On a trip back to the city where a brilliant career began, the former player and manager tells Michael Walker about Belfast, George Best and a classic encounter with Barcelona
This, he thinks, was late 1968 or 1969. The O’Neills as a family had moved to Belfast from Kilrea in Co Derry in the summer of 1968. They arrived on Madison Avenue, but not the one in Manhattan. No, this one was off the Cavehill Road in an area of north Belfast about to be consumed by the Troubles. Glentoran, across the city, could feel far away.
Distillery’s prize for winning the Irish Cup was to enter the European Cup Winners’ Cup. They drew Barcelona. So in September, now 19 and just starting at Queen’s University, O’Neill lined up against Barcelona, who had recently appointed a new manager – Rinus Michels. The man nominated by France Football as the greatest coach of the 20th century saw his side take a 2-0 lead.
O'Neill at the Oval, where he might have played for Glentoran if not for bus complications. Photograph: Liam McBurney for The Irish Times As time flashed by, in December O’Neill scored at Old Trafford with George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton on the pitch. Soon Best would be an Irish colleague, to O’Neill’s great pleasure: “It was difficult not to love George Best. Such a player. He was the superstar of Europe. If he turned up three minutes before kick-off and had done no training, it didn’t matter. We all loved him.”
Martin O'Neill, just off Distillery Street in Belfast, close to the site of the former Grosvenor Park, where Distillery used to be based. Photograph: Liam McBurney/The Irish Times “With Northern Ireland it was there too – I’m not saying Billy Bingham was laugh-a-minute, but there were moments in Spain when he was relaxed and he’d talk about the game in general ... he had a strict side to him, which was fine; it had been looser under Danny.”
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