Ulster Senior Football Club Championship 2009

[Minder]

St Galls have been there or thereabouts for the last six years, and unlike Cross, Ballinderry or Loup they are a dual club and come from a county with a poor enough record in club championship prior to St Galls emergence. By the way over the last 30 years how many Ulster club titles have gone to Donegal Cavan or Monaghan. I think one or two went to Castleblaney but outside of that I dont remember many. Has anyone from Down won it since the Paddy O Rourke Burren team?

A dual club that pays only lip service to hurling, reference U-21 Semi a few weeks back when they didn't field because the footballers were playing the next day. We played St Galls in a hurling championship match a couple of years ago and St Galls struggled to get a team, at home, because the footballers were playing Ballinderry in a friendly that day.................

[milltown row]

St Galls have been there or thereabouts for the last six years, and unlike Cross, Ballinderry or Loup they are a dual club and come from a county with a poor enough record in club championship prior to St Galls emergence.

Not hard to do when they transfer in any promising underage talent in Belfast.



Its one of the things that is ruining the Antrim county setup. Good youth players transferring at underage level to the big club to try and win trophies, then spending the following year or 2 picking splinters out of their backside benches when they need to be playing flat out... then a year or two after they give up.




If I was in charge in Antrim, my very first change would be the complete ban of underage transfers within the Belfast area (i.e. from one Belfast club to another).





(sits back and awaits the self-interest group to arrive)

Minder in the years that i've played senior hurling (20) we've won more games against you!! we also managed to compete in more minor finals and under 21 finals. i'd say our standing in hurling is the same

Ok ill-informed I'll help you out.

Belfast does not have Parish boundaries most cities don't. We've two players that play for us that didn't play as juveniles. Ronan move to the club 5/6 years ago as he worked in Belfast. Fermanagh is 2+ hours away 4 return. You of course would travel and play for your local club

All the clubs in Belfast have players from outside. This is not uncommon in most major towns and cities throughout Ireland. Better still you'd expect players to travel home from London and play for their local team?

As for the ban on players not being able to transfer from clubs in Antrim at juvenile level, it is in place, so again you're full of it

I know of many ex Galls players who have moved from the area and have their own kids playing for local clubs. My own lad played for St Enda's. Local club to him.

We also have three senior teams so that we don't have kids picking splinters from their backsides we also have two senior hurling clubs (all county) to facilitate all comers. You're probably from a single code club which in itself is killing Gaa traditions.

I await your response

[Minder]

Nobody is questioning your hurling teams Milltown or the ability, could haveade far more with it but for the bogball, but when hardy comes to hardy football takes precedence. And the match  I am  talking about a few years ago you were a dirty wee bastard.........

[Winnie Peg]

i think that phrase might be a sore point with their neighboring clubs!
gac = grab all club?

I hear that the Loup would be prone to a few outsiders but never heard of any Ballinderry players gaagaa. Who of them don't come from Ballinderry?

there would be a few from underage and brian mcguckian came in recently though i think he may have moved
a few of there neighbors would have been annoyed at them taking cubs from their cathcment area

Is any playing for their senior team?

[milltown row]

Nobody is questioning your hurling teams Milltown or the ability, could haveade far more with it but for the bogball, but when hardy comes to hardy football takes precedence. And the match  I am  talking about a few years ago you were a dirty wee b**tard.........

was a bad day when that happened. i was selector on that team, caused problems and the club suffered for it. previous year we should have beaten Loughgiel at Casement in the semi lost by 3. we also got to croke that year. football was not the problem

[DoYerJob Linesman]

i think that phrase might be a sore point with their neighboring clubs!
gac = grab all club?

I hear that the Loup would be prone to a few outsiders but never heard of any Ballinderry players gaagaa. Who of them don't come from Ballinderry?

there would be a few from underage and brian mcguckian came in recently though i think he may have moved
a few of there neighbors would have been annoyed at them taking cubs from their cathcment area

OK, if you are going to make allegations against my club, back them up with facts.

Brian McGuckin got married and built a house on his family land in Ballinderry.  He duly tansferred to the Shamrocks.  His family are all Ballinderry people, his Dad moved to Tyrone when he got married.  Hardly an outsider, but I'll give you that.

Your second comment about taking cubs from nighbouring clubs is the one I will take issue with.  Our neighbouring clubs are Loup, Ardboe, Moortown, Ogra Colmcille, Moneymore.  Name one underage player in the last 20 years who we have taken from any of these clubs.

[windyshepardhenderson]

theyre still a shower of bastards 

[winsamsoon]

I know of many ex Galls players who have moved from the area and have their own kids playing for local clubs. My own lad played for St Enda's. Local club to him.
We also have three senior teams so that we don't have kids picking splinters from their backsides we also have two senior hurling clubs (all county) to facilitate all comers. You're probably from a single code club which in itself is killing Gaa traditions.

I await your response
[/quote]

You see this is one of the things that annoys me with the mindset of some people in the GAA. The GAA is all about tradition and pride in your own club. Families have been associated with club right throughout Ireland from the formation of the club and these families and still existant today. Now i can understand a lad that moves to a new city or a town that is too far away from his own club. The lad wants to play Gaelic games of course he should be able to play anywhere he wants. But this is not the same for a child whose parents decide to move 15 minutes down the road, suddenly a transfer request is put in an accepted on the grounds of relocation. Personally i could never imagine playing for another club i don't think i would have the same levels of pride that i have when i put my own clubs jersey on. I would also feel like an outsider at another club because the only thing i share in common with the new club would be the games. I couldn't sit down with them and say do you remember at u-10 level we won such and such a cup and we used to go to the local shop and get a bun and drink. These things may seem small to some but are crucial if we are to sustain the GAA as it has been. It is well documented that some of the bigger clubs in Dublin have big time exploited transfer rules bringing in new players from other counties in an attempt to buy success. This is wrong and shouldn't be allowed to happen. These clubs should start soccer clubs as this is the kind of behaviour i would expect from local pub teams on a Saturday afternoon.

[cc09]

i dont like reacting to clowns but i have bought the bait,

johnny mc bride is originally 4m drummulan..he came to the loup at 7 r 8 years of age with his cousin..he never played gaelic before this,, johnny then went on to captain the club to "A" grade success at u12, u14, u16, minor and senior levels including provinicial success at u-15, minor and senior level..

we have one other player who lives outside the parish boundaries..brian doyle..he was brought up in our parish and moved about half a mile outsde the radius when he was young..brian went to st patricks primary school loup along with his brothers and cousins nd played for loup at all youth levels..

both two die hard loup men like all of us..i dont think the likes of st galls and other clubs realise how small our parishes are..our club has 96 official members..

in fairness ballinderry dont poach players either,,so any1 who claims that either of us do are complete fools

[milltown row]

winsamsoon. go back to your village team and enjoy the craic. i play/manage/volunteer for a club that has all the vaules asscoiated with the Gaa ethos. we Play Ladies Football Hurling Football and Handball we also have a thriving Scor. All this in one West Belfast club.

i answered your quote that clubs ban transfers. they do already. you've also said that you don't expect players to travel long distances when they move. so i'm confused with your complaint. is it Dublin clubs ya hate or just anyone but youselves

the players i'm talking about who moved have moved to different towns. By moving to parish clubs they are becoming part of that clubs fabric.

for 9 out 10 players they have those memories of the bun and drink. can't honestly think that putting on another top from a club would be for me. but people do and they are as much a GAA person than you

[winsamsoon]

Firstly Milltown i don't come from a village i am from lurgan and there are at least 6 clubs within a 3 or 4 mile radius. The majority of the clubs are made up of families that have always been associated with these clubs. I think this is proper and wouldn't advocate anything else.

Secondly i never once mention St Gall's i was speaking in general terms, only citing the Dublin clubs because they have probably exploited it the most. I wouldn't be well enough informed on the Loup or any other Derry club to cast aspersions so i wouldn't dream of doing it.

Thirdly i don't recall entering a quote stating to ban transfers, if you read again you will find you are combining two arguments into one.

Fourthly i never said that people who make these transfers are any less GAA people than me because to me the guy that washes the skips is as important as the lad who wins three All Stars. It is an organisation for the people to keep tradition and culture at the forefront of our lives and it does so successfully.

When i see bigger clubs with a few pounds behind them transferring in players from all across the country then IMO this threatens the key issue of loyalty and culture throughout the club. For example since i have already been accused of taking issue with St Gall's i may aswell play the double Jeopardy card. If the two Gallagher lads who were entitled to play for anyone as they have relocated to Belfast (presuming this is the reason behind it). Why is is that they choose the most successful team in the Belfast area. I am sure they could have went to some of the other clubs around the area. So it could be said then from someone outside of the Belfast area(not a village ) that they only choose St Gall's because they were in search of glory and not that they just wanted to play Gaelic. I would nearly say that there are handier clubs than St Gall's for them lads but i may be wrong

[milltown row]

as a club we don't have any money, skint like the other clubs outside of Dublin. any money raised is done by the players and members.

why did two players join St Galls? ask them. Ronan Gallagher couldn't make our senior team until Paddy Murray retired, and Rory has been subbed most games this year. no one is assured a place on the team.

OK your relocated to Dublin. your a decent footballer/hurler. what club would you prefer to join?

Players all over have moved from clubs for various reasons, St Thomonds College won the All Ireland club title beating St Johns Belfast, they had players from all over Ireland playing for them (so did St Johns ) it will continue to happen. we have two players, big deal.

so as a club you don't have any outsiders, as players or managers?

[thewanderer]

good man milltown you give win plenty of stick. Have to agree you,s are doin a great job for the gaa in west belfast. Ask win about the outsiders clans have had in recent years, even an antrim man

[winsamsoon]

The point that i am getting at is that these players are making the game a farce. I noticed the way you dodged the question when i asked you why did they join St Gall's. You didn't know the answer but you could probably defend every other point. I will tell you the answer it is because they are the most successful team in the area. So it wasn't just because they wanted to play Gaelic it was because they wanted glory. The ordinary clubman on the other hand will knock his pan in year in and year out for the love of his club and the hope of winning an odd league or intermediate championship and there lies the difference. If you asked an ordinary club member to move to St Gall's then they would say no i am happy with what i have at my own club because therein lie the traditions and people that they have grown up with. Certain players like Mc Geeney and Mc Nulty's (to come away from Antrim examples ) are taking the game away from this. They have a duty to play for their own club and not to go elsewhere simply because the glory and in some cases the pay is good. It is not what our game is about.


With regardes to Wanderer apart from a St Johns player there have been few others that have came to my club from any other . The player is question wasn't paid or offered special deals. He moved to Lurgan with his family. It was his decision to join Clan Na Galel but what probably swayed his decision was the fact that we are the most successful team in that area and this is wrong. So even though it happens at many clubs, i cannot do anything about this but it doesn't make it right whether it be my club or any other. Just on the subject a couple of years back we had a player that moved to Donegal  with his family that lad traveled up to Lurgan and back twice a week for ttraining , sometimes more and a game at the weekend. He could have played for any other club in Donegal but he knew where his heart was. To me it is players like this that hold the true essence and spirirt of the game and not the lad who goes where the glory is. It will soon be like soccer if this persists along with the pay for play deals.

[RadioGAAGAA]

As for the ban on players not being able to transfer from clubs in Antrim at juvenile level, it is in place, so again you're full of it

If you are stating there is a ban on juvenile transfers within Belfast, you are incorrect.