Down Club Hurling & Football

[Nanderson]

anyone know when the Down SFC/IFC/JFC championship draws are being made ?

asking for a friend

tonight

[forevergreen]

All this talk about Ballyholland showing the Liverpool game and how they should show Down is a load of bollocks.
They are well entitled to show whatever they want. The Down County Board and Ulster GAA had ample opportunity to change the game and maximise the gate but as usual they know better, same crowd who advocated building in BallyKinlar and obviously expecting families to fork out upwards on £70 quid to get into Down game to pay for it.
They don't have any regard for the ordinary 5/8 so why would anyone worry about whether a soccer or gaelic game is on the TV.
Simple if you are that worried about Down take a seat in the stand, if not take a seat in your local club. They'll all have the BIG game on.

[charlieTully]

All this talk about Ballyholland showing the Liverpool game and how they should show Down is a load of bollocks.
They are well entitled to show whatever they want. The Down County Board and Ulster GAA had ample opportunity to change the game and maximise the gate but as usual they know better, same crowd who advocated building in BallyKinlar and obviously expecting families to fork out upwards on £70 quid to get into Down game to pay for it.
They don't have any regard for the ordinary 5/8 so why would anyone worry about whether a soccer or gaelic game is on the TV.
Simple if you are that worried about Down take a seat in the stand, if not take a seat in your local club. They'll all have the BIG game on.

Shit stirrer. Bringing it all up again. You are one devious cnut.

[Ambrose]

All this talk about Ballyholland showing the Liverpool game and how they should show Down is a load of bollocks.
They are well entitled to show whatever they want. The Down County Board and Ulster GAA had ample opportunity to change the game and maximise the gate but as usual they know better, same crowd who advocated building in BallyKinlar and obviously expecting families to fork out upwards on £70 quid to get into Down game to pay for it.
They don't have any regard for the ordinary 5/8 so why would anyone worry about whether a soccer or gaelic game is on the TV.
Simple if you are that worried about Down take a seat in the stand, if not take a seat in your local club. They'll all have the BIG game on.

The Club is the basic unit of the Association and the primary structure through which the GAA undertakes its mission, which states 'The GAA is a community based volunteer organisation promoting Gaelic games, culture and lifelong participation.'

The objective of the Club is the promotion at local level of the Association's aims, as outlined in the Official Guide – Chapter 1: Aims and Ethos.

The Association's basic aim is to "strengthen the National Identity" through its primary purpose to promote and control the National games of Hurling, Gaelic Football, Handball and Rounders. Its additional aims are to:

• Actively support the Irish language and Irish culture

• Promote the aims of the GAA abroad through the oversees units - see our World GAA portal

• Support the promotion of Camogie and Ladies Gaelic Football

• Support Irish industry

The GAA Club is the bedrock of every Irish community and provides an organised structure from which great community spirit is generated. Today, almost every town and village in the country has its own GAA headquarters, centered on the playing of our exciting games and building on 125 years of great history and success. Our games are also spreading to communities abroad and there are now over 300 clubs affiliated to the GAA in Europe, the USA, Canada, Asia, Australia, New Zeland and Britain.

These clubs are a tremendous influence in their local communities. The GAA is a strong and vibrant Association thanks to the army of dedicated volunteers at Club level committed to the promotion and development of our clubs and our games.

It's vital our clubs continue to grow and reinvent themselves to ensure that this structure is reinforced. Through planning ahead for the future, the GAA will help ensure that clubs remain strong and that dedicated voluntary officials at Club level continue to commit to the promotion and development of our games and our Association.

[charlieTully]

But if a few quid can be made selling pints and watching the pool who gives a feck eh?

[Ambrose]

But if a few quid can be made selling pints and watching the pool who gives a feck eh?

It's supporting Irish industry.

Maybe some of the Ballyholland lads could keep this thread updated on Saturday evening, if their bandwidth allows, for those of us following the Down game from Kiev. 

[thewobbler]

As mentioned a couple of times on this thread....

Promotion of Gaelic Games.

We've a provincial council charging £30 (which is £80 for a family of 4) in to watch a match between a D3 side that's never been at a lower ebb, and a D4 side that outwardly would appear to have given up on moving up the ranks.

That pricing structure, whether they mean to or not, sends a clear message that you need both a hefty interest in Gaelic Games, and a fair enough disposable income, to consider going along.

To compound this matter they've faced it off in direct competition with the biggest televised sporting event in europe, featuring a club side who (for reasons I cannot really explain, this "us" soccer culture) capture the hearts and minds of tens of thousands of Antrim and Down GAA followers, playing in their biggest match in 13 years.

So our provincial council, as well as pricing the game out of reach for half-interested or currently disenchanted supporters, and for lower income families, have elected to push thousands upon thostands of potential attendees away.

The Ulster Council are NOT promoting our games. In a race to make money to cover costs they've largely invented for themselves, they have forgotten that this is not the GAA ethos.


And it's an epidemic across leadership in our association. Between league fees, county board levees like the Down draw, insurance and rates, our clubs all start the year £20k in the red. That's before a ball is kicked, a meeting is held, a light is turned on. For most clubs, that equates to £100 a family. Before a ball is kicked, meeting is held, a light turned on.

It's a scandal the way the GAA is going.

So before you start shitting your mouths on a club like Ballyholland, which has grown in every aspect - facilities, structures, success - from an intermediate club to a senior club in the past 10 years, mostly by increasing our membership base,  just have a good think about where money comes from, why we need so much of it, where it all goes, and where the real problems lie.


Promotion of games my f**king arse.

[Ambrose]

Promotion of games my f**king arse.

The only promotion you've had in Ballyholland lately is in the Carnbane league.

[thewobbler]

Promotion of games my f**king arse.

The only promotion you've had in Ballyholland lately is in the Carnbane league.

It's kind of difficult to get promoted from D1 you clampitt

[6th sam]

Promotion of games my f**king arse.

The only promotion you've had in Ballyholland lately is in the Carnbane league.

It's kind of difficult to get promoted from D1 you clampitt

😂 can't argue with that!
As usual many fair points wobbler, and I share your genuine fears around the path the GAA seems to be taking. Conservative and slow to change in some ways, yet making many decisions which hammer the most important aspect of the association-our grassroots members.
But just to give another perspective:
It's not easy to change fixture start times at short notice for several reasons including staffing , and you always need to be careful in establishing precedent, as it could create chaos re fixture change in the future. I note there are also rugby timing clashes. Where does it stop? Should we have changed the times of last week's Ulster minor games because the Scottish cup final was on,  and there's loads of Celtic fans? Personally I'm not an avid soccer fan, but I could see the logic in changing given the many Liverpool supporters who are GAA fans. However USFC games are major events, and there is hefty red tape implications of late fixture changes, often related to amateur volunteer staff in whom the GAA is totally dependent, and that's why late changes rarely  happen.
Unfortunately Inter-County games, unlike other sports don't occur weekly and therefore the cost into championship games probably partly reflect that, but the GAA works harder than other organisations in trying to make things affordable eg group passes, discounts, and early bird/season tickets etc . Compared to soccer supporters, for example,  who are happy to travel to Liverpool , Glasgow and Manchester at will, are charged exorbitant prices and it's not a problem. Ironically many of these sports tourists are the ones who gurn most about paying into Páirc Esler😂.
I also can't understand why DownGAA are getting it in the neck from many re this fixture clash, when it's the Ulster Council that arrange fixtures, and can't be dictated to by individual counties.
The Down county board work hard at providing a brilliant venue on the doorstep of many clubs ( albeit at one end of the county) and then in the rare event of actually getting a home game, everybody's on their back. I'm no apologist for the county board but I'm sure they feel at times they can't win!
Ballyholland have made brilliant strides in recent years, and I'm delighted for the many great clubmen such as yourself who have helped make that happen. However , I would also ask you to reflect, that there  is no doubt whatsoever that part of your success is on the back of the outstanding contribution of the likes of Shane Mulholland , the Murphys and Rony  Murtagh in "Red & Black" , and the promotional benefits county "glamour" brings to your club. I have no doubt that Rony's scoring exploits in 2010 , for example, contributed to your membership escalation in subsequent years , and your recent underage success . Those county men are great leaders and role models in your club , in their own right, but I'm sure you'll agree that their association with the county has done your club no harm. We can all complain about aspects of county administration demands but I would caution against "biting off the hands that feeds you" . There is absolutely no doubt that county success benefits all clubs, and in my opinion, we should do all we can to promote that, regardless of any understandable frustrations. An Dún Abú

[johnnycool]

As mentioned a couple of times on this thread....

Promotion of Gaelic Games.

We've a provincial council charging £30 (which is £80 for a family of 4) in to watch a match between a D3 side that's never been at a lower ebb, and a D4 side that outwardly would appear to have given up on moving up the ranks.

That pricing structure, whether they mean to or not, sends a clear message that you need both a hefty interest in Gaelic Games, and a fair enough disposable income, to consider going along.

To compound this matter they've faced it off in direct competition with the biggest televised sporting event in europe, featuring a club side who (for reasons I cannot really explain, this "us" soccer culture) capture the hearts and minds of tens of thousands of Antrim and Down GAA followers, playing in their biggest match in 13 years.

So our provincial council, as well as pricing the game out of reach for half-interested or currently disenchanted supporters, and for lower income families, have elected to push thousands upon thostands of potential attendees away.

The Ulster Council are NOT promoting our games. In a race to make money to cover costs they've largely invented for themselves, they have forgotten that this is not the GAA ethos.


And it's an epidemic across leadership in our association. Between league fees, county board levees like the Down draw, insurance and rates, our clubs all start the year £20k in the red. That's before a ball is kicked, a meeting is held, a light is turned on. For most clubs, that equates to £100 a family. Before a ball is kicked, meeting is held, a light turned on.

It's a scandal the way the GAA is going.

So before you start shitting your mouths on a club like Ballyholland, which has grown in every aspect - facilities, structures, success - from an intermediate club to a senior club in the past 10 years, mostly by increasing our membership base,  just have a good think about where money comes from, why we need so much of it, where it all goes, and where the real problems lie.


Promotion of games my f**king arse.

Bang on the money Wobbler.

The Ulster Council now has a myriad of full time officials on the payroll and you'd have to question the effectiveness of them as I just don't see the improvements for all this going on.

We've had Ulster Council coaches down at our place and whilst nice enough lads most aren't as good as some of our own volunteers and its sporadiac with no concerted plan. I don't see how positive outcomes are achievable with this process.
We'd to send three of our members to Armagh in relation to a DEFRA grant we'd applied for. They were grilled for two hours on various aspects of our accounts by a panel of 8 or 9 people before they would approve our application. Guess how much the Ulster Council have offered us in grants relating to the same development, not one brass farthing.

Don't start me on the Down CB levies as they're killing us too before a hurl or ball is bought and we're trying to develop our facilities in the middle of all this.

We'll all do what we need to do to raise funds to keep going, Ballyholland are no different.

[thewobbler]

6th Sam. Nobody is biting off the hand that feeds us.

Why are people determined to make this Ballyholland v Down. It is anything but. There will be no more or fewer Ballyholland folk in Esler on Saturday than there would be if we put a bolt on the club doors.

The club is being opened that evening for people who would prefer to watch a different event.

[Brick Tamlin]

Nice try Wobbler.
You know exactly what you are doing and its in keeping with the running theme this last 5 or 6 years with your club, key individuals and the relationship with the county board/administration in general. It doesnt seem to be abating either.

[Smurfy123]

The ulster council have made a huge mistake with the pricing of tickets and now are expecting a very poor crowd and they are starting to realise that. They have just announced they are giving 100 FREE tickets to secondary schools in Down and Antrim. Talking about backtracking

[Smurfy123]

100 tickets per school