Crossmaglen

[T Fearon]

The documentary was on Joe Kernan and his impact.I couldn't see anything special about that programme last night.A bunch of lads committed to the GAA cause and followed by their parish is hardly unique.

Did any of us remotely familiar with the Crossmaglen story learn anything that we didn't know already?

Far more interesting was the programme about David Bentley spending team at Crossmaglen and mastering the basics of Gaelic football, on TV3 a few years ago.

[Main Street]

Only reached one AI final and that was just after WW2?
And nowadays a good year for the club is if Crossmaglen use them as a doormat on their way to another Armagh championship,

[brokencrossbar1]

School report  A. Fearon, aged 12 5/8 'Must try harder'

[tonto1888]

Just watched it. Very enjoyable.

[screenexile]

That's the problem.The Lurgan Clan Na Gael team in the mid 70s powered on by Jimmy Smyth,Colm Mc Kinstry,Jim Mc Kerr,the O'Hagans etc were the best Armagh club side I ever saw and reached an All Ireland Final over twenty years before Crossmaglen

Interesting... How in Gods name could a team that lost an All Ireland Final be better than a team that has won 6 All Irelands 11 Ulsters and God knows how many Armagh titles in the last 20 years!!

[T Fearon]

Set it in context.Armagh football was ranked alongside Kilkenny in the early 70s,couldn't even field a team in an NFL game in Leitrim.Then along came Clanns,all from a tiny warren of streets around Davitt Park,and within three or four years Clan na Gael had reached an All Ireland Club Final and the County a Senior All Ireland Final.That is a real fairy story of Armagh club football.

[Orior]

That's the problem.The Lurgan Clan Na Gael team in the mid 70s powered on by Jimmy Smyth,Colm Mc Kinstry,Jim Mc Kerr,the O'Hagans etc were the best Armagh club side I ever saw and reached an All Ireland Final over twenty years before Crossmaglen

Interesting... How in Gods name could a team that lost an All Ireland Final be better than a team that has won 6 All Irelands 11 Ulsters and God knows how many Armagh titles in the last 20 years!!

The point is that Clan Na Gael had their own challenges in the 1970s, and which were arguably more difficult than that experienced in XMG.

[mackers]

That's the problem.The Lurgan Clan Na Gael team in the mid 70s powered on by Jimmy Smyth,Colm Mc Kinstry,Jim Mc Kerr,the O'Hagans etc were the best Armagh club side I ever saw and reached an All Ireland Final over twenty years before Crossmaglen

Interesting... How in Gods name could a team that lost an All Ireland Final be better than a team that has won 6 All Irelands 11 Ulsters and God knows how many Armagh titles in the last 20 years!!

The point is that Clan Na Gael had their own challenges in the 1970s, and which were arguably more difficult than that experienced in XMG.

Please stop using this term.  The only people I have heard calling Crossmaglen this were the British Army (as per the sign inside the barracks shown on the programme last night).

[brokencrossbar1]

Clan na Gael played at a time when the club finals were an after thought and I know for instance in Cross when we won any county championships that was as much as we wanted,  didn't even train for Ulsters.  Clans were an exceptional team but it is absolutely impossible to compare teams in terms of ability from different eras.

[BennyCake]

Did any of us remotely familiar with the Crossmaglen story learn anything that we didn't know already?

I didn't know the McConville's lost a brother.

I didn't know Hearty was a milkman.
Don't believe what Johnny Murtagh tells you.

[An Watcher]

I didn't know that cross eat cream buns

[armaghniac]

I didn't know that cross eat cream buns

Any team that gets cream buns from McNamee's bakery can win the All Ireland.

There's better documentaries about Dublin clubs.

Better documentaries, but not real clubs.

[BennyCake]

That show was munya!

[JimStynes]

What sort of numbers would cross have to pick from? It seems a big enough area for a rural club. Kilcoo, Ballinderry etc aren't very big places.

I thought it was a good documentary, everyone on here are hard to please as usual. Hard to fit everything in to an hour long show, you would need a series to get a proper insight into a club. I see lots of similarities to other clubs but the big difference is the quality of players they have sitting in the changing room. All the volunteers, team talks, players breaking drink bans etc will be found in every club.

[AFS]

What sort of numbers would cross have to pick from? It seems a big enough area for a rural club. Kilcoo, Ballinderry etc aren't very big places.

They might have the benefit of the population of a small town/ large village, but their catchment area would actually be on the small side. A mile or two outside the town in any direction and you'll be into another club's area. They maximise their resources better than probably any other club in the country.