Stout Ferguson: Brandywell born and bred

When you are told to stand by for a phone call from Radio Foyle stalwart, Sean Coyle, wow!

When his instantly recognisable mellifluous tones tip you off about a local celebrity’s forthcoming big birthday, double wow!

And so it was, on a recent sunshiny September morning, Derry News had the pleasure of interviewing Sean’s ‘minder’ Mr Stout ‘Gerard’ Ferguson who celebrated his 80th birthday at the weekend with a surprise party in the Argyle Arms. Yes, Stout, we knew all about it but we were sworn to secrecy.

Brandywell through and through, Stout’s earliest memories are of his home at 17, Brandywell Road. His mother was Kathleen McAdams from Marlborough Street and his father was Willie Ferguson from Nelson Street, a carter for the Foyle Road based company Montgomery’s, which delivered goods coming into Derry Quay to shops around the town.

Smiling, Stout said his father took up the training of greyhounds in later life and ran them in the Brandywell.

Stout’s siblings were: Ann, Sheila, Dolores, Kathleen, Ruby, Tommy, Patsy, Noel, Damien and the late Mona, John, Joe and Daniel.

Educated at the Long Tower primary school, Stout served his time as a bricklayer with Kennedy’s of Coleraine, starting when he was just 14 years old. He fondly remembered his first job, helping to build Bluebellhill Gardens in the city.

“I worked all over. I was in Dublin and in England. I helped to build Parkhurst prison on the Isle of Wight, around 1960”, laughed Stout, “as well as the big arches and the copings at the front of the Foyleside Shopping Centre and Sumra House on Strand Road.”

Stout Ferguson in his boxing days.

Stout was also a prolific sportsman in his day. “If you lived in the Brandywell, you had to learn how to box,” he said.

“I boxed and played football and swam for the Long Tower Boys’ Club. That area, the Long Tower and the Lourdes Hall, is all gone now. My brother John was actually the lifeguard in William Street swimming baths.

“The late John Donnelly trained me in boxing and Tommy Donnelly who trained St Mary’s Boxing Club.

“Tommy Donnelly trained Charlie Nash. I fought light heavyweight and heavyweight. I really did it for the craic. We trained every night in Alexander Place, where the Long Tower Club was then.

“Jackie Duddy who died on Bloody Sunday trained with us, when he was 15. He died when he was 17. He was a great boxer, and was going to be a great boxer. He would be the uncle of John Duddy the boxer.

“We didn’t swim competitively. We used to go here, there and everywhere. We used to go into the Foyle. I also played football for Brandywell Harps and Ivy Swifts. I loved all those sports,” he said.

Just one of Stout's football teams.

Turning to the subject of romance, Stout’s wife, Frankie, revealed how the young couple met and married.

Frankie said: “My friend was going with his friend, that was Agnes Stewart and Eamonn Nolan. We used to go down the town on a Saturday. She used to go into Littlewoods and get eggs for her granny.

"Well, he was along with Eamonn and we were standing chatting outside Littlewoods. We happened to say about the eggs and Stout said, ‘I could down those six eggs now’ and we said, ‘Raw?’ and he did. Agnes had to go and get more eggs for her granny

“That was a Saturday afternoon and I don’t remember whether it was in the Corinthian or in the Guildhall but we met that night.”

Stout was adamant it was the Corinthian. Frankie was equally adamant it was the Guildhall.

Anyway, two young men were making their way towards Frankie to ask her to dance and a lucky, Stout, got there first.
They danced, Stout walked Frankie home and, in 1966, they got married.

Stout working on Foyleside Shopping Centre.

The couple have six children: Cathy, Barbara, Julie, Gerard, Bronagh and Paul.

A well-known fundraiser in the City, Stout fondly remembered the phenomenal generosity of the patrons of the Oakgrove Bar in Bishop Street.

Stout said: “It started off with Danny Melly, a friend of ours from Brandywell Harps, and Big Kenny Stevenson AKA The Big Dote, the compère, and Gerry McGowan.

“If someone wasn’t well, we ran a wee charity night for them on a Monday. Micky Doherty owned the bar, which was going great. It was packed. The singers, like Bosco Hegarty, came from everywhere and the auctions raised the money. You couldn’t have got a seat in the place. It was jammed.

“I used to go down the town and go around the shops and get the prizes and the sponsorship. Fair play to them. Everybody was so generous because they knew what we were doing.

IN PICTURES: Stout Ferguson's 80th Birthday celebrations in the Argyle Bar

Photos: Kerrie Quinn (nwpresspics)

"We always put a photograph in the paper. On one occasion Brandywell Harps raised £600 for Altnagelvin Hospital’s Children’s Ward.

“Now, after the Derry City matches, we usually head up to the Argyle Arms in Rosemount.

"Being brought up in the Brandywell, it was always football. You were always playing football and you would go ‘out the line’ fishing. Our house was actually the fourth one over from the football ground.

"We used to go up to watch the Scottish players. Some of them would have passed our house and my father would have recognised them and brought them in, Dougie Wood and different players,” said Stout.

Delighted to chat about Derry City Football Club, Stout was delighted Derry was lying second and getting stronger.

“They are drawing a lot of matches but Derry is going to be up there and definitely in Europe. We just need to put in some more goals,” laughed Stout, who said he was looking forward to going to many, many more Derry City matches.

Stout Ferguson in his footballing days.

Sadly, Stout has had bad days in his 80 years. He sustained a couple of severe injuries back in the day.

He recalled: “There was a one-day strike in Derry in 1971. Everything was closed. I was walking up Chamberlain Street, past the 720 bar and the next thing a British soldier stepped out and shot me at point blank range with a rubber bullet.

“I fell to the ground. I had to get 20 odd stitches to my head. It was slit clean open and my skull was fractured. I was kicked all over while I was lying on the ground. They just kept battering me then they dragged me down the street to the police barracks, near where O’Neill’s is now.

“I was in hospital for five and half days. A rumour actually went around Derry that I was dead. Only I was so strong I might have died.

“A few years later I fell off a bus and fractured my skull again. We were down in Buncrana watching a Brandywell Harps match. I was the water man but I was also in charge of the bus going down.

"It was a very warm day and the bus door was open. We were going around Rosemount roundabout.

Stout's parents, Kathleen and Willie, with their family in the Brandywell.

"I was standing beside the driver and the next thing, I fell out the door. I went down on my elbows, which saved me. If I had gone down on my head, I would be dead,” said Stout, who said he had gone through the mill.

“I always say to people, ‘Don’t look back, look forward,’” said Stout philosophically. “Every morning you wake up, that’s the main thing.”