Lindsay elected GMA Vice-President

JOE Lindsay, was last week elected vice-president of the Gaelic Masters Association at the organisation’s annual general meeting in Longford, where his son, Damien was named vice-secretary.

The Castlederg man has been a mainstay of Masters Football in Tyrone since its inception, playing for the Red Hands during their inaugural season, which ended in a narrow defeat to Kildare in the All-Ireland final and managing them to the national title in 2015, and now acting as team boss.

However, despite his long service, which has also included being a founder member of his beloved Castlederg club, he admits to being left surprised at his appointment.

“I was shocked, I couldn’t believe it. It’s a great job, but I still can’t believe it and the amount of messages I’ve got is unreal!,” beamed Joe, who will take over the president’s role from Dr Mick Loftus in five years time.

Lindsay, Eugene Bradley and Joe’s son Damien remain in charge of the Tyrone Masters, who won the All-Ireland title in 2015 and finished as runners-up to Dublin in 2018, while last year they lost to the Dubs in the last four.

They have also won three All-Ireland Shield titles under Lindsay’s stewardship, which is driven by an unsurpassed passion for the sport.

“I love Gaelic Football, I live and breathe Gaelic Football,” he enthused.

“This is my 30th year with the Masters – I started playing with them in their first year, 1990 when Kildare beat us by a point in the final that year, I’ve never been out of them since!

“And this is my 47th year with Castlederg – I’m one of the founder members of the club. We started the club, myself, Charlie O’Donnell, Eugene McLaughlin and Joseph Gallagher.

“ I’m still in the committee, but I’ve done chairman, managed them, I’ve never been out of the committee since the day we started 47 years ago.”