On March 19, 2017, Irish football changed forever.
Just 24 hours after leading his side to a 4-0 victory over Drogheda United, Derry City captain Ryan McBride died in his sleep at his home next to the club’s Brandywell Stadium.
This is where the 27-year-old grew up, developed his natural talents on the street and where he dreamed of donning the famous red and white shirt.
There was an outpouring of grief. A club had lost its leader, a city had lost one of its own. However, above all, a family was without its son, brother and partner.
A warrior on the field, but a gentle giant off it. He was a man in the prime of life who had not forgotten his roots. Five years later, it remains a cruel and unjust loss.
“It’s still surreal that he’s gone,” his sister Siuinin recalled ahead of Saturday’s birthday.
“You have to keep living the best you can. You miss his presence in the house, and there are nieces and nephews coming in and he’s not here to see you.”
Ryan’s partner Mairead of eight years spoke to him on the phone just before his death and said that, despite the passage of time, he is “still remembered every day”.
“When you think back to the events that unfolded, it feels like an eternity ago and there are days that feel like yesterday,” she said, describing the events of March 19 as “a fog”.
“Things happen and life goes on, but I always say we were very lucky to have Ryan and who he was. Not just us as a family, but all of Derry and the League of Ireland – everyone remember him.”
Local boy turned town hero
Growing up a stone’s throw from the Brandywell, Ryan had long dreamed of emulating his heroes in the Candystripes shirt. He will spend his childhood encouraging his team from the terraces alongside his grandfather.
However, he had to wait for his opportunity, playing street football and the Derry and District League on Saturday mornings.
“You can look out of his bedroom window and look straight into the stadium,” Siuinin recalled.
“My mum always wanted him to play for Derry, but it wasn’t until he died in 2010 that he was going to get down on his knees and go.
“He was so determined to do it. He was adamant he was getting it.”
And he did. A phone call from then-manager Stephen Kenny in 2011 started the fairy-tale journey to a role model for players and fans alike.
He made his debut later that season, fulfilling a childhood dream, but that was far from the end of the story. He quickly won the League of Ireland Cup and the FAI Cup.
A beating heart of the Derry squad, it was only a matter of time before he received the armband, and Mairead said it was a result of his extra work off the pitch.
“He only got paid when you were playing. He would give up his job at the bar just to go there, but he was buzzing just to be on the team bus,” Mairead recalled during his first stint with the team.
“It was a surprise for him when he was made captain because he was so quiet. Sometimes you think the captain has to be loud and shout, but it’s about leading by example.”
Siuinin added that his family, who were all Derry City supporters, “were so, so proud of him” when he was presented with the armband.
“We threw a party for him. It was everything for him and it was everything for us too. It’s our hometown and we grew up in Brandywell.”
Terraces fan Karen Pyne said the love and affection for their captain was mutual. It was a mutual love, a passion that had been burning ever since he first kicked a ball in the shadow of the famous ground that now bears his name in tribute.
“Other people dream of playing for Celtic or whoever it is, but his was playing for Derry City and his dream came true,” she said.
“Even now it doesn’t seem real. You always expect to see Ryan as the first out. Head held high, shoulders apart – that’s how he walked.”
“Quiet as a mouse but a leader in the field”
Kenny Shiels, Ryan’s manager at Derry, said he still vividly remembers finding out his captain had died and added it’s still “gnawing” at him after an autopsy failed to reveal find the cause of death.
“It was such a shock for all of us to lose our captain like that. Everyone was in deep, deep sadness and it was really hard to bear,” he said.
“Still to this day, I am in deep discussion with myself about what happened.
“I try not to think about it too much because it’s hard for everyone to bear. It’s like a death in the family.”
The fan favorite had played a vital role in Derry’s unbeaten start to the season. The Candystripes had won all four of their games with Ryan scoring twice.
Shiels, who is now manager of the Northern Ireland women’s team, recalled that Ryan’s favorite pre-match phrase, “Let’s do it”, was a rare rallying cry from a man who preferred to talk in the field.
“He was as quiet as a mouse, quiet by nature, and then when we walked onto the pitch he was a different animal,” he said.
“Every time the final whistle sounded, he was in the locker room and became calm again.
“You would be infected by his commitment and his attitude towards the game.
“To some he was another football captain, but he was so much more than that.”
“The foundation is Ryan’s legacy”
Just weeks after his death, the Ryan McBride Foundation was established with the aim of encouraging more children to participate in football.
The foundation runs summer camps and visits local schools, and Siuinin says the McBride family has put “heart and soul” into honoring Ryan’s name.
Karen, director of the foundation, added that her aim was not just to carry on Ryan’s legacy, but “to encourage young people, especially in the Derry area, to play football and continue what Ryan had.
“Football in Derry is huge, and it’s so important to bring this next generation there and be proud to be from Derry like Ryan was.”
Mairead added: “Ryan was a very talented footballer but he wasn’t scouted until later. It’s about finding someone similar who may have missed that opportunity and has raw talent.”
Siuinin thinks the foundation is a fitting tribute, as Ryan was the first to give back to the community or invest his time in helping young players.
“When he was asked to show up for a presentation or show up for a training session, he always did because he was so grounded.”
Karen is also a member of supporter groups and said Ryan always shows up no matter the request.
“The last game Ryan played my partner’s nephew was the mascot. I had to go in there and take it off, and I had the privilege of taking the last picture that Ryan was in,” he said. she adds.
“He looks so proud and so tall. He was like the giant, thinking ‘I’m going to win this’, and he did.”
Mairead added that because Ryan was such a Brandywell resident, he couldn’t help but get involved in community events and it helped cement his place as a fan favorite.
“You would have seen him pull you a pint on a Saturday night and I think it really relates to people.
“It was obviously special but, for me, watching him was just doing his thing to him. It’s only since he died that I realize how much people looked up to him.”
