Christmas comes early to Westmeath

[Croí na hÉireann]

Lakers get new stadium not too far from the town and Flan's back...

Westmeath stadium plan gets go-ahead

Westmeath GAA has been given the green light to sell their county headquarters Cusack Park and replace it with a new 26,000 all-seater stadium on the outskirts of Mullingar.

Westmeath chairman Seamus Whelan confirmed the proposal to sell Cusack Park – believed to be worth over €30 million – was given the go-ahead by the county's clubs at a meeting last Thursday.

Developers are to provide the board with a new stadium in Robinstown on the Castlepollard Road in exchange for Cusack Park, which is located in the centre of Mullingar. The project would incorporate two full-size training pitches, both of which would be floodlit with a synthetic, sand-based surface.

"We have met with the clubs and received their full backing," Whelan said.

"A number of developers have expressed an interest in Cusack Park and our message has been the same, that it's not for sale. We would have to be convinced to move.

"We would require the greatest of facilities, including a state-of-the-art stadium, gymnasium and an administration block. A number of all-weather training pitches would be required also. We are exploring the possibility with developers and will report back to our Management Committee, and if we have a recommendation for the clubs, we will make it to them."

Cusack Park, which underwent a major redevelopment 10 years ago, has been the home of Westmeath GAA since 1933 and is renowned as the venue where legendary commentator Micheal O'Hehir made his first broadcast from.

Will be interesting to see the location for the stadium, as I understand it Robinstoen is the area beside/at the back of the hospital so it's not that far out of the town, parking could be very problematic though. Capacity on the news last night was 28,000 which seems about right, should be aiming to hold inter county U21 finals, camogie finals, etc. as if done right it will be the no.1 venue in the midlands. Surprised there'll be no terracing as some people like the cheaper tickets and remaining vertical watching a game.

Flanagan returns to Westmeath set-up

Westmeath's 2007 hopes have received a major boost with the return of Martin Flanagan to the football squad after an almost two-year absence.

The highly talented Tyrrellspass player has had an often difficult relationship with the Westmeath management over the past few years, though he has been troubled by ankle problems for most of that time.

He left the panel in controversial circumstances in early 2004, and wasn't involved when Westmeath won the Leinster title later that year. He made a brief return during last year's league but had once again drifted from the scene by time the championship came around and didn't feature at all in 2006.

Flanagan's return to the Tyrrellspass team in the latter stages of this year's county championship was a huge factor in their county final win and he was very much to the fore as they beat Abbeylara and Arles/Killeen before losing to eventual winners Moorefield by a point in the Leinster club semi-final.

The former St. Mel's College star will be 31 in January, but Westmeath fans feel he still has plenty to offer, especially in attack where there has been an over-reliance on Dessie Dolan for scores over the past couple of seasons.

The return of the Flan could be bittersweet, will he still be there at championship time??? Expect to see him in full forward and dragged out to midfield if needed. This could be his year to show the rest of the country what he's all about.

[Uladh]

Martin Flanagan?



Never heard of him

[Croí na hÉireann]

My point exactly

[TORGAEL]

Good news re the new stadium........but Martin who ?

[AN other]

Good news re the new stadium........but Martin who ?

Martin Flanagan, it says the second name right there in the article!
Flanagan's one of the most gifted players ever to play in/for Westmeath, he's built for football, and has no lack of skill either. Unfortunately he's never really had the head and only ever seemed half arsed about playing for Westmeath and indeed Tyrrellspass. I remember a club championship game a few years ago when he should have been at his prime and he basically spent the game sitting between the goal and the 21, showing no interest in the game at all.
I'm dubious as to whether he has it in him at this stage, or indeed if he'll even be there come championship time. He's had many years and opportunities to deliver consistently and he simply never has. I hope he can though, because if he could fulfill his potential for just one year I don't think there'd be many martin who's...

[turk]

I think Brendan Lowry got the best out of Flanagan

[Roseyland]

Seen an artists impression of the proposed new stadium in the Westmeath Yearbook, very impressive stand with GAA campus on grounds also. Not sure when the selling will take place of Cusack Park but proposed development according to yearbook will not be complete for a good 5-10 years, the way the property market is headed at the moment they would want to sell now before the developers lose interest. 

[AZOffaly]

Jaysus, is this the longest ever gap between posts in a resurrected thread*? Fair play to you for even finding this

*as opposed to referencing old threads in a new one....

[Roseyland]

Jaysus, is this the longest ever gap between posts in a resurrected thread*? Fair play to you for even finding this

*as opposed to referencing old threads in a new one....

Yeah, remembered the topic from before christmas and did a wee search. Just trying to keep the post relevant instead of typing or pasting Croi's info in a new thread 

[AZOffaly]

Good man, but it was before Christmas 2006!!

[Roseyland]

Good man, but it was before Christmas 2006!!

Fcuk me it is too! Jaysus, I thought I was resurrecting a thread from Dec 07!

[Croí na hÉireann]

Hello Ewan...

http://www.tribune.ie/sport/gaelic-football/article/2009/jun/28/standing-tall-with-no-regrets/

Standing tall with no regrets
Martin Flanagan may have seen his career fizzle due to chronic laziness and multiple injuries, but he is now relishing his second chance at success
Ewan MacKenna
Better late than never: Westmeath's Martin Flanagan is beginning to fulfil his huge potential and, at 33 years of age, he is keen to make up for lost time

Fact. Martin Flanagan hates to train. Fact. When he was younger his mother tried to force him out the door on weeknights but was always met with a blunt and stubborn refusal. Fact. When he was older, a Tyrellspass manager asked the midfielder one evening could he trust him and would he show up the following Sunday morning. The response involved a couple of nos. Fact. Martin Flanagan hasn't got his hands on a Leinster medal since he ran the show for St Mel's in his Leaving Cert year of 1994.

There was a time when the sky was the limit for one of the most gifted footballers Westmeath had ever produced. Problem was it seemed a lot of work to get up there for one of the laziest footballers Westmeath had produced. Little wonder that when an article telling of his potential comeback to the county team at the end of 2006 was posted on a GAA forum, the first responses read "Martin Flanagan? Never heard of him" and "Martin who?".

But it's not just his non-existent work ethic that isn't conducive to playing sport at the top. Labouring the night shift in a cigarette factory, he's the only player to earn his living after training and hit the gym first thing in the morning. His odd hours have led to odd eating habits and his weight has dipped below the 14-stone mark. On top of that, he enjoys a drink and is too laid back to worry about what he's missed out on. We join him in a Mullingar hotel and you're wondering what a guy like this is doing in inter-county football.

From your past, it strikes me that you don't enjoy football, you tell him.

"No, that's not the case at all."

What about training then?

"Different story. When I started out it was all long-distance running laps. Hate them. I'd often have stood on the side of the pitch and refused, skipped a few. Laziness more than anything else. I'm sure that pissed people off but there were times when I had better things to do than run around a pitch. And I went off and did those things. I had my fun."

So you don't regret it then?

"No," he smiles.

Do you regret any aspect of your attitude?

"I could have been a big name I guess. I wasted a lot of time and I missed out on my best days. Missed out on our All Ireland minor team by a year. Missed out on a Leinster medal too. It's not the end of the world but I should have been there for that Leinster title."

• • •

It's January 2004 and Flanagan is having problems with his ankles and the new management team of Páidí Ó Sé and Tomás Ó Flatharta are having problems with his excuses. They run a training exercise known as wire-to-wire which involves a four-man sprint, a race to a ball downfield and a man-to-man marking job all the way back up the pitch. Flanagan is clearly struggling. Then there's the pit, a sand track the Kerry duo have installed down the side of the field in Ballinagore and Flanagan's ankles only get worse. He refuses to play in an O'Byrne Cup game against Dublin but pressure sees him line out. The relationship becomes frayed.

It's February 2004 and Flanagan wants to go for an operation on his ankle. The week of a league game with Fermanagh he tells Ó Sé he won't be going. But there's more to it. The Kerry manager wants to take his team to a hotel the night before the game but it being Valentine's weekend there are few rooms available and the panel ends up overnight in Leitrim. Flanagan is dating and doesn't want to waste his time. The relationship becomes severed and breaks down completely.

"I had my own ideas about my injury but you can see their point. It was Páidí 's first year in and he wanted everybody. They didn't want me to have an operation, they wanted me playing but I felt myself I couldn't. I didn't talk to him much about it, just made the decision myself. The week before the Fermanagh match I didn't train, didn't travel and didn't return. I don't think that went down too well."

But didn't the physio tell you you were okay to play earlier in the year when you weren't?

"Well Paidí had his physio, but if your manager tells you to say a fella is alright you are going to do it to keep your job. No physio was going to tell me I was 100 per cent. I was going to a guy in St James's and he'd done all the operations on my left ankle so I trusted him."

And what about Valentine's?

"I had plans. I'm very laid back and I put myself first. What happens, happens and I did what I wanted to do."

He didn't see the management until the night of the Leinster final replay but was proven right in the meantime. Having suffered from spurs which meant his ankle was catching on a projection of bone, further investigation saw him in need of ligament stabilisation. Having thought in his own mind he might return for the championship, he spent six weeks in a cast and his season was effectively over. He watched on at home as the side battled through Leinster for the first time in history but the night of the victorious homecoming made the mistake of leaving his lonely retreat.

"I felt sorry for myself. I wouldn't have thought at the start of the year they were going to win Leinster. If I'd known, I'd have hopped around the field. Didn't turn out that way." He sighs. "People thought I didn't get on with Páidí but I didn't know him well enough and it was just the ankle at the start. But after that the gripe I had was nobody contacted me after that operation. That's why I should have stayed away."

You dredge up the row he started with Ó Flatharta that night.

"Well Tomás was emotional in a good way, I was emotional in a bad way and it doesn't mix. What I said wasn't nice. We'll skip the exact words but it wasn't, 'Hello, how are you?' People talk about nearly coming to blows. I've never been a row in my life so I wasn't going to get into one with him. It was heated but I'd have to take most of the blame."

And Páidí?

"We went away and I needed to air my views on everything. I'd played so long with the county, I wanted a show of respect which I hadn't got over the previous months. I had some seriously stern words. He said he did want me back but at the time I wasn't able. It would have been a mistake for me to say yes. It would have upset everything. In the end I woke up the next morning angry with myself for going."

Things healed organically between player and management and his teammates now joke about it. Any time he had a point to make to one of them, there's an obvious comeback as they ask where is his Leinster medal. And since then, his has been a story of injuries. When he came back in 2005, he was forced to ring Ó Flatharta and tell him he'd have to leave the panel again. He was worried they'd see him as just being lazy and write off his intercounty career but management had noticed he wasn't moving well. Then in 2007 when Ó Flatharta got the top job, there were further peace talks. "I left those things behind me, I don't ponder and I don't hold a grudge. He probably said, 'There's no point rocking the boat with this fella' and maybe he understood the way I was that night in the Greville Arms. These days we get on great."

Which can't be said of the relationship between Flanagan and his 33-year-old body. In total he's had four operations on his two ankles and his back isn't the best these days either. Last year after coming out of the league as the nation's top midfielder, he went down in the first half against Offaly after an innocuous tangle with Thomas Deehan. It turned out that the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee had been damaged and his posterior cruciate ligament had been torn three-quarters' way. Doctors advised against it but he played on. From that moment the team were carrying their strongest man.

"Well I was injured this league so maybe it'll work the opposite way to the last few years and I'll get a good championship. But looking back we've had a good team for nearly 10 years and it just hasn't happened. We haven't pushed on and haven't looked like winning the Leinster. When you get these chances you have to take them. We haven't, I haven't."

You're not as confrontational anymore, you tell him.

"It was just a case of not bothering in the past. I wasn't confrontational. But when people see you off panels they think there's a row there. Like I was asked to go for trials for that international rules. I went and said it wasn't for me. I went to another the following year and it wasn't worth the hassle. That's the way I was thinking at the time. I'm older now and when you have children and a wife and a house and a mortgage is does concentrate your mind more. I don't want to go with any regrets."

Has not winning that Leinster title matured you as well?

"I'm still laid back but I'm probably more committed to football now. I have to be because I have to work harder with all the injuries. I want to play for as long as I can and with the body falling apart, I know each game could be my last. I know I've something to offer as well. I'm not a big midfielder but I can kick points from the middle although Kevin McStay doesn't think so. He obviously goes to all my games. And as a team we know we should have beaten Tyrone and Dublin last year. That hurt to see them do so well as the summer went on."

This time around he's not too sure what to expect as Dublin again await. He knows they'll be a different side and puts the dark arts and verbal abuse Denis Glennon recently accused them of down to the previous management team. He knows Westmeath will be a different side too as they try to recover from the injuries that plagued their league. "I played in 2007 against Vincent's and Pat Gilroy and there was none of that crap out of them. He was actually handy enough, a big target man. Wouldn't be his style to intimidate you, get in your face. As for us, we know injuries now are an easy excuse. Thing is, we don't want to use that."

Fact. After all these years Martin Flanagan has matured and is fulfilling some of his massive potential. What remains to be seen is whether or not he's too late.

emackenna@tribune.ie

[Dinny Breen]

Read that Sunday and was wondering was it this board or was he just making it up 


Now what's happened the stadium?

[Donnellys Hollow]

Read that Sunday and was wondering was it this board or was he just making it up 


Now what's happened the stadium?

Gone the same way as ours probably - we'll be stuck in St Conleths for another 20 years.

Cusack Park is in far better shape in comparison. I hadn't been in O'Connor Park for years before Saturday night and the ground there would put ours to shame - fine big pitch and a great stand.

[Dinny Breen]

Cusack Park is in far better shape in comparison. I hadn't been in O'Connor Park for years before Saturday night and the ground there would put ours to shame - fine big pitch and a great stand.

Funny enough we were discussing the same thing down there, Portlaoise, Cullen Park and O'Connor are all fine stadia with good faclilites and nice pitches and then you have Newbridge