NUI Galway Soccer Club Newsletter WINTER ‘11
ISSUE NO.5
www.nuigalway.ie/soccer soccer@nuigalway.ie
Chairman’s Address (Eric Mortimer)
Dear Friend/Player of NUI Galway Men’s Soccer Club,
Welcome to our 5th annual newsletter and let me take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very happy Christmas and hoping for a prosperous New Year. This edition is full of club related updates, news and photos and hopefully gives you a flavor of what’s been happening over the past 12 months. As always we would love to hear from you via letter, email, Facebook and of course in person! Collingwood 2011 Getting there! With a talented squad that enjoyed comprehensive victories against Limerick and Jordanstown, along the way Billy Clery and his team reached their third Collingwood Cup final in a row. An enthralling final was played against UCC in College Park (Trinity) with “UCG” losing out 1-0 to a tremendous individual effort from the Cork striker. It was great to see so many supporters from the West up at the final. We hope to go one better this year in Limerick but face a stern test in the first game v UCC. Harding 2011 Held in Maynooth, the Freshers under the reins of Derek Rogers reached the Shield final for the second year in a row after exiting the Cup to UCD. As holders of the Shield we weren’t going to give it up easily but faced a tough Trinity side that won out in the end. Derek has taken a new approach for this year’s competition in Cork by blooding some of his squad in with Collingwood players in the CUFL league games (formerly known as the “Bud League”). Hopefully we don’t get UCD in the first round for the third year in a row! Junior Soccer This season there are two squads with Gareth Gorman joining the club as Premier team manager and myself as manager of the seconds (“Colts”). The Premier team started slow, but have been unbeaten in all competitions since early November with two comprehensive victories in the Connacht Cup (7-3 v Bangor Erris) and Michael Byrne Cup (5-1 v West Coast United). The “Colts” have enjoyed a solid start to the season in Division 4 and are on impressive run in the Michael Byrne Cup which contains teams from all divisions – all NUI Galway final could be on the cards! Annual Colours Game v GMIT (“BR Cup”) We enjoyed a 4-3 win on penalties in the annual colours game v GMIT which doubled up also as a CUFL league game. The game itself finished all square 2-2 but NUI Galway took the cup home after the shootout. It was great to meet former UCG supremo John Clarke, now with GMIT, for a cuppa after the game. The match, played at Terryland Park, was of a very high standard despite the horrendous conditions.
Coaches
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The club thanks greatly the tremendous coaching efforts put in last year by Billy Clery, Derek Rogers, Steve Nash, Mark Foley, Mark Cobey and John “Jumbo” Brennan. We welcome Gareth Gorman (“G”) as coach of the Premier squad and also wish the best of luck to “Jumbo” as he takes up the gauntlet at Galway United. Club Recognition NUI Galway were privileged to have four players selected to play on the Irish Universities v the Defence Forces and Irish Colleges XI selections. Martin Conneely, Evan Preston-Kelly, Enda Dunne and Terry O’Doherty featured in the games. The great effort and performance of our club at all levels hasn’t gone un-noticed by the University. There are currently nine players on scholarship which should help the cause for the year ahead. The Galway FA/FAI’s “Emerging Talent” programme has recently located to Dangan which looks at nurturing young local talent and should benefit our club in the future. A delegation from FC Barcelona will be coming to the campus next March to deliver a programme to those working with youth in sport. It is part of an International Educational project in conjunction with UNESCO, with support from the Alan Kerins project and is likely to be launched by the Minister for Sport. Former Players Success The club were delighted to hear that Seamus Conneely was successful in gaining a contract at Sheffield United. We wish “Seamie” all the best with his professional career and continued success at International level. We also were delighted to see former Collingwood and Premier team stars Iarfhlaith Davoren and John Russell lift the FAI Cup with Sligo Rovers for the second year running. Go on the Bit o’Red! Annual Draw The club is very grateful to have Liam Spillane on board once again for the annual draw which is the club’s biggest fundraiser. We very much appreciate the sponsors of the prizes and yourself for ANY contribution you can make. Sponsors We are indebted also to our sponsors both past and present that include: www.future.ie,Alumni Office NUI Galway, Monroe’s Tavern, The Skeffington Arms Hotel, Topaz, Newcastle Road, West Ireland Cycling, Aran Sports and G Furniture. Contacting Us We are always delighted when we hear from you and now have a very active Facebook group which has photos from the past and present as well as club updates.You can of course also drop us an email on soccer@nuigalway.ie. It’s always nice to hear a memorable story or see a less than memorable pic (!) from somebody who enjoyed their time at the club. All the best,
Eric Page 2
Football Update (Eric Mortimer)
Intervarsity Competitions & Dates Harding 2012 UCC Collingwood 2012 University of Limerick
Thurs Feb 10th - Sun Feb 13th Mon Feb 21st - Thurs Feb 24th
Scholarship News Congrats to all of our scholarship recipients. NUI Galway Scholarships (New) NUI Galway Scholarships (Existing)
Cian Fadden, Cian McBrien, Ger Cheevers, Ger Hanley and Joe Woods. Ciaran Foley, Colie Collins-Smyth and Mikey Creane.
Squads 2011 Collingwood Squad 2011
Collingwood team winners on pens v GMIT in Terryland Park November 23rd 2011 Top (Left to Right): Eamon O’Donnell, Stephen Rodden, Darren Ashmore, Ciaran Foley, Ronan Burke, James Keane, Darren Grant, Shane Brown, Tommy Bradshaw, Cian McBrien (Capt.), Bryan O’Grady, Ronan Conlon Bottom (Left to Right): Joe Woods, Ger Cheevers, Brian Gaffney, Paul Scally, Damien Connaughton, Enda Dunne, Brian Conlon, Mikey Creane, Colie Collins-Smyth. Missing from photo: Cian Fadden
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Squads 2011 Premier Squad 2011
Premier team 3-2 winners v Corrib Celtic ‘A’ in Annaghdown November 12th 2011 Top (Left to Right): Barry Johnson, Cilian Grant, Richie Byrne, Ger Bane, Stevie Henriques, Darren Ashmore, Gareth Gorman (Manager), Bryan O’Grady, James Ruffley, Colie Collins-Smyth. Bottom (Left to Right): Ciaran Foley, Gary Mullin, Mikey Creane, Cian McBrien, Adam Duffy, Billy Clery.
“Colts” Squad 2011
Colts 2-0 winners v Corrib Celtic ‘B’ in Dangan November 5th 2011 Top (Left to Right): John Mclean, Franco Zavagli, Eoin Corrigan, Eoin O’Callaghan, Roger Grealish, Eric Mortimer, Cilian Guf Quinn, Kieran O’Malley, Liam McMorrow, Adam Beatty. Bottom (Left to Right): Rico Casey, Dami Adebari, Paul Mullin, Dom McGreevey, Beano Hynes, Dave Tierney, John Fitzpatrick, John Brennan.
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NEWSLETTER WINTER ’11 PERSONAL NEWS (Liam Spillane) Births Emily Jean, a sister for Abbie, was born on Sept. 21st 2010 and is Conor Killeen’s second child. Sorry we missed this bit of good news at the time. Gordon and Patricia Curley also had their second baby (Dylan) last March. John and Eimear Diviney had a baby Alec last year. Incidentally I am reliably told that Cormac and Kathleen McCarthy now have three small boys. Best wishes to all the families. Deaths Martin McGetrick passed away on February 6 2011 in Texas after a long illness bravely fought. Martin who hailed from Sligo together with brother Mick (former Club captain in the eighties) played with us during their College careers. Martin had worked with Dell near the UL campus in Limerick and later moved to the USA with them when they were scaling down operations. Martin was a much admired player and great ‘craic’ to be with – never a dull moment. He lived life to the full. Our sincere sympathy to his wife Jacqueline and children, Cian and Katie and to his parents, John and Kathleen to Mick and sisters Maire and Siobhan. Another fine player, Noel Carpenter passed away on October 17 last. Noel is well remembered as ‘one of the best rugby players of our time’ ( heading from the Galway Independent - November 16 2011). It is acknowledged though that he may be remembered for his soccer more than anything else. He was a teacher by profession and it was while doing the H.Dip.Ed. in 1967/68 that he won a Collingwood with UCG in Cork. Noel came back from London to do the ‘Dip.’ and was a huge influence on the team essentially leading them to their first Collingwood win since 1955. Our sincere sympathy to his wife Aine, daughters Jennifer and Richella, brother Brian and sisters Marianne and Kitty. It is with deep regret that we record the death of Paschal O’Brien - the doyen of the Connacht senior league for so many years. He was instrumental in getting the CSL set up and though a Salthill Devon man through and through he was a great man to help and encourage all the other clubs. Many of the CSL trophies he put up himself and continued financial support for them for years and years irrespective of which clubs lifted them. Connacht and Galway soccer has surely lost a great friend. Our sympathy to his brother, Ray and his extended family. Sincere sympathy to James O’Toole and to his brother, Eamonn and sisters Dolores and Marguerite of Henry St. Galway on the death of their mother Bridget on Tuesday November 29. The Club and his many friends here would also like to sympathise with Ronan Lambe, our former captain, on the death of his mother, Anne, on Feb. 6th last in Dublin. We were sorry to hear of the death of Nelius O’Connor of O’Connor’s Bar in Salthill in late October. Nelius was a great help to the Soccer Club when they ran discos in CJs nightclub in Salthill some years ago. Our sympathy to his wife, Marie and family Tom, Niamh and Frank and also to his brother Benny and his wife Maura who also played a part in the success of these discos.
Wedding Bells Congratulations to Brendan Meehan who got married in January 2011 and belatedly to Alan O’Donnell who got married some time ago. Also to Kevin and Louise Monahan who married in August 2011. Achievements in Sport The NUI, Galway Sports scholarships were announced recently and the awardees included for the first time seven soccer recipients (Galway Advertiser November 10 2011, p. 119). They are Gerard Cheevers (Carnmore), Gerard Hanley (Barna), Joe Woods (Barna), Cian Fadden and Cian McBrien (both Knocknacarra) and the Ladies Soccer recipient was Jennifer Byrne (Athlone). They now join Ciaran Foley, Colie CollinsSmyth and Mikey Creane. Best wishes to all awardees. Congratulations to Seamus Conneely on his successful move to Sheffield United from Galway United last September. Many UCG players played at a higher level after leaving College but this is a really big move and we wish him every success in the UK. Two of our ex-Collingwood players, John Russell and Iarfhlaith Davoren won FAI Cup senior medals again (!) recently when Sligo Rovers defeated Shelbourne in the final. Well done lads – a very special achievement. At the annual NUI, Galway Sports awards held as usual in the Ardilaun Hotel, Galway our nominee was Evan Preston Kelly (Salthill) and the Ladies nominee was Nuala Marshall (Ontario, Canada). Congrats to both of them. Liam Reidy’s team UC Berkeley defeated Stanford University ‘down at the Farm’ winning the North California Colleges hurling title (their Fitzgibbon Cup) this past Summer. One of two FAI Schools Intern. Players of the Year was Robert Benson, Ray’s son, formerly of Marist College, Athlone and currently a second Science student at UCD. Well done Robbie. We expect to see him at this year’s Collingwood in UL. The Galway Advertiser (January 13 2011) had an extended interview with Dora Gorman, Mickey’s daughter. At the Aviva stadium on February 6 2011 Dora and her team together with their international manager, Noel King received an award commemorating their successes in the U-17 Women’s World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago. Robert Grealish’s 1st years at ‘The Bish’ won the FAI Schools championships. Ger Hanley was their goalkeeping coach. Congrats to all involved. Gerry Brenan of O’Neill and Brennan in London did the Harveys Point Bluestack Challenge last June as a fund raiser for
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special needs in his native Co. Donegal. We heard that you finished Gerry so well done!
Tristan Ryder as part of his studies in contemporary music in London is spending a year in Papua/New Guinea. Sounds great.
James O’Toole was to the fore yet again last Christmas (2010) in organising the annual COPE Mark Reilly Memorial soccer matches. John Russell, Iarfhlaith Davoren and Ciaran Foley were all involved. Again James was very involved with last August’s ‘Take to the Streets’ for COPE – the annual 8 km road race.
More News Nice photo of Willie and Emily Kennedy at the Galway Races appeared in the Galway Advertiser on July 28 last.
Conor Niland, Ollie’s nephew, made it to Wimbledon last June. He lost to France’s Adrian Mannarino 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-4 after four hours on Court 17. Good luck for the future hope you make the top 100. (See Irish Examiner June 22 2011, p. 27). Apologies to Ronan Conlon, Tom’s son, whose name was inadvertently omitted from the winning team of the Salthill Devon Fives in 2010 in our last Newsletter. William Henry’s Talking History column in the Galway Advertiser used two nice soccer photos some time ago. In the January 26 2011 pic of the Mirrelson Cup (the forerunner of the Oscar Traynor Cup) champions of 1954 there are a number of Collingwood players including John Dooley (Capt.) and Larry Conneely. Ditto for the second photo of the 1971 Oscar Traynor Galway winning team which includes Ger Brennan, Noel Burke, Brian Parkes, Don Lillis (Capt.) and Kevin Fahy. Other Achievements Conor Killeen’s new company have just been announced as one of the winners of the sfa national emerging business awards. The company Vei (voice engineering Ireland) is a telecoms voice and data service provider specialising in ip telephony and unified communications. They cover the whole country and they have big expansion plans for 2012 and will be hiring 2 more people before the end of the year. Thanks to our PR man Dami Adebari from Portlaoise who has been getting the Club lots of publicity throught out this year and last year in the Galway Students Union newspaper, called SIN! One of Liam Kilmartin’s students has won the Ayaya prize in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and another staff member, Mark Foley much involved with the Soccer Club got a lot of publicity for his NUI Galway Science Experience Workshop last May. A great NUI, Galway soccer supporter, Pat Murray won a nice prize from Diageo for pulling the ‘Best Pint of Guinness’ in de Brun’s Bar in Dominick St. Galway. Ray Burke, himself an author, was at the launch of Wiliam Henry’s latest book on ‘Famine, Galway’s Darkest Years’. Eamonn Howley also features in the pic (Galway Independent June 22 2011). Also in June John Crumlish features in several pics to launch the Galway Arts Festival (Galway Advertiser June 9 and 30 2011).
Terry Doherty is in Toulouse teaching for the year and his friend Kevin Lowe is in Dublin and playing with Phoenix F.C. in the LSL and involved in a new startup. Check it out on www. payByMobile.net. Adrian Devane, Tom’s brother, won the Entrepreneur of the Year award for the success of his Moycullen-based company, Babog Baby (Galway Advertiser October 27 2011). Another brother doing well is James Lee, Robbie Lee’s brother, of Griffin Tuition who is promoting the latest research findings on post-traumatic stress disorder. Emer Connolly’s latest book ‘Out on Bail: the Crimes of Ireland’s Bail Breakers’ was published in March 2011. While in UCG Emer was a great supporter of the Soccer Club. She lectures on journalism in UL and writes for various newspapers. A recent issue of the City Tribune (December 3 2011) is packed with a lot of pics of various members of the Soccer Club both Past and Present. Mick Henderson got his certificate for proficiency in water rescue techniques in the Rosary Hall in Taylor’s Hill in December 1965 with five other young lads (p. 32). Nice photograph with our chairman, Eric Mortimer and James O’Toole before the Colleges league match vs. GMIT which is used as a fund raiser for COPE (p. 46) and then a picture of the full 21 man NUI, Galway winning squad at Terryland Park (p. 48). One of our new soccer scholars, Cian McBrien, is pictured with College President, Dr. Jim Browne (p. 25). Finally, there is a picture of Niall Johnston (former Harding captain) and his wife and family presenting a surf board to Irish soccer international and captain Robbie Keane in California (p.23). They must be trying to get Robbie into surfing. Draw cards for the Club’s Annual Christmas draw are being circulated these days but if you don’t receive one and would like to contribute please just send details and payment to Liam Spillane, School of Chemistry, NUI, Galway (william.spillane@ nuigalway.ie). A full card is €20 for 12 lines ; €2 per line or 3 for €5 or 6 for €10. Liam will receipt allmoney received. Thanks. The current Club Newsletter contains a load of interesting news (weddings, job moves etc. etc.) but unfortunately we don’t get to hear about some important news so if you have something that you would like to tell us about and let others know please send it to Liam Spillane (william.spillane@ nuigalway.ie).
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Special Feature: Blast from the Past !
Crowley cup winners 1990 – “The Grinders” Top (Left to Right): Mike Keane, Andrew Johnston, Dave Coyle, Damien O’Neill, Sean Mulkerrins, Anthony Walsh. Bottom (Left to Right): Mike Cox, Billy Shine, Jim Duggan (Captain), Neil Clarke, Colm Tonge. Victories as follows: 2-1 Coleraine, 1-0 UL, 1-0 UCC
Connacht Senior Cup Finalists 1992 (Lost 1-0 v Salthill Devon) Top (Left to Right): Liam Spillane, Sean O’Neill, Damien O’Neill, Fergal Ryan, Dara Ely, Mike Keane, James Dillon, Ray Murphy, Mixie Clarke. Bottom (Left to Right): Andrew Johnston, Sean Mulkerrins, Gordon Curley, Shane O’Loughlin, John Clarke, Manus Mitchell, Mike Cox. Notice Bushy’s “lucky” boots kept together with tape. I hope he threw them away after that day! College were beaten 1-0 by Salthill Devon. WINTER ‘11 ISSUE NO.5 Page
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NUI Galway Soccer Club Newsletter WINTER ‘11 ISSUE NO.5 www.nuigalway.ie/soccer | soccer@nuigalway.ie