Antrim Football Thread

Started by theskull1, November 09, 2006, 11:48:40 PM

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johnjoe

Cant see past Cargin, but Lamh Dearg a dark horse. Will see last year as a stepping stone to go one further, and werent a mile away when you think of it.

Anyone here know anything about the South Antrim feile, hows it going, who is fancied etc. St Galls were u-12 champions two years ago. Have they picked up half a dozen "new" players in the meantime?

St Johns had a good u-12 team last year, and looked pretty good. Any others with high expectations from the city?

Think its Aldergrove versus Stinsons in the SW final.


milltown row

start of the div 1 season this week Dunloy will be at Milltown, what sort of team will they bring? much improved from the first game last year i would imagine. we will be without a few regulars and a new manager so it's hard to call how we will go this year. maybe the first shock result this Sunday

saffronman

not much chat over antrims win (at last) on sunday, just goes to show that if we could stop shipping the goals we would have finished in a far higher position. good boost for the team on the run into championship. I was at the game and have to say the young lads loughery and crozier kept the tipperary star man declan browne very quiet.

at the other end the forwards looked sharp but all seemed to want to get on the score board and were selfish, the score would have been alot wider if the right option had been taken on a few occasions! anyone else attend?
saw today that derrys captain, mc guckin is definately out with a broken leg, hes their star defender and surely this gives antrim a chance come june?

Gold

Antrim always have a chance in a one off match but they need a bit of luck too.

The teams a bit small for me though if u compare them with other successful teams.

I watched the Derry v Down 1994 game last week on TG4 and the size of those players compared to Antrims senior team now is frightening.

McGuckin is a loss surely but sure they still have lockhart, cartin, hinphy, mccloy, o'kane etc so im sure they'll not be too worried.

Its sobering to look at the line up for Div4 next year and to see Antrim alongside footballing feather-weights Tipperary, Waterfood, London etc---it shows us where we are really at.

We are lacking in so many areas (including the supporters) that it is almost impossible to be optimistic about the future.
"Cheeky Charlie McKenna..."

Syd The Sailor

Quote from: Gold on April 11, 2007, 10:05:28 PM
Antrim always have a chance in a one off match but they need a bit of luck too.


Its sobering to look at the line up for Div4 next year and to see Antrim alongside footballing feather-weights Tipperary, Waterfood, London etc---it shows us where we are really at.

What makes us think we are anything other than "footballing feather-weights"? We have been delluding ourselves for years........2 championship wins in Ulster C'Ship in 20 odd years.
"I coulda been a contender.....i could've been somebody"

Gold

Exactly

I think that by being in the same league (2A) as teams such as Meath and Cavan we dellude ourselves and think we are not as bad as we are (especially when we score 2 goals in injury time against a team pulling up and lose by 3 and have to listen to "there was only a kick of the ball in it" shite)

I think next years league will be a wake up call as to exactly where we are at (alongside Tipp and London and just behind Sligo, Wicklow, Clare and even Leitrim.

Its a sad state of affairs--ive loved Antrim since i was no age--going to Casement for the championship watching every second of the minor games to the end of the senior but is sickening getting beaten.

Im fanatical about gaelic football--for years now its been the first thing i think about when i wake up and the last thing i think about before sleeping--i believe there are many as fanatical as me but we all need to pull in the right direction and focus on trying to firstly make ourselves competitive and to then one day win things
"Cheeky Charlie McKenna..."

Maximus Marillius

Gold ...on one hand I feel sorry for you, to come from a shit hole of a football county as Antrim. But on the other hand I admire you, for its people like yourself who have that blind faith, which will hopefully get the reward ye deserve in football. If Antrim had more like ye...maybe...maybe

johnjoe

Maybe, maybe Max. Whatever you say.

Gold, Antrim are starting to produce a much better type of player than ever before, but we need to be fanatical and as passionate as the Derry, Tyrone or Armagh folk.

In Derry, over the combined weekend of FIRST round c`ship games would see, as a rough guess, 40,000 people attend and pay in through the turnstile. This attendance would increase as the competitions develop, and over a season this would be a huge financial boost to the Derry county coffers.

I ask, how many would attend the games at the same stage in Antrim?

Therby lies the answer. Cargin v St Galls semi - final would bring in a crowd of 4000 approx. Any of the top six clubs in Derry, would have a semi-final attendance of 10 - 12,000 people. If it were a double header, I would anticipate 14-16000.

Now, if you had St Pauls versus Creggan semi, you might be lucky to have 1500 present. Thats the difference, and thats no disrespect to anyone in Antrim. But we dont have the same fanaticism as other counties, or passion, and until that is in place, in clubs, schools, and county squads at all levels, then we will always be playing catch up.

Now thats not to say we couldnt develop a senior squad of 20 - 25 quality players that could do a Fermanagh of 2004, but it would be no good unless the structures are sustainable.

imtommygunn

Would agree to a point with JJ.

We are now producing a quality calibre of player who can compete at Sigerson level etc. However on the other side of the coin an amount of this talent has come through Derry schools - McCann, Crozier etc. Brady and Madden came from Derry schools  Belfast schools are becoming increasingly competitive in the McLarnon cup though which can only be beneficial and in this years sigerson we had some of the best young players - Cunningham, Crozier etc. and not all of these boys came through Derry schools.

We need to be producing this calibre of players year in year out. I still think the standard of coaching we have may fall a wee bit short as I think sometimes you can see in our players a shortcoming with the "fundamentals". You can have certificates till you're blue in the face but I think a lot of the youth certifications are over-rated. I think the standards here can be improved.

We have a problem Derry and Tyrone haven't got so much. Realistically the primary game in Antrim is hurling - this splits attentions and leads to vast areas not playing the big ball game. The point about the attendances at championship games is a valid one however I just don't think we have the numbers in some clubs to generate huge attendances. Cargin aside there are no rural clubs in Antrim with significant playing or member population. In a lot of rural clubs the community revolves round the GAA but there just aren't enough numbers. You have an example of Creggan - Creggan is a small small place, Portglenone has a very small nationalist population, likewise Ahoghill, Ballymena and maybe to a lesser extent Rasharkin. Glenravel is small as is Moneyglass and to be honest I've touched on most of the non city clubs worth talking about in a football sense. The city clubs are another issue altogether. Derry can't really tackle the problem of city clubs. In the city it is harder to maintain interest among youth. You could play St Johns / St Pauls etc. and see a different team each year.  St Galls are different as they are now successful and "success breeds success" and all that.

We have problems in:
- not enough population
- split between football and hurling
- the city ships a lot of players to other sports and other influences.

I do think we are moving forward though but I still believe the standard of youth coaching needs to be improved.  The U21 and minor teams we have are of a much higher standard now than they were about ten years ago. That can only be good. In five or six years time I think we will have a team who would be a good bit better than division 4 status but I think we have a way to go to get there.

The championship is a one off and Derry are no world beaters either especially if you curb Paddy Bradley. Don't think we'll beat Derry but we'll give them a better game than some people think...

Ethan Edwards

Quote from: Maximus Marillius on April 11, 2007, 11:32:52 PM
Gold ...on one hand I feel sorry for you, to come from a shit hole of a football county as Antrim.

Max thats a bit of a rant, sure isnt your mother also from that shit hole of a football county as Antrim
That'll Be The Day

saffronman


Gold ...on one hand I feel sorry for you, to come from a shit hole of a football county as Antrim.
[/quote]



Away and f**k urself max, we might not be a kerry or dublin but we're proud of who we are and dont need wankers like you on here givin us shit like that!

SlimShady

firstly...


Quote from: Ethan Edwards on April 12, 2007, 11:28:16 AM
Quote from: Maximus Marillius on April 11, 2007, 11:32:52 PM
Gold ...on one hand I feel sorry for you, to come from a shit hole of a football county as Antrim.

Max thats a bit of a rant, sure isnt your mother also from that shit hole of a football county as Antrim


tee hee hee, chortle chortle, ha ha ha, guffaw guffaw, arf arf.... etc etc.


Quote from: saffronman on April 12, 2007, 11:38:10 AM
Away and f**k urself max, we might not be a kerry or dublin but we're proud of who we are and dont need wankers like you on here givin us shit like that!

YAHO!!! G'wan the boy ye!!

Maximus Marillius

Nothing like a good slag to bring the best out of ya  :D, ye fall for it every time.  ;) :P

Glensman

Fall for what. You saying our county is shite?
Fall for you constantly coming on here and jibing about the standard of our football...the origin of some of our club players etc etc

That's a good one Max, you had us all hanging there and someone jumped at the bait you cleverly laid out for us???   You're a real wind up merchant...a comedian in fact.

Actually someone didn't wound up they just told you where to go - away and sort out your own mess and we'll try to sort ours.

Maximus Marillius

Ye know what Glensman, most of the time I do wind people up, because this board for most fo the time is a bit of light relief, but for whats it worth, this point I won't wind you up on. I have been watching Antrim football for years, and with St Galls being the only exception at club football...how long does it take to sort a mess out! It would be great to see Casement full all the time, and with a successful football team, thats exactly what would happen if all the talking was translated into real work at underage level, but its does not happen, your colleges are more successful at soccer than gaelic. If my wind up annoys you and others, well so be it, get off yer ass and do something about it. I have heard all this crap for years, ye have no excuses left, ye have a massive population, We in Derry have not one senior club in Derry city, we have not had a county senior of quality from the city in years, but does it stop us competing year in and out at county level.