Ulster Club SFC 2021

[Armagh18]

Club football still is king for me.  Love the county games but it warms the heart when you see a senior Ulster final between a Fermanagh and a Down team.  At club level, its an even playing field, a club team from Fermanagh can be as good as a club team from Tyrone, Donegal, Kerry or wherever.

It is great to watch and the coverage has been good. I'm worried about how many seemingly super clubs are developing around the country. In my memory it started with Crossmaglen winning 15 Armagh championships out of 16 or something ridiculous like that. Derrygonnelly have won 6 out of 7 in Fermanagh and kilcoo have won almost all of the last 10 in Down. Corofin have been extremely dominant in Galway also. I'm missing a few more similar.

Would hardly call Kilcoo a "super club" now they're a small rural parish and would have a smaller pick than most. Burren up the road from them have unreal numbers and funding and will probably go on and dominate Down and Ulster in the future. Cross's dominance in Armagh is over, Corofin I think were beat in Galway last year as well?

Derrygonnelly always seem to come out of Fermanagh, I don't think they have that many clubs though?

[Mikhailov]

Jeez i thought it was a very good game. Very intriguing & I was literally on the edge of my seat the whole time. There is more to Gaelic football than going gung-ho, kicking the ball 50 yards every time you get the ball and turning the game into a shoot out. Kilcoo were exceptional in the quarter final 2 weeks ago with a totally different style. They kicked the ball at every opportunity, left space in the forward line and got men ahead of the ball. Similarly Glen have played exciting, expansive football all year. Kilcoo went back to type for the game yesterday & it worked for them. What was their alternative? Play 15 v 15 and let Glass, McFaul, Jack Doherty & Eunan Mulholland cause them bother for 60 minutes? All 4 players mentioned there have been brilliant for Glen all year, but Kilcoo nullified each of them yesterday.

Possession was vital yesterday. Each team knew the importance of having the ball, so they took very little risks. However the intensity of the tackling, the pace when a team attacked, the execution of the basics & the ability to carry out a game play was as good as you will see in club football. Kilcoo probably always looked the better team however Glen gave them some game. Kilcoo surely favourites for the All-Ireland now & Glen will no doubt add to their first Derry championship over the next few years and will have aspirations of an Ulster when they get out of Derry again.

Derrygonnelly will also be waiting for Kilcoo with full belief they can turn them over. They have been consistent performers in Ulster club over the last number of years and are a team suited to winter football. Big, Strong with a few good score takers up front. They were impressive on Saturday evening, however i expect Kilcoo to edge it.

On a last note, the TV coverage of club football at the weekend was brilliant, its great to see club football getting national coverage and long may it continue. I watched Naas v Shelmaliers, Kilmacud Crokes v Portarlington, Derrygonnelly v Clann Eireann, Glen vs Kilcoo and Clough-Ballacolla v Ballyhale over the weekend and enjoyed it more than i would have enjoyed any county games. Theres just something different about club GAA.

Great post Toby47.
Two great teams yesterday but Kilcoo just edged it in my opinion. Both teams played it tight which suited Kilcoo better as they are well versed in winning tight championship games whereas Glen had a supposedly easy run in to this stage except for the St Eunans game.

I expected more from Glen to be honest but Kilcoo are not easy to beat and the defensive counter attack tactics employed by both teams was to be expected but Kilcoo play it much better.
As someone said earlier, they can play the game whatever way you want - last day out v Ramor they went on the attack and had the game done by half time but yesterday required different approach and they have quality intelligent players all over the pitch who can adapt to whatever is happening.

Some superb individual displays - Conor Glass & Tiernan Flanagan for Glen and Morgan at 6, Michael Rooney and Sheelan Johnson for Kilcoo.

Pity we have to wait 3/4 weeks for the final

[APM]

It's a shame that the provincial competitions at least couldn't be finished before Christmas. There is something a bit anti climatic about having to wait until January now for the provincial finals. It sucks a bit of the momentum out of a competition and I actually think that the club AI series should be finished up within the calendar year. Hopefully the split season will resolve this issue.

No excuse for this given that inter-county in Ulster (bar Tyrone) finished on 31 July, Tyrone was finished on 14 November and there were no replays. County boards running round-robin and league based championships and drawing out their championship season is a major part of the problem.

First round proper could have been played on the 28 November instead of waiting until 5 December.  Very unfair on players having to wait until after Christmas.  Playing the first round, semi-final and final on successive weeks would have been better although not ideal.

[yellowcard]

Club football still is king for me.  Love the county games but it warms the heart when you see a senior Ulster final between a Fermanagh and a Down team.  At club level, its an even playing field, a club team from Fermanagh can be as good as a club team from Tyrone, Donegal, Kerry or wherever.

It is great to watch and the coverage has been good. I'm worried about how many seemingly super clubs are developing around the country. In my memory it started with Crossmaglen winning 15 Armagh championships out of 16 or something ridiculous like that. Derrygonnelly have won 6 out of 7 in Fermanagh and kilcoo have won almost all of the last 10 in Down. Corofin have been extremely dominant in Galway also. I'm missing a few more similar.

The level of preparation that goes into some of these club sides now is almost akin to the inter county game of about 10/15 years ago. Down clubs in particular must be extremely well resourced in terms of available expenditure on management teams. They love their outside managers in Down and some of the figures bandied about are jaw dropping for club sides.

There are now backroom teams made up of additional coaches and medical personnel working from within clubs. The conditioning levels of those 2 sides yesterday was similar to intercounty sides and that is where they have the biggest advantage. It takes years of preparation to get players to that level.   

[toby47]

Club football still is king for me.  Love the county games but it warms the heart when you see a senior Ulster final between a Fermanagh and a Down team.  At club level, its an even playing field, a club team from Fermanagh can be as good as a club team from Tyrone, Donegal, Kerry or wherever.

It is great to watch and the coverage has been good. I'm worried about how many seemingly super clubs are developing around the country. In my memory it started with Crossmaglen winning 15 Armagh championships out of 16 or something ridiculous like that. Derrygonnelly have won 6 out of 7 in Fermanagh and kilcoo have won almost all of the last 10 in Down. Corofin have been extremely dominant in Galway also. I'm missing a few more similar.

The level of preparation that goes into some of these club sides now is almost akin to the inter county game of about 10/15 years ago. Down clubs in particular must be extremely well resourced in terms of available expenditure on management teams. They love their outside managers in Down and some of the figures bandied about are jaw dropping for club sides.

There are now backroom teams made up of additional coaches and medical personnel working from within clubs. The conditioning levels of those 2 sides yesterday was similar to intercounty sides and that is where they have the biggest advantage. It takes years of preparation to get players to that level.

I was chatting to an ex inter county manager recently who said he will never manage an inter county team again. Said the hassle, meetings, phone calls, travelling, weekends away etc are not worth it now with the packages you can get offered at club management.

[Mikhailov]

Club football still is king for me.  Love the county games but it warms the heart when you see a senior Ulster final between a Fermanagh and a Down team.  At club level, its an even playing field, a club team from Fermanagh can be as good as a club team from Tyrone, Donegal, Kerry or wherever.

It is great to watch and the coverage has been good. I'm worried about how many seemingly super clubs are developing around the country. In my memory it started with Crossmaglen winning 15 Armagh championships out of 16 or something ridiculous like that. Derrygonnelly have won 6 out of 7 in Fermanagh and kilcoo have won almost all of the last 10 in Down. Corofin have been extremely dominant in Galway also. I'm missing a few more similar.

The level of preparation that goes into some of these club sides now is almost akin to the inter county game of about 10/15 years ago. Down clubs in particular must be extremely well resourced in terms of available expenditure on management teams. They love their outside managers in Down and some of the figures bandied about are jaw dropping for club sides.

There are now backroom teams made up of additional coaches and medical personnel working from within clubs. The conditioning levels of those 2 sides yesterday was similar to intercounty sides and that is where they have the biggest advantage. It takes years of preparation to get players to that level.

I was chatting to an ex inter county manager recently who said he will never manage an inter county team again. Said the hassle, meetings, phone calls, travelling, weekends away etc are not worth it now with the packages you can get offered at club management.

In fairness Toby, all the top clubs would require all of that work and effort of a manager. The day of turning up 2 nights a week and a game at the weekend are long gone. The real top club teams nowadays are effectively mini county set ups in every aspect

[yellowcard]

Club football still is king for me.  Love the county games but it warms the heart when you see a senior Ulster final between a Fermanagh and a Down team.  At club level, its an even playing field, a club team from Fermanagh can be as good as a club team from Tyrone, Donegal, Kerry or wherever.

It is great to watch and the coverage has been good. I'm worried about how many seemingly super clubs are developing around the country. In my memory it started with Crossmaglen winning 15 Armagh championships out of 16 or something ridiculous like that. Derrygonnelly have won 6 out of 7 in Fermanagh and kilcoo have won almost all of the last 10 in Down. Corofin have been extremely dominant in Galway also. I'm missing a few more similar.

The level of preparation that goes into some of these club sides now is almost akin to the inter county game of about 10/15 years ago. Down clubs in particular must be extremely well resourced in terms of available expenditure on management teams. They love their outside managers in Down and some of the figures bandied about are jaw dropping for club sides.

There are now backroom teams made up of additional coaches and medical personnel working from within clubs. The conditioning levels of those 2 sides yesterday was similar to intercounty sides and that is where they have the biggest advantage. It takes years of preparation to get players to that level.

I was chatting to an ex inter county manager recently who said he will never manage an inter county team again. Said the hassle, meetings, phone calls, travelling, weekends away etc are not worth it now with the packages you can get offered at club management.

In fairness Toby, all the top clubs would require all of that work and effort of a manager. The day of turning up 2 nights a week and a game at the weekend are long gone. The real top club teams nowadays are effectively mini county set ups in every aspect

With club management there wouldn't be anywhere near the amount of travelling or time spent away from home involved and the manager of most club sides would be in attendance for 2/3 training sessions at most per week. There is way less scrutiny and practically no media commitments. So there is still a big difference between county and club management - club management could still quite easily be combined with a career, county management much less so unless you're either self employed or in a teaching job. 

[toby47]

Club football still is king for me.  Love the county games but it warms the heart when you see a senior Ulster final between a Fermanagh and a Down team.  At club level, its an even playing field, a club team from Fermanagh can be as good as a club team from Tyrone, Donegal, Kerry or wherever.

It is great to watch and the coverage has been good. I'm worried about how many seemingly super clubs are developing around the country. In my memory it started with Crossmaglen winning 15 Armagh championships out of 16 or something ridiculous like that. Derrygonnelly have won 6 out of 7 in Fermanagh and kilcoo have won almost all of the last 10 in Down. Corofin have been extremely dominant in Galway also. I'm missing a few more similar.

The level of preparation that goes into some of these club sides now is almost akin to the inter county game of about 10/15 years ago. Down clubs in particular must be extremely well resourced in terms of available expenditure on management teams. They love their outside managers in Down and some of the figures bandied about are jaw dropping for club sides.

There are now backroom teams made up of additional coaches and medical personnel working from within clubs. The conditioning levels of those 2 sides yesterday was similar to intercounty sides and that is where they have the biggest advantage. It takes years of preparation to get players to that level.

I was chatting to an ex inter county manager recently who said he will never manage an inter county team again. Said the hassle, meetings, phone calls, travelling, weekends away etc are not worth it now with the packages you can get offered at club management.

In fairness Toby, all the top clubs would require all of that work and effort of a manager. The day of turning up 2 nights a week and a game at the weekend are long gone. The real top club teams nowadays are effectively mini county set ups in every aspect

With club management there wouldn't be anywhere near the amount of travelling or time spent away from home involved and the manager of most club sides would be in attendance for 2/3 training sessions at most per week. There is way less scrutiny and practically no media commitments. So there is still a big difference between county and club management - club management could still quite easily be combined with a career, county management much less so unless you're either self employed or in a teaching job.

There's a massive difference in games being an hour away and some games being 5hrs away.

There's a massive difference in 3 sessions a week and 5 sessions a week.

There's a massive difference in media duties & interviews in a county manager and club manager.

Yes, club management has changed massivly in recent years. But so has county management. County management is a completely different ball game.

[Milltown Row2]

I still say the Dublin team Crokes, is favourites for the All-Ireland.

Rubbish, they were poor in their final and could have lost the other day, not a great team by any standard that has come out of Dublin these last few years.

I will say its wide open for a new team to be crowned champions though.

[Mikhailov]

Club football still is king for me.  Love the county games but it warms the heart when you see a senior Ulster final between a Fermanagh and a Down team.  At club level, its an even playing field, a club team from Fermanagh can be as good as a club team from Tyrone, Donegal, Kerry or wherever.

It is great to watch and the coverage has been good. I'm worried about how many seemingly super clubs are developing around the country. In my memory it started with Crossmaglen winning 15 Armagh championships out of 16 or something ridiculous like that. Derrygonnelly have won 6 out of 7 in Fermanagh and kilcoo have won almost all of the last 10 in Down. Corofin have been extremely dominant in Galway also. I'm missing a few more similar.

The level of preparation that goes into some of these club sides now is almost akin to the inter county game of about 10/15 years ago. Down clubs in particular must be extremely well resourced in terms of available expenditure on management teams. They love their outside managers in Down and some of the figures bandied about are jaw dropping for club sides.

There are now backroom teams made up of additional coaches and medical personnel working from within clubs. The conditioning levels of those 2 sides yesterday was similar to intercounty sides and that is where they have the biggest advantage. It takes years of preparation to get players to that level.

I was chatting to an ex inter county manager recently who said he will never manage an inter county team again. Said the hassle, meetings, phone calls, travelling, weekends away etc are not worth it now with the packages you can get offered at club management.

In fairness Toby, all the top clubs would require all of that work and effort of a manager. The day of turning up 2 nights a week and a game at the weekend are long gone. The real top club teams nowadays are effectively mini county set ups in every aspect

With club management there wouldn't be anywhere near the amount of travelling or time spent away from home involved and the manager of most club sides would be in attendance for 2/3 training sessions at most per week. There is way less scrutiny and practically no media commitments. So there is still a big difference between county and club management - club management could still quite easily be combined with a career, county management much less so unless you're either self employed or in a teaching job.

There's a massive difference in games being an hour away and some games being 5hrs away.

There's a massive difference in 3 sessions a week and 5 sessions a week.

There's a massive difference in media duties & interviews in a county manager and club manager.

Yes, club management has changed massivly in recent years. But so has county management. County management is a completely different ball game.

Lads, when I put in my previous post I did highlight TOP club management, I was not referring to every club management. Specifically I was thinking of Glen / Kilcoo type clubs.

For example the 3 men involved in Kilcoo live quite a distance away, 3 hour round trip each night plus the 90/120 minutes for the set up & session = 5 hours for 3/4 nights a week plus game at the weekend. Plus extra work like media, player phone calls, tactical meetings, video analysis etc all takes up a lot of time.

I agree with the replies that county v club management are two different levels but the set ups at the real top clubs are as near as county as you could get.

Both management set ups yesterday are county team set ups and have vast experience at county level although county level now is virtually a full time job

[Wildweasel74]

 So much for Gaelic been a amaetur sport which so many like to rave about.

[clarshack]

So much for Gaelic been a amaetur sport which so many like to rave about.

Kilcoo must be paying out some dough

[johnnycool]

So much for Gaelic been a amaetur sport which so many like to rave about.

Kilcoo must be paying out some dough

All used Northern Bank notes...

[Armagh18]

So much for Gaelic been a amaetur sport which so many like to rave about.

Kilcoo must be paying out some dough

Heard one club is paying out 6 figures....

[smort]

Absolute madness if true

The ever increasing 'expenses' need looked at