The League’s Hall of Fame was established in 2012 to provide due recognition to those who have given outstanding service and made a significant contribution to local Football throughout the League’s history since its establishment in the early twentieth century. George Henderson became the eleventh person to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame at the League’s fifth Hall Of Fame Dinner which was held in The Killyhevlin Hotel’s Riverside Suite on Friday 26th February.

Samuel George Henderson

Samuel George Henderson, born in 1941 and universally known within local football circles as “Yogi”, is a most worthy recipient of the latest Fermanagh & Western Football League Hall of Fame Award.

George’s association with football dates back to his early days as a constable in the Royal Ulster Constabulary when he was first posted to Omagh. In 1962, he was asked by some of his counterparts to play for a local team Firmount United who played their matches, as most teams did in that era, in a farmers field know as McGrath’s Field at Gortnagarn, Omagh. One evening the young Henderson went out to the pitch with a bag of sawdust to mark the lines only to find the field ploughed! A quick get together of some of the

members of Fairmount resulted in the team gaining another field at Dunbreen to use and following that the team applied for membership of the Fermanagh & Western under the name of Dunbreen Rovers. That was at the start of the 1963/64 Season and the newly formed team joined with the other eight teams, Letterbreen, Enniskillen Rangers, Enniskillen Corinthians, Taylor Woods, Ely Omagh Caxtonians, Brookeborough and the Garrison team from Lisanally Barracks to form Division One (the only one) of the League. The Secretary of the new Club, unsurprisingly was George Henderson, a role he has held since that inception and still fulfils today, 53 years later.

I would safely say that there are very few administrators who have held such a role at any club, be it in the Fermanagh & Western or in the Irish Football Association for such a period; indeed, I would go as far as saying this would be a unique achievement. But then again, to all who have come across Yogi in that half century, the word unique would come up more than once in conversation.

With Dunbreen Rovers up and running, it was not long until George lent his administration nous to the Fermanagh & Western taking up a role on the Management Committee in the mid-sixties. Although I was not able to confirm an exact starting date I did see his name recorded in the 1970/71 fixture book as Dunbreen representative and a member of the Emergency & Referees’ Committees.

It was around this time that George also took up his role as a member of Senior Council in the Irish Football Association serving on the Committee for a period of around 15 years, thus qualifying him for Life Membership. George’s service and membership of Senior Council made him one of the Fermanagh & Western Holy Trinity along with Enda Love and Brendan Keogh and there are many stories that could be told about trips to Belfast for meetings or away trips to the Home Internationals at Wembley, Hampden Park or St Ninian’s Park, and probably just as many that probably shouldn’t be told. The three together, although the smallest grouping on Senior Council, gave this Association a valid and respected voice at the top table at Belfast, something that myself, Roy and the other Fermanagh & Western delegates today still reap the benefits of.

As I have alluded to previously, George has served the League & Association for over 50 years and his most significant contribution during that time was as Treasurer, a post he inherited from another previous recipient of this Honour, the late Robin Mitchell. During his time as Treasurer, George had an uncanny knack of extracting money from many varied sources and as a result, all Leagues and Cups had sponsors and if additional funds were required, George would just say, “Leave that with me” and sure enough, pounds shillings and pence would have been extracted from some poor unwitting source, all in the name of football.

Following a temporary blip in how club’s from the Omagh area where affiliated to the IFA, George stepped down from the Treasurer’s post but remained active on the Management Committee. He was later to reprise this role to great effect when in 1998, the Association set up the new Fermanagh & Western Youth League, now the Brendan Keogh Youth League which George served for many years; indeed, he was the first person to be awarded their “Services to Youth Football” in 2002.

George has also been instrumental in the Tyrone Milk Cup Committee since its inception, serving in many different roles; currently he is the President, a role he also fulfils within the Fermanagh & Western Football Association.
There are many other indicators of the service that George has given to football at all levels in the Fermanagh & Western domain, not least the small matter of an MBE, but I am sure you will all agree that this summary marks him out as a very worthy inductee to the Fermanagh & Western Football League Hall of Fame, and a fitting addition to the stellar names who already adorn our Honours Board.