THERE was a deep sadness for the Fanad United club over the weekend as they came to terms with Ollie Horgan’s death.

Little was known of the Salthill native when he first togged out for Fanad in 1989.

Horgan signed as a player with Fanad in 1989, and the shrewd signing of the tough-tackling left back/midfielder was the start of a legacy that will forever form a part of the annals of Fanad’s history.

He had a glittering career as a player with the club and was a vital cog of the team that captured our second FAI Intermediate Cup in 1995.

Horgan added a number of Ulster Senior League and Knockalla Caravan Cups to his medal collection before the wind down of his playing career and entry into the world of management and involvement with the Irish Schoolboys teams.

The Galway man didn’t stay away for too long however and returned to the club in 2004 following the departure of Eamon McConigley.

Assisted by his friend and former teammate, Colm McGonigle, Horgan led the club to three USL League titles along with a few league cups.

Horgan always needed a strong goalkeeper and in Darran Nash he had a trusted number one.

Nash spoke of the influence Horgan had at Traigh-a-Loch during that time.

“Ollie was a real good coach but first and foremost he was a hard worker.

“He knew everything about players whether they were in Donegal or elsewhere.

“He was involved in the Irish Schools so he knew all the best players coming through in the country.

“So even when we were playing down the country in the Intermediate Cup, he knew everything about the teams we were playing. And he had contacts all over the place that would fill him in.

“Training sessions were fresh and different and you were working on new things all the time.

“He did a lot of work on set-pieces as well.

“He would have used a lot of different players, and it’s funny there’s a few videos doing the rounds in the last couple of days and Ollie is roaring ‘work, work, work’. He wanted good characters that would put in the effort and then they could go out and play their football.

“He was very modest himself. He didn’t expect a pat on the back every time he won a game, and it was the same with the players as well, he would keep you grounded.

“It was a running joke in the dressing room that he would talk up teams that we were expected to beat.

“But then on days when you were up against it, and we played the likes of Shamrock Rovers in the FAI Cup, he would encourage you and say to have a really good go at it. You might have been up against it but he didn’t want you being overawed.”

The league winning season of 2006 has gone down in local football history as Fanad won their last 11 games to force a play-off and then defeated Kildrum 2-1 to win the league.

There were many big days out at the time but Horgan wasn’t one to get carried away.

Nash said: “He took every game as if it was the same.

“I wouldn’t say he treated it like a cup final, but the attitude was this is the job and this is what you have to do.

“We did play in a number of finals and then there was that season when we were 11 games behind and had to come back and win them all.

“But it was just one match at a time with Ollie and don’t look too far ahead and remain level-headed.”

Horgan wasn’t one for massaging players egos but he did have man-management qualities that were respected.

“He was so obliging and in so many ways.

“Ollie had a number of injuries himself and I remember the first day I ever saw him playing in Milford he had both knees bandaged up.

“So he had his own injury problems and he made sure that anybody that needed surgery or anything like that was looked after. We had a number of cruciate injuries in Fanad and I broke my leg, and there was more than that as well, and he made doubly sure that everything was sorted.

“And he was one of those that would have been sitting by the bedside if you got a bad injury in a game as well and ended up in the hospital.”

Horgan’s vision brought Fanad onto the League of Ireland stage entering them in both the LOI U19s and A Championships.

He then took the next step in his career by taking on the Finn Harps job.

It was a big move but one Nash knew Horgan would be fit for.

“I don’t know what went on in the interview but I would say they saw Ollie as a realist, and also someone who is very passionate.

“He was very intelligent and a good coach. It was a great appointment at the time and I was delighted to see it happen.

“I think in 2007 we played Harps in the League Cup up in Ballybofey and I was asked to do an interview for the match programme.

“I was asked about the set-up in Fanad and I remember highlighting at the time that we had a really good coach in Ollie Horgan.

“Little did I know at the time that he would be heading to Harps a few years later.

“I wasn’t surprised with the success he had and I was fortunate to coach with him for a season.

“Now it was the year we were relegated and it just didn’t work out but it wasn’t for the lack of efforts.

“There were a lot of good players from down the country and they weren’t at Harps for the money. They could easily have found clubs beside them but they were there for Ollie.

He added: “He’s someone we will all miss a lot, especially down in Fanad.

“He was a very intelligent man, and he played senior championship football and hurling down in Galway, and on top of that he was a good swimmer, and a great pianist.

“A man of many talents, and a really unique individual who will be really missed.”