Former broadcaster Jackie Fullerton made a joke about David Jeffrey when he jokingly called the veteran manager a “retired” in an interview with Ballymina United Television.
Jeffrey, who will turn 60 by the end of the year, recently quit his day job after spending 28 years as a senior social worker at the Northern Larn Trust.
And that forced Fullerton to make a joke at the perfect time when the United manager was asked to consider extending his last six-year contract at the club.
After the suspension, the former BBC sports host and commentator repeated several times: “Now that you’re retired…”.
As Jeffrey laughed at Palimina Hall, Jackie added, “I’m sorry, I guess it was a bad word now that I’m retired from work.”
Regarding the agreement to extend his last contract with Balimina until 2025, Jeffrey, who was appointed in March 2016, said: “It was signed quite simply.
“The President, Mr. John Taggart, and Mr. Don Sterling (Vice-Chair) have given me an extension and it didn’t take me long to make a decision. I’m excited.”
Jeffrey, who won nine league titles as manager of Linfield, knows that Balimena has never won the Gibson Cup in the club’s 94-year history.
But he is equally aware that the challenge has grown alongside increasingly full-time in the Irish League.
“Maybe one of the things that attracted me to Brian (McLaughlin) was the fact that United have never won a championship in their history,” he said.
“Then he knew it. We were getting close to second place (in 2019), but the landscape has changed dramatically.
“The scale of the challenge is bigger now, but it’s still a very big ambition for me and Brian. The odds are against us, but let’s see how we can move forward.
“Let’s see how we can improve, improve and achieve success. It will remain ambitious and a goal.
“People might think I’m my rocker. No problem. You think all you want. In life you have to set a goal and move on.
“I could fall in the face, but it won’t be because I’m trying to do my best for Balimina United.”
- You can watch Jackie Fullerton sitting with David Jeffrey in the video above, nine minutes and 50 seconds after the ‘Pensioner’ joking interview…
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Source: Belfastlive
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