After humble beginnings and going decades without a pitch to call home, Carryduff GAC has celebrated its 50th anniversary as one of the biggest clubs in Ulster.
When Barney Clarke and Joe Swail came together with a handful of friends in 1972 to form a gaelic team in Carryduff they had just wanted to play the sport they loved close to their home in the town and never imagined that it would grow to the size that it is today with over 1,600 members.
Having originally been told that "there would never be gaelic football in Carryduff", the original team members persisted and as it grew from a village into a small town, the club grew as well, despite it not having a pitch to call its own for decades.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, Barney Clarke said: "The club began because we wanted to be able to play the sport that we loved where we were from instead of having to play for a variety of different clubs across Down.
"At first we only had a handful of players and we went about asking friends and people we went to school with to join us and eventually we had around 18 players for matches and in our first year we won every single game bar one."
Joe Swail said: "The early years were difficult in the sense that we never had a pitch to call our own and every match was always an away game, but thankfully there were many clubs that were willing to support us and help us get going.
"We were told that there would never be gaelic football in Carryduff initially, but we overcame these issues and the club is now a huge part of the community here and it has been great seeing it grow over the years to the size that it is now.
"There are now generations of families who have been part of Carryduff and we look forward to seeing the club continue to grow into the future."
In 2002, Carryduff finally secured itself a home when it completed its first pitch, encouraging even more people to become part of the club.
For the first couple of years players found themselves changing in old mobile classrooms that were a world apart from the thriving facility that the club now has in place.
Around this time Hurling and Ladies football were introduced to the club which had a number of thriving underage teams. These proved to be very popular additions and now at the underage age level there are as many girls playing gaelic games as boys, with the girls often having a lot more success on the pitch than their male counterparts.
The huge youth set-up at the club has been a main contributor to growth at the club as hundreds of youngsters come together every week for training sessions and games.
Many of these players will continue with Carryduff until senior level with the majority of the adult players having played underage at the club.
Daniel Coogan, James Guinness and Ronan Lawlor, who are members of the current men's senior team and Beth O'Neill from the ladies one, said that the friendships they have developed over the years have been very important and provide a lot of motivation for them on game days.
Ronan Lawlor said: "I have been playing for Carryduff since underage level, before we actually had our own pitch.
"It has been amazing to see how the club has grown over time to the point where we now have this huge facility here in Carryduff of hundreds of people coming here to enjoy gaelic games every week.
"There is a brilliant atmosphere around the club and many of us have been playing together since underage level, which encourages you to give it your all every week because you are out there playing with your friends and you want to do your best for them."
Beth said: "I originally started coming to the club with my friend when she wanted someone to come with her to her first training session and I have never looked back.
"The social aspect of the club is really good and from a young age you are making friends with people who you may never have met before due to going to different schools.
"The club is now roughly 50/50 for boys and girls at an underage level and it is great that everyone is given so much support within the club and that is shown by the success that we have had on the pitch."
Alongside its thriving sports teams, Carryduff also has a focus on Gaelic culture with Scor and the promotion of Irish music, dancing, poetry, art and history.
Ana Marie Magorrian, who has been involved with Scor at the club for many years said: "At Carryduff we are very keen to promote Gaelic culture through a variety of different activities ranging from Irish Dancing and music to learning about gaelic history.
"The Scor programme here started shortly after the club was formed with the local parish allowing us to use their facilities to put on our events which proved to be very popular.
"To now have our own hub here at the club where we are able to bring people together is very special and allows even more people to get involved with Carryduff and our community."
As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations, Carryduff GAC hosted an exhibition telling the story of the club through the years at its hub, along with a special anniversary Gala attended by hundreds of members.
As the club celebrates its history, it is also looking towards the future with hopes that it will soon develop a third pitch at its complex as it continues to grow.
Chairperson Kate Connery and culture and Irish language officer Paul McConville said that when they first got involved with the club 30 years ago, they never expected it to reach the size that it has and believe that with further housing being planned for the Carryduff area it will only get bigger.
Kate said: "When I first got involved in Carryduff we had nowhere to call home and a lot of the early years were spent organising and fundraising as a club in order to secure our first pitch.
"Once we had that then there was real momentum behind the club and more and more people started joining up and we are now at a point where we can have 200 children a week turning up for our nursery sessions.
"There is a strong family atmosphere here at Carryduff where we have players come up through underage into our senior squads and now their children are getting involved with us too, and we can only see this continuing into the future as the club continues to grow."
Paul said: "There are so many people who have made Carryduff the club that it is today and it would not be here without them.
"We are very thankful for all of our members who give their time up every week to coach and support our teams, along with all of the work that is done behind the scenes.
"We are lucky to be part of such a wonderful community here in Carryduff who have made the club such an important part of the town and we hope this will continue long into the future."
Video by Dylan Hegarty
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