Mc Gilligan spills his guts!

[wobbller]

 Brian Magilligan gives an great insight as to where Hurling stands in Derry.He doesn't miss in his opinions of the Derry County Board in an articles in today's Irish News.

[saffron sam2]

Is this the same Brian Mc Gilligan (or should that be Magilligan) who gave up the inter-county hurling to play for the footballers?

I think we should be told.

[wobbller]

 It's Mc Gilligan.What should we be told that we don't already know??

[lynchbhoy]

Is this the same Brian Mc Gilligan (or should that be Magilligan) who gave up the inter-county hurling to play for the footballers?

I think we should be told.

no
not gave up, was told to concentrate on football by coleman.

He def gave as much to hurling in the town of Dungiven (for KL's) as he did for the footballers.
The county senior hurling outfit has been very 'seasonal' in the past until the recent few years when the couty board finally gave a bit of time , attention and resources towards them. Up until that point it was hard to take the thing seriously when you might have one good season in 10.

Brian McGilligan was also the man who moved mountains to get Kevin Lynch's new grounds bough, developed and pitch laid - also all in time for him 25th Commemoration.
The 'Big Boot' owes Hurling and football nothing in Dungiven or Derry.

[saffron sam2]

It's Mc Giligan.What should we be told that we don't already know??

Three different spellings already. I look forward to your continued involvement in this thread.

[wobbller]

 Saffron--did you have a fight with the wife/girlfriend/boyfriend?  You seem intent on nit-picking.

[ONeill]

Damn it. I thought this was something to do with the Down stats guru.

[Pull Hard Hes No Relation]

Fair dues to big Brian for calling it as it is. It is a disgrace the way hurling is treated in Derry and the unfortunate reality is that the prevalance of dual players within the county just makes the situation worse as almost every good young hurler in the county is also a good footballer.

Of the team that won the All Ireland in 93, the Downeys, McGilligan and the Mc Gurks were all great hurlers indeed Seamy Downey was a good a hurler as I'ver seen but once football came calling and they were made to make a choice they chose the big ball.

Every players has a right to play whatever game he wants and make his own choice but what big Brian is cimplaining about is when fixtures etc are deliberately set up in such a way as to make hurling as ackward as possible or where football managers are targeting the best young hurlers to be "panel" members in full knoweldge that come the big time these guys will be bit players but could have been main pillars of the hurling team

As I said maith thu Brian for having the guts to call it the way it is, sad reality is though that the Derry county board won't give a damn anyway.

[screenexile]

Of the team that won the All Ireland in 93, the Downeys, McGilligan and the Mc Gurks were all great hurlers indeed Seamy Downey was a good a hurler as I'ver seen but once football came calling and they were made to make a choice they chose the big ball.

Tony Scullion and Kieran McKeever were both noted hurlersas well!

[Pull Hard Hes No Relation]

Forgot about them Screenexile - two good hurlers they were too.

[doirebhoy]

if a player wants to hurl, let him hurl, if he wants to play football, let him play football, however intercounty requires committment, an i dont beleive a player can committ to both codes, in todays games

[Oak Leafer]

Think this whole issue of complaining about hurlers bein used as panel playes for the football is a bit of a joke!! At the end of the day are Derry really gonna get anywhere near Antrim in the hurling either way??

[Bogball XV]

Think this whole issue of complaining about hurlers bein used as panel playes for the football is a bit of a joke!! At the end of the day are Derry really gonna get anywhere near Antrim in the hurling either way??

Derry have won 2 Uster titles this decade - that's a quarter of them so far

[tbrick18]

Can anyone post the article?

At the risk of offending hurlers (and I'm sure this will), Derry are never going to make it into big time hurling. The best they can hope for is the occassional Ulster title. Compare that to the football...there is potential with the footballers to compete at the highest level both in Ulster and nationally. Now at the end of the day, the choice has to come down to the player and I think given the choice a player would rather be involved (even if its only at panel level) with a team that has the potential of actually doing something than with a team that in reality doesnt have a snowballs chance in hell of winning major honours. What recognition does a hurler winning ulster in Hurling get in comparison to a footballer winning ulster in the Football?

By no means am I saying Hurling should be scrapped...but I do think players should be allowed to choose for themselves without being targeted in the Hurling v Football debate. There are many excellent footballers who choose not to play because of varying reasons but nobody picks on them, however, if a hurler chooses not to play because he wants to play football instead he is almost painted a traitor to hurling. I think a lot (not all) of the hurlers in the county have a real issue with the footballers and not the other way around. I dont know why this is, perhaps it's jealousy that footballers get more support at matches (at least at county level) or perhaps it's because the county board havent invested as much in hurling as in football? But at the end of the day there are many more footballing clubs in Derry than Hurling clubs, so it is common sense that the football will be of a higher standard and indeed needs more investment. It is good that hurling is available to those who want to play it at intercounty level and club level (there are many counties where it is not) and I think that hurlers in the county should be glad that the opportunity exists for them to play the game they love.

I myself have never played much hurling (due to total lack of skill with the small ball) but I have brothers who have represented the county, so I am by no means anti-hurling. I just think we need to be realistic.

I wonder how many hurlers there are on the Kerry panel?

[Bogball XV]

Can anyone post the article?

At the risk of offending hurlers (and I'm sure this will), Derry are never going to make it into big time hurling. The best they can hope for is the occassional Ulster title. Compare that to the football...there is potential with the footballers to compete at the highest level both in Ulster and nationally.

Galvin is a hurler, but that aside, Derry hurlers have taken 2 ulsters since the footballers have!!