The brilliant Belfast boys who defied the sectarian tide

They know the address by heart – 749 Shore Road – even though the Star of the Sea Boys Club was demolished decades ago. The storming success of their juvenile football team in the late 1960s and the powerful atmosphere within Old Scores, the 1983 BBC documentary made about those players, means that the club is often identified with that lost side. But talk to any of the team and they will tell you that the importance of the Star of the Sea was much deeper than any sport.

Yes, it was athletics in summer, it was basketball all winter, it had new table tennis sets, it was football, football, football, and it had spanking new facilities. The Star disco ran every Friday night and, afterwards, Liam Conlon and the others would be the youngsters home. Dr. Conlon had a gruff manner and a commanding nature.