1984/85

It was during this time that Eammon Walshe had his 4-year reign as President of the club. A prop of some ill repute in his day with a soft pair of hands, he worked hard with the Executive to find a home for the club. It was during this time that Milltown House was purchased in 1985 and the work of development was started. With likes of Noel McLoughlin, Pat Bobbett and Frank McLoughlin and the likes of Paul Grimes in the background the club opened its doors in September 1987, though the first game was played the previous April when an Ashbourne side played a friendly with Portadown.

During this time, we had a great relationship with Portadown. In started in 1984 when Eammon Walsh, Roy McGuire and Pat McManus, club captain at the time, invited their President and vice president to our 10-year dinner. In the 80’s travelling to play there was always an adventure, but it was handy to get a good set of tyres for the car, as the price was right. Martin Daly was an expert on this. In fact, Eammon Walshe was a regular speaker the Portadown dinner and sometimes you worried about what he might say. One story highlight’s this and also the spirit of the relationship between the two clubs. Eammon used to attend the Portadown dinner and was asked to say a few words. At the height of the “Ulster Says No’ campaign being run by the Unionists, Eammon mentioned that he saw these signs and this publicity campaign as he drove up to Portadown. With tongue in cheek h said he felt that this building society must be very big in the North as we have a similar campaign down south which goes like ‘Yes, Yes, Yes with the EBS”! We still got invited back.