Sean O'Kane Memorial Cup to take place this weekend

St. Joseph’s Boys’ School will host a football tournament in honour of one of the city’s most popular teachers this weekend.

The Sean O’Kane Memorial Cup will be held over two days – Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2 – and will feature 32 local clubs. The 8-a-side competition will feature age groups 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 and will feature some well known faces, including Derry City players past and present.

Sean was a much-loved and widely-respected English teacher at St Joseph’s. He also taught drama while also being heavily involved in the school’s football coaching.

A dedicated Glasgow Celtic fan, Sean battled cancer for years and was also involved in fundraising for research into fighting the disease, taking part in the first ever Cancer Research Relay for Life Legenderry back in 2017.

He faced his illness with bravery and often humour and was a constant source of strength for his family and friends despite his own difficulties over the years. He sadly passed away on January 7 of this year but remains fondly remembered by anyone fortunate enough to know him.

This weekend’s tournament will celebrate Sean’s life and his legacy. Fellow teacher and friend at St. Joseph’s Paul Gibbons explained the thought behind the tournament.

“We ran it as the St. Joseph’s Cup last year when Sean wasn’t well,” he says. “During that week I was keeping him informed. He would have loved to have come up, but he wasn’t well. The sensible thing to do when he passed away was to have the tournament in his memory because he was all about the football.

“Because he coached teams like Tristar, Derry Colts and Institute U18s he is well-known in local circles so a fare few people will have crossed paths with him and that’s really where the idea came from because he was a clubman himself. It is just natural to celebrate Sean’s life and hold this in his memory.”

Everyone who knew him has an endearing memory of Sean, and there are always stories of when he showed his unique sense of humour, and his unique view of the world in the most memorable ways. His students remember him fondly, his colleagues remember him lovingly and this week’s tournament, Paul explains, is the least they could do to give back to someone who gave so much of himself during his life.

“We were joined at the hip in terms of football in the school,” he continues. “His biggest problem as that he was overly generous. When he was the coach at the likes of Tristar, at Easter time he would have bought all the wains Easter Eggs. Every match he came with Capri Suns and he came with Jaffa Cakes. I recall times when he went to games and paid for the buses himself, out of his own pocket. He was over and above, and this tournament is just a wee thing we’re giving back.”

A Celtic fan through and through, Sean was as passionate about playing the game he loved as much as coaching.  

“Even when he played indoor with the staff, he went on like he was Baresi, even though he had two left feet,” Paul laughs. “His passion was football. He knew himself he had two left feet, but the craic and the passion were what he was all about.”

Registration will take place at 9am at St. Joseph’s Boys’ School this Saturday with the competition starting at 9:30am.