeated this feat in 1966 by beating The Loup in the South Derry Junior final before going on to win the Derry Junior final. The 1970s proved a barren decade for Watty Graham's and they have little apart from a McGlinchey Cup success in 1974 to show for it. Glen opened a new social club in Maghera in April 1976.

The club won its first Derry Intermediate Football Championship in 1980. They overcame Drumsurn in the final by 0-06 to 0-03. Glen won a second Intermediate Championship in 1983 defeating Drum in the final.

In 1985 Watty Graham's won the All-Ireland Óg Sport title. They competed in county, provincial and All Ireland phases to come out winners. Two years later they won the Derry Minor Football Championship with a success over Ballinascreen. The same year Glen won the Larkin Cup and also the Senior Division 1 League. The side added another Larkin Cup in 1995. Glen won their fourth and fifth Junior Championship in 2004 and 2005, the competitions this time won by the Glen Thirds team. This same Thirds team went on to win three in a row by winning the Thirds Championship in 2006.