Club of the Week - Hugh O'Neill's GAA: A proud bit of Ireland in the middle of Leeds

And despite deriving its name from “a notorious 16th century warrior” from Ireland, the club have always possessed a welcomingculture and sense of togetherness since the very first ball was kicked back in 1948.

Therefore, many who make the trip over from Ireland and wander into O’Neill’s soon see the club as being a “home from home”, with current club trainer Eoin Murray seeing the club as something very personal to him since he arrived in 2014.

“I got a very warm welcome when I first came to the club,” says Murray.

“Everyone at some stage has been a new player, regardless of where you come from.

“All new players are taken under the club’s wing, established players generally offer you lifts, introduce you to the local area and even try to set you up with housing or work if needed.

“We’ve got a really strong connection with the ladies’ team, St Christopher’s, normally if we get a new player we’ll encourage their partner to join the ladies team, so I think that and the social aspect of the club works really well.

“Obviously then I think if you’re successful in that sense then success will also come on the field.

“Last year we won all the competitions we were in and hopefully we can do the same again this year.”

Among those that have found O’Neill’s huge club atmosphere impossible to shake off is chairman Frank Gallagher, who has been at the club since 1968 and remained a strong part of their long and eventful history.

“I’d say we’ve always been there or thereabouts (as one of Yorkshire’s top sides)” says Gallagher.

“We won the all-Britain final in 1982 but then Huddersfield came strong between about 1984-92 and were the dominant team and after that we came back again.

“So we’ve always at least been one of the top teams in Yorkshire and at the moment we are on top, because since Eoin came he’s really given us that big push that we needed to make us strong.”

“You need big characters” adds Stephen Travers, who has been a player at the club since 2000. “Some of the newer lads here are used to success but for a good 10 years we struggled to even get a team out sometimes. But I think the success is all cyclical so you’ve just got to ride out the bad times and then the good times will come.”

But whether the club is in fact going through good times or bad times on the pitch, the team atmosphere very much remains positive, with Gaelic Football’s highly niche status in England making it a hobby played purely for enjoyment by players.

This of course attracts players of different ages, personalities and locations not just around Ireland, but also from the local area, with Leeds-born James Mone playing there for 10 years.

“There are about three or four lads like me on the team that are of Irish descent,” explained Mone, “so it’s good just to keep the tradition and the culture of it going, especially in an area like Leeds where it’s not as popular.”

With the season still in its early stages, Hugh O’Neill’s will be set for a very busy few months as they prepare to battle on four fronts.

But with figures like trainer Murray and all the club’s many dedicated committee members remaining a strong driving force on and off the pitch, it certainly seems that the O’Neill’s club will follow their 70th anniversary with more special moments to remember in the future.