What's the story with Cavan?

[under the bar]

Don't see this county you call Derry listed....  not sure what that is at No 6 tho!

[armaghniac]

Kildare are pretty high up on the population list, not very urban and without a significant DUP voting population. Yet their achievements are modest, being a middling county in football and not prominent in hurling.

[heffo]

can you imagine either Dublin City not providing players to the county senior team.

I can imagine it quite easily because it's true.

[SLIGONIAN]

The population point is rubbish, leitrim always whinge about it. It cannot be used as an excuse. Like the point on Derry City, we in Sligo have a City 20,000+ population which is NOT a GAA strong hold. Maybe 3 clubs and county players..... Even a massive population of North Sligo where im from not much GAA playing or interested population.

How many clubs do CAVAN have?

Sligo population 56,000 = 26 clubs

Leitrim population 26000 = 24 clubs and of those 24 clubs some have 3 teams.... Pretty much the same amount of Players to choose from and coach.

I would therefore say its club count thats more important as that tells you GAA playing population and what you have to work with.

[mylestheslasher]

I think Cavan have about 34 clubs, almost all of them would field at least one reserve team and a number of the bigger clubs would field a 3rd team. This means there are 6 league divisions in Cavan and I'm guessing 12 teams in each. Thats of the top of my head.

[Homer]

I think Cavan have about 34 clubs, almost all of them would field at least one reserve team and a number of the bigger clubs would field a 3rd team. This means there are 6 league divisions in Cavan and I'm guessing 12 teams in each. Thats of the top of my head.

There's 40 clubs in this years Championships excluding amalgamations and Cavan Gaels B (I think).

[cornafean]

The population point is rubbish, leitrim always whinge about it. It cannot be used as an excuse. Like the point on Derry City, we in Sligo have a City 20,000+ population which is NOT a GAA strong hold. Maybe 3 clubs and county players..... Even a massive population of North Sligo where im from not much GAA playing or interested population.

How many clubs do CAVAN have?

Sligo population 56,000 = 26 clubs

Leitrim population 26000 = 24 clubs and of those 24 clubs some have 3 teams.... Pretty much the same amount of Players to choose from and coach.

I would therefore say its club count thats more important as that tells you GAA playing population and what you have to work with.

Surely the number of clubs (and more particularly the number of players playing competitive first-team football) has some connection to a county's population? Sligo are doing fairly well with a limited playing and general population but they're still a Division 4 team. As are Leitrim with similarly scant resources. Cavan have a slightly bigger population and are Division 3. Kinda proves my point, I would have thought.

[Maguire01]

I think one of the big factors is boys heading off to Further or Higher Education. Back when Cavan were a force, (generally speaking) young fellas didn't leave home to head to Dublin or Belfast (or further afield). Being away from home poses 2 problems - 1) the committment to travel for training and 2) the temptation to party.

Of course this doen't apply across the board and the likes of Tyrone are still a big exception.

[Canalman]

Sonny Joe, if you use the informal boundaries of Dublin City as the  Phoenix Park and the 2 canals then the vast majority of Dublin teams have no City players.
Ger Brennan I think is a city lad and may make the team this year. Vast swathes of the county coastal area  from Ringsend to Bray are a virtual wasteland for the GAA with at the most 5 GAA clubs..... Cuala, Kilmacud Crokes (at a stretch), Foxrock (mainly Ladies football), Cabinteely (might have folded), UCD all I can think of. C/Gael Fontenoy in Ringsend also.

The fact of the matter is, imo the intensity of the committment to the games is the important factor and not the County population. Bit tired of how the Derry lads always quote the Derry City statistic without putting it in a national context. Kerry with a fairly big population and a passion for football (even in the 2 big towns) have a huge advantage imo.

Agree with the posting about Kildare, they should have more AIs .

[INDIANA]

I think one of the big factors is boys heading off to Further or Higher Education. Back when Cavan were a force, (generally speaking) young fellas didn't leave home to head to Dublin or Belfast (or further afield). Being away from home poses 2 problems - 1) the committment to travel for training and 2) the temptation to party.

Of course this doen't apply across the board and the likes of Tyrone are still a big exception.

The Cavan lads wouldn't need to go to Dublin to party. A bit like Tipperary hurling, the local pub is good enough for most of them. I've never seen a propensity for Gaa players to go on the piss anywhere else compared to those 2 counties.

[Maguire01]

'We're in a dogfight to stay up' - Carr

18 February 2009

Cavan football boss Tommy Carr has conceded that he expects his management ability and the mental strength of his players to come under severe scrutiny in the weeks ahead following the county's poor start in the NFL.

Carr's charges remain rooted to the bottom of Division Three after setbacks against Longford and Tipperary and the Tipp native believes that staying up in Division Three is now the main priority.

"There's no point in trying to cover it up," Carr lamented. "We're very disappointed - we haven't started well.

"We aren't in this position by design. We aren't playing well and it's not a nice place to be for players or management, but we're all in it together.

"We're in a dogfight now to stay up. We're going to have to win at least three of our remaining games to stay up.

"There will be pressure and I would worry from the point of view of what that will do to the team and how fellows cope with that.

"There will be loads of cries about my position, but people have to think 'what happens next."

Tommy must have heard BallyhaiseMan!

[tierworker blue]

Lots of good reasons pointed out. My two cents to add to them is that we simply don't believe we can win enough. Years of loosing have placed a heavy weight on our shoulders that is not easily shifted. If you are told often enough that you are ugly, before long you'll believe that you are ugly...in footballing terms, loss after loss has done this to us.
If I was manager, that is one of the first things that I'd address. A good sports psychologist would'nt go astray in Cavan methinks.
We'll win nowt until we believe in ourselves a lot more.
If that weight ever gets lifted, and we get our act together, a dam of support will burst, the likes of which this country has'nt seen in a long time. 

[Zulu]

Some fair points lads but I don't think that Cavan are unique in having most of those problems, I would have a good idea of what goes on in all the Munster counties and they by and large have to deal with those problems as well. Take Limerick for example, rugby and soccer are massive, especially in the city and hurling is strong outside of the city yet Limerick, with no history of success whatsoever are a top 12ish football county, throw in a largely disinterested CB add in a poor club and schools scene and you can appreciate the level of their achievements. Likewise Waterford, from a small playing pool, with an anti-football CB and some of their best players playing hurling can go to Cavan and win a do or die match. This doesn't make sense and deserves a good deal of more investment by the GAA than their seems to be. A staunch GAA county like Cavan shouldn't be left to their own devices if they can't do it themselves, IMO CP should be looking at this and asking why Cavan are doing as poorly as they are.

[Maguire01]

Limerick are a top 12ish football county? Where, in Munster?

[Zulu]

I said 'ish' but I'd certainly have them ahead of 14 or 15 counties and there'd be some debate about  4 or 5 others, you could argue the toss all day but the point was that given their circumstances they are a very competitive county outside the very top teams.