Remembering the player who made his 'Mark'

In two days’ time, Chapel Lane will be the setting for a memorial match between Greencastle, and Derry City honouring Mark Farren.

Set to be played almost a year to the day since the striker lost his battle with cancer at the age of just 33, the match will inevitably be tinged with sadness. But for many, like Mark's father Mickey and close friends Pat and Kevin McLaughlin, it will also be an opportunity to celebrate the life of one of the greatest ever players to emerge from Inishowen.

And what a footballing life that was. It all began up at the park in Greencastle, when as a youngster he would kick the ball about with pals Kevin, Ian Kavanagh, and Paul Harvey.

At school, his skills were noticed early. A member of the Greencastle NS squad that shone in the early 90s, Mark was playing above his age group, and the same was to happen when he went on to secondary school in Carndonagh. It was there, under the guidance of French teacher Pat McGonagle, that he really began to flourish.

"Pat McGonagle never gets any mention when it comes to Mark," said Kevin, "but Mark thought the world of him.
"He coached our team the whole way through and he doesn't get much recognition, but he was a big influence on Mark, football wise."

By this stage Mark had become an underage player at his home club of Greencastle, but in those days it was easier to get picked up by English clubs if you were playing in Derry, so he made the move to (the now defunct) Moorfield, based in the Galliagh area of the city.

Before long, Tranmere Rovers came calling, and Mark opted to sign on as a trainee. But dad Mickey had doubts. He told us: "Crystal Palace were interested in Mark too, and I actually wanted him to go there instead.

"I thought the accommodation at Tranmere wasn't what I would call good enough, and I thought the food was horrendous.
"But Mark wanted to go because there would be a few Irish players there and he thought he'd feel more at home than in London."

Playing as a left back in those days, Mark served his two year apprenticeship, and when the time came, youth coach Alec Rimmer recommended him for a contract.

The first team manager at that time was John Aldridge, whose son also happened to be a trainee along with Mark. And, whether you want to put it down to nepotism or not, Aldridge Junior was handed a contract while Mark was sent on his way.
A short spell at Huddersfield was to follow, but it also proved fruitless, and Mark returned home with his dream of making it in English football shattered.

It was, says Mickey, a difficult time for his son. "Mark came back here and a lot of other boys - not his friends - but players from around Inishowen, they would say 'ha you're not good enough'.

"He had to take an awful lot of abuse."

Not even turned 19 yet, Mark Farren had been branded a failure. At the Donegal Sports Star awards on Friday night, the Irish Olympic coach Patsy McGonagle said that, for every single elite athlete he has ever worked with, the top of their list of priorities is family support, because they are the only ones who will bolster you when times are tough.

And indeed it was during those dark and uncertain times that dad Mickey provided exceptional support for his son.

He said: "Mark came back to live with us again, and we supported him so much because we knew how disappointed he was.
"He had to start again from down, and I helped him, and kept telling him every single day how good he was."

Mark's next port of call was Finn Harps, but it was a frustrating year that resulted in only one senior team appearance. He joined Monaghan after that, and though they were desperate to keep the by now impressive young player, he found the journey arduous and, not wanting to move down there, the contract was torn up.

By this stage in 2003, he had started to come under the radar of the powers that be at Derry City. The under-19 boss, Paul 'Oxo' McLaughlin, had seen him play for Harps in a youth game, and he was interested in signing him - but not as a left back.

Said Mickey: "Oxo said to me 'he's not a left back - that's a striker there', with the pace he had, and so when he came to Derry he was moved up front. It was down to Oxo that Mark became a striker.

"Derry were in dire straits, heading for first division, but Gavin Dykes took over and with the last throw of the dice they ended up in the playoffs and were playing Limerick.

"They came up to the Brandywell and Mark scored a hat trick, and that was really the start of it."

The years that were to follow marked the most prolific spell of Mark's footballing career. He went on to become the club's all-time top goalscorer, with 113 goals in 209 appearances.

But it was quality, besides quantity, that truly endeared him to the Brandywell faithful, as anyone who had the privilege of watching him play in those years will tell you. His left foot was one of the best evert witnessed in Irish football, but he also earned enormous respect for the work rate he put in for every game.

He never stopped running, won games singlehandedly with a moment of individual brilliance, and he had the arrogance of a great finisher that was all the more thrilling because it contrasted so starkly from his modest persona off the pitch.

His friend Pat remembers this aspect of Mark's life most vividly. A Derry City season ticket holder at the time, he and a group of pals would head up in the car to watch Mark play all his home games.

"Around that 2004/05 time," he said, " it was just unreal the football Mark was playing. it was a pleasure to watch him play in the Brandywell, and he had everybody literally on the edge of their seats.

"Even now to this day when you're sitting in with the Derry supporters, you can hear them say 'oh my god if only Mark Farren was here now'."

Dad Mickey feels the same. He said: "When Mark was playing with Derry, the atmosphere was different. They were always expecting something special from him.

"If he was injured you'd hear the fans saying 'where the hell's Mark? why is he not on?' Sometimes Stephen Kenny would keep him on the bench if the team wasn't all that good, he would keep Mark for a bigger match coming up and the fans would kick up a stink because they wanted this buzz that he always gave them."

Exceptional

Mark's outstanding form earned him the PFAI Player of the Year Award in 2005, and it's this accolade, says Kevin, that really puts his friend's exceptional talent into context.

"That time was the golden era of the League of Ireland," he said. "You've Glen Crowe and Conor Sammon getting Irish caps, Paddy McCourt heading off to Celtic, James McClean not long after was going across the water.

"And Mark was in a league of his own at that time. He was voted the best player in Ireland in 2005, and in the years following that there was a lot of interest from English clubs for Irish players, and I think he would definitely have gone across if the illness hadn't started."

In 2008, Mark began to realise that something wasn't right. He noticed himself stuttering, and stumbling to get his sentences out, so he went for some tests.

"I remember him telling me in the car," said Kevin, " and when I think back now, it was such a major thing, but at the time I remember him saying 'it's nothing to worry about' . I don't even remember when he actually said it was a brain tumour. He just said at that point 'there's something there'.

"He was telling me as if it wasn't a big deal and he said 'I don't want you telling anybody about this' and Mark never ever worried anybody about it, he was clearly protecting Mickey and his mother by not telling anybody."

Support

Over time, Mark and wife Terri told the rest of the family what was going on, and in 2010 the family travelled to Liverpool to be there with him for his operation.

Said Mickey: "He had to retire then just before Christmas, around his wedding anniversary, that was his first operation. It went well, but it was quite daunting when he was going through the operation, because you don't know what will happen.

"The tumour wasn't that big then, but it was in a place where they could deal with it. We were talking to him that night, he was alright. Parts of him weren't working right, but that all came back to him eventually."

When it was announced that Mark was retiring from football to receive treatment, many reporters (myself included) wrote articles suggesting he would never grace a football pitch in a professional capacity again.

But we were wrong. With the same quiet determination that marked his attitude to everything that life threw at him, he slowly but surely worked his way back to fitness.

Said Mickey: "He started to feel as if he wanted to play again, and I said 'Mark, it's your decision, but you need to make sure nothing's going to happen to you, that you don't take a stroke or anything, so he got the all clear from the doctors.

"I was worried, but I wanted him to be happy, and anyway I couldn't have stopped him. He was always very determined in everything he did, but all I can think of is how brave he was fighting back like that."

"His courage was unbelievable," agreed Pat. "Everything for him was ten times harder, and I'll never forget the time we were in the gym in Redcastle and the determination he had to get the pedals on the bike turning. His leg wasn't working properly but if you'd seen the effort he made - he never gave up."

Mark returned to Derry City and added a second FAI Cup to his list of achievements in 2012. But with Stephen Kenny gone and new management in place, he felt it was time to move on, and in 2013 he signed for Irish League outfit Glenavon.

Scoring 10 goals in just 15 appearances, his spell with the club may have been short-lived, but the impact he made looks set to endure.

"You have to pay tribute to Glenavon the way they treated him at the time," said Kevin. "The way they still respect and admire him beggars belief, but at the same time, knowing Mark and the person he was, he had that impact.

"This is a team that has absolutely no affiliation to this area, to Derry City even, we all know the divide there, so for Mark to gain that respect in such a short period of time, it's such a tribute."

We can only guess at what more he might have done with Glenavon had he stayed healthy, but the illness that he had fought so doggedly to overcome came back again, and this time the tumour had become much more aggressive.

Mark underwent further surgery and treatment, but as his condition deteriorated it was starting to become clear that the outlook was not good.

The last time I saw Mark was at a fundraiser held in the Brandywell to help send him to Mexico for revolutionary treatment. He walked with great difficulty out onto the pitch with Terri to greet the thousands of fans who had turned up, and we were all visibly shocked at the drastic change in his physical appearance.

Yet he came over and stood in front of us, knowing that what he would see in our eyes was the realisation that he was dying.

Mickey and Pat talk about his courage, but Mark Farren was never braver than on that day in 2015.

Mark lost his battle with illness on February 3 last year, but for Mickey the pain of losing his son remains almost unbearably raw.

He said: "It's one of the worst things that could ever have happened to us. It’s an awful thing having somebody like that and then just losing them.

"I just can't understand how someone so healthy can suddenly be hit by something like that, and I believe it was a bad clash of heads he had in Cork game that left him concussed and I think that may have started it. But no doctor or football person can tell you that's the case; it's just what I believe."

Saturday's match will be difficult for Mickey, but it will also be a chance for him to celebrate the exceptional talents of his footballing son who brought joy to so many people.

He said: "I'll always remember the hat trick Mark scored against Linfield in the Setanta Cup. The fans went mad that night, and big David Jeffrey, he came over and shook his hand because he recognised how good Mark was.

"I was proud that night, just as I was proud every time I watched him play. I feel as if he's here with me now."