BORDER RAIDS PAY OFF FOR HARPS

Ballybofey, County Donegal, is the most unlikely place for a senior club to be located. With a population of 2,000 you would imagine it would be hard put to field a junior side, let alone compete with well-established senior clubs in the League of Ireland.

Yet that is just what Ballybofey's Finn Harps - founded in 1954 as a junior club and elected to the League in 1969 - have done. Whats more, they have proved one of the top teams fo the past six years - winning the FAI Cup in 1974 - and this could be their best season yet.

Harps could be described as the "Burnley" of Ireland. They must develop their own players and they do - with great success. While Burnley's scouts find the North-East of England an area rich in football talent, Harps are situated plumb in the centre of what must be one of the best areas for scouts in Ireland.
Circumstances have also contributed to Harps success. In 1972 Derry City resigned from the Irish League after some clubs refused to play in Derry on security grounds. With Derry across the border in Ulster only 28 miles form Ballybofey, Harps benefitted from both fans and players transferring their allegiance.

However, most of the credit for Harps' rapid rise goes to local businessman Fran Fields and manager Patsy McGowan, the two men who organised the push which earned league status for the club.
Their home ground is Finn park which accommodates 10,000 spectators and has done on a couple of occasions. UEFA Cup (against Aberdeen) and European Cup-Winners' Cup ties have been played there, and the Republic of Ireland also played Yugoslavia in an Olympic Games tie there in 1971.

McGowan, who played in goal for Alloa, Sligo Rovers and Weymouth (under Frank O'Farrell), explained the unlikely setting of Harps: "Although Ballybofey has only a population of 2,000, within a radius of 35 miles there is a population of 100,000. Both Derry and Strabane are within easy distance."

Patsy can still recall Harps senior debut - but not with much pleasure! "We entertained Shamrock Rovers in a City Cup tie and were beaten 10-2. Of the side that played that day, Charlie Ferry is the only one still with us."

Ferry is a Derryman - as are 10 of the Harps' first team squad of 17. Four fo the others come from the Strabane area, while only three are local Donegal men.

"Training, of course, is a problem but we train one night in Ballybofey and two nights in Derry. This, I feel, is the fairest arrangement from the players point of view" said McGowan.

Although he was a goalkeeper, McGowan's side has never been defence-minded. The emphasis, in fact, has been on attack and the facts and figures show that they have been true to that policy.
Twice in their six years of League membership they have finished top scores and they average over two goals a game since their election. On three occasions one of their strikers has finished top scorer.

Harps are probably unique among Irish clubs in that each of their three strikers is 6 foot plus. Two of them - Brendan Bradley and former Northern Ireland international Terry Harkin have had English League experience, while Hilary Carlyle is a teenager who has attracted the attention of Glasgow Celtic.

Bradley is a 26 year old Derry lad, who joined Harps in 1969 when Derry City let him go. He has proved the most prolific scorer in the League of Ireland in the seventies and he also earned Harps their biggest transfer fee when he signed for Lincoln City in 1972.

"I did well at first at Lincoln, " recalls Brendan. "But when the team had a bad run and I wasn't scoring, I got homesick." His 13 goals in 32 games wasn't a bad average at Lincoln and Harps were glad to resign him on his return to Derry.

Ironically, the season Bradley spent at Lincoln was Harps best to date in the League. They finished runners-up to Waterford - only one point behind - causing one to surmise what might have been had they resisted the temptation to transfer Bradley.

While Harps attacking play - and the gaps which it necessarily leaves at the back - have been blamed for their failure to win the League title, it has been well rewarded since Bass began to sponsor the championship.

Between monthly awards, and last season's overall award, for most goals, Harps have collected £2,000 inside a year from Bass.

This could be Harps year, for as manager McGowan said: "We've re-organised the side and, with the players that bit more experienced, we're not giving away as many goals".
A key man in the Harps defence is expensive signing Tony O'Doherty, another former Northern Ireland international.