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I know this was mentioned in another thread but the big man has packed it in. He deserves a thread of his own.

Eamonn Coleman once said that he if he had to pick a player in Ireland to be in the Derry team it would be him.

Due to terrible coverage throughout the years of Limerick football I have only watched him on small I occasion but I have read enough of him to understand the Player he was. 

Great read here.......


Listen again to the full John Hartson interview in a BBC Radio 5 live Special on Gambling Addiction in Sport with Eleanor Oldroyd.

A fearless and robust striker, John Hartson's forthright response to being diagnosed with cancer came as little surprise to anybody who knew him well.

But there was one challenge "Big John" repeatedly shirked, his life-threatening addiction to gambling.

"You never think you've got a problem," he explained. "You're a gambler, you enjoy it, you never realise the hurt you're causing.

"Your family know you're addicted, but I used to think they had the problem by questioning me."

Then the questions stopped. Hartson's wife Sarah had had enough of him coming in from trips away, ignoring her and the children, going straight to the TV and turning on a cricket match, golf tournament or horse race he had £5,000 on.

So she packed her bags and told him she was leaving.

"I broke down and said I'd do something about this," the former Arsenal, West Ham and Celtic star remembered, his voice buckling with emotion and regret.

"When I was fighting for my life [with cancer], she was my rock. She was pregnant, she looked after the children, she was incredibly strong, and this sc**bag here came out of hospital and carried on with the gambling, after everything she had done.

"I hit rock bottom and it takes that for you to realise - the penny dropped. I will never gamble again as long as I live."


Hartson scored 206 goals in 505 club games in England and Scotland, and 14 in 51 games for Wales
'If I gamble again, I'll die'
Hartson's last bet was three years, three months and three days ago.

"Everybody is aware that cancer kills. It nearly took my life in 2009," the 39-year-old said, recalling the two emergency operations and more than 60 sessions of chemotherapy he needed when testicular cancer spread to his lungs and brain.

"Cancer takes good people away every day, but, for me, gambling also kills.

"There are four places you can end up as a compulsive gambler: out on the street, in jail, dead, or at Gamblers Anonymous (GA).

"I ended up at GA, thank the Lord, and it's not only saved my marriage and made me a better person, it's also saved my life. If I gamble again, I'll die. I'll lose everything.

"I'm ultra-determined. I don't think about gambling today. I don't buy raffle tickets, I don't buy lottery tickets, I don't go to race tracks - I go to GA twice a week.

"I'll be going until I'm 70. Why wouldn't I? It's my medicine."

Sportsmen are three times more likely to gamble
Hartson sees a lot of different people walk through the doors of those meetings - there are an estimated 400,000 people in the UK with a problem - but most of them do not come back. They have not reached their nadir yet.

"You're very selfish as a gambler, very deceitful. Compulsive gamblers are compulsive liars - they're very good at covering things up," said Hartson.

So good, in fact, many can appear, swan-like, to be gliding through life, holding down jobs, living in nice houses, with loving families. And a disproportionately large group can feed this destructive addiction whilst playing professional sport.


Former Cardiff and Sunderland striker Michael Chopra estimates he lost a total of £2m gambling
Hartson's testimony came at a conference organised by the Professional Players Federation (PPF) at Edgbaston Cricket Ground last month.

An umbrella body for the players' associations in cricket, football, rugby union and other leading sports, the PPF wanted to share some research into an issue that has been the stuff of terrace legend.

From jokes about QPR maverick Stan Bowles' inability to pass a bookmaker as well as he could pass a ball, to guesstimates of how many millions golf's favourite rogue John Daly has lost in Las Vegas, the idea that sport's competitive and wealthy young men were cash machines for the gambling industry has been commonplace.

Now, thanks to a study of almost 350 cricketers and footballers, we know sportsmen are three times more likely to have a gambling problem than young men in the general population (6.1% versus 1.9%).

That equates to nearly 200 current professionals in British cricket and football with a serious issue, and another 440 "at risk".

The study had a few more punches to deliver. One in 10 said they gambled to "fit in", one in four said they were encouraged by team-mates to do it, and nearly one in three thought their team's links with the gambling industry "encouraged" them to bet.

For football, in particular, that should be alarming.

A quarter of the Premier League's clubs have gambling logos on their shirts, the Football League's 72 clubs play in competitions sponsored by Sky Bet, William Hill backs the Football Association and pretty much every club has its own "official betting partner".

The highest suicide rate of any addiction
Sporting Chance's chief executive Colin Bland revealed that seven out of 10 of the footballers that come to the Tony Adams-inspired residential clinic are there because of gambling.

But Hartson is not looking for excuses. He realises the vast majority of people gamble rarely, and when they do, they do it because it is fun.

While he may have been frittering away a reported £50,000 a week - he does not put a figure on it himself, as the amounts addicts gamble is relative to their earnings and it is always too much - his dad takes his business clients to Ffos Las racecourse once a year for champagne and £20 each-way punts. "Not everybody gets drawn in," he noted.

But some who do get it bad: gambling has the highest suicide rate of any addiction.


Niall McNamee (in green, playing for Offaly) contemplated suicide when his gambling got out of hand
Sitting alongside Hartson during the conference's main session was Gaelic footballer Niall McNamee. He told a similar tale of the disease's progressive nature - moments of relief that became more fleeting as tolerance to betting's buzz builds.

But he also spoke about bad company, lies, stealing and, ultimately, despair.

"I remember waking up one morning with a knot in my stomach," said McNamee. "It was the most gut-wrenching pain. I had no money to go gambling with, or to buy drink to numb the pain.

"The thought came to me that if I jumped out of the window that would end it all. It terrified me. I have had friends who have died from this addiction."

Thankfully, this was his rock bottom, and he got help. McNamee, who is still one of the game's top forwards, is now a well-respected voice on problem gambling in Ireland, and at 29 is about to launch his own business.

'I should be living in a £4m mansion'
For Hartson, the first symptoms appeared as an 11-year-old potboy at a social club in Swansea. Fascinated by the fruit machines, he memorised the reels and was called over by the adults whenever they had a few nudges.

It sounds innocent enough, but before long he was pouring his money into those machines and begging for money for match fees at the weekend. A decade later he would have accounts with all the top bookmakers and was so consumed by gambling that he would struggle to hold a serious conversation.


Hartson is still a hero among fans of Celtic, where he scored more than 100 goals in a five-year spell
"I can concentrate now and focus on what people are saying, but five years ago I couldn't," he admitted. "My life is so much better now. I'm a better husband, a better father, and I've got money coming out of my ears!"

And just as his cancer foundation is helping people deal with that affliction, he now hopes he can persuade a few footballers to think about their futures.

"I was in a lot of trouble physically and mentally when I quit," said Hartson, who went out with a whimper at West Brom.

"I should be living in a £4m mansion on the edge of the Vale of Glamorgan but I'm not because of all the money I wasted. I've got a nice house in Swansea, and it's paid for, but that's what I should have when you think about the money I earned.

"I would like players now to aspire to the big house."

'We're at a tipping point'
Betting is an integral part of our culture - three quarters of the UK's adult population have gambled, most likely on the National Lottery, in the past year - and betting companies have moved into the sponsorship space vacated by tobacco and, to a lesser extent, alcohol. Without them many sports would struggle.

But listening to the speakers at the conference, it was impossible to avoid the conclusion that British sport needs to look again at its relationship with gambling.


Former Gloucestershire and New Zealand cricketer Craig Spearman said that when his gambling problem escalated, "at times the pain and self-loathing pushed me to the brink".
More must be done to protect the vulnerable, identify problems earlier and make sure gambling is a happy mug's game, not a debilitating illness.

Simon Barker, the assistant chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, notes that prevention through education is cheaper than emergency interventions. His counterpart at the Professional Cricketers' Association, Jason Ratcliffe, said sport was only "scratching the surface" in terms of what was needed.

The Responsible Gambling Trust's chief executive Marc Etches has managed to persuade the gambling industry to donate more than £6m of its profits to fund education and treatment, but he knows it is not enough.

"We're at a tipping point," said Etches. "The industry needs to recognise that it's in the business of risk, and it needs to take more responsibility."

Don't like soccer or documentaries on the subject, but just watched the documentary on the Crazy Gang from Wimbledon on BT Sports. Absolutely fantastic, a must see 

Big crowd from Arann Islands here in Birmingham to play john Mitchels of Britain and Lancashire. 1.30 start

Delaney apologises for offence caused by song

16 minutes ago
FAI chief executive John Delaney was speaking on Tubridy on 2fm this morning
FAI chief executive John Delaney has apologised for any offence caused by singing the Republican ballad Joe McDonnell last week in a Dublin pub.

A video posted on YouTube last week showed Delaney singing the song following Ireland's 4-1 win over USA in the Aviva Stadium.

Speaking on RTE 2fm this morning, Delaney said the manner in which the video was recorded was wrong but that he was sorry if it caused any upset.

He stated: "First of all, Joe McDonnell is a song that has been sang in my presence and I have chipped in on a number of occasions in the past. I am not somebody who supports violence at all.

"In fact over a large number of years I have been working closely on cross-border initiatives in football to break down barriers. I am just not a violent person. My Grandfather fought in the Civil War and he also fought in the War Of Independence. I have always said I have a nationalist background.

"When you sing a song like that, you don't believe in every word that is in the song. I sing a large number of songs, maybe five or six different ones. It's normally done in a private way when there is a sing-song. It's a typically Irish thing we do. We sing songs amongst our group and you expect it to be kept to the group.

"Unfortunately on occasions people use camera phones in a sly way and try to tape it - people who are not in your company - and they try to make it something bigger than it is.

"What I will say is that if the song offends anybody, of course I'm sorry. It is not in my nature to want to offend people. It was something I have sung or had sang in my presence in the past."

Delaney added that the Irish team partake in singing of similar songs such as Sean South from Garryowen on matchdays and it has been part of the regime for over 20 years.

He added: "I'll give you an example. Sean South from Garryowen has been sung on the Irish team bus for years, from the Jack Charlton era, right up to the current era.

"If people want to tape these things in what I would call a sly way, and then try to make them public, it is wrong. But I do accept that if I have upset anybody here, I'm sorry."

I use to get TNAG here online but recently I can't get it. Can any computer boffins help me get it. Slaughtneil is on after the beo game

7 teams -

15 mins a game -

2 pitches -

Do I have one group of 7 with each team playing once? This results in 21 games. Teams will have at least 6 games and max 10 with semis and finals. This would be certainly too long.

or

Do I go with a group of 4 and a group of 3 and top two go into a knockout semi and then final? Good because it is quicker, however 1 team will only have two games.

Anybody got other recommendations?

What were the attendances at county finals this year. In Derry there were 5000 which I believe was quite impressive.

The Galway County Board has apologised and committed to reimburse spectators who were affected by wet paint at last weekend's Galway football semi-finals at Tuam Stadium.

The Connacht Tribune reported that at least 25 spectators sat on wooden seats in the stand that had been freshly painted. However the paint had not yet dried, and the fans were left with red paint on their clothes and much unhappiness when the issue came to light.

The oil-based paint had failed to dry in the expected time-frame leaving Galway County Board red faced.

The county board had remained tight-lipped on the issue until this weekend; however, sources have revealed the board have now confirmed they will issue compensation.
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Well what ye reckon they get?

Kerry v Cork all- Ireland final a few years ago. The bet was 10/11 each for first team to kick the ball. I did Cork. Cork had a huge height advantage and easily got possession and kicked the ball. A mighty roar was heard in one side of the bar.

Another one was Waterford footballers when they played London, it was just after the latter beat Fermanagh the week before. game started at 1, but the bookies thought 1.30. Waterford were 8 points up at 1.27pm.

Just met Southdown there in bar. Some lad

I try to encourage the use of irish when taking training and especially the underage such as liathraoid geansai and a haon, a do, a tri.......

Anybody else?

I dont know of the GAA has any structured programme for this, but it is a great idea.

Who would you put in and why?

1.Prop- Gefforey McGonigle, he is nasty when he wants to be.
2.Hooker - Joe Sheridan, great at throwing the ball.
3.Prop - Seamie Quigley, has the build and a wile temper.
4.Lock - Michael Darragh McCauley, he'll catch a ball for ye.
5.Lock - Aidan O Se, tall, strong and can field.
6.Blindside - Fergal Doherty, hard as nails and takes some stopping.
7.Openside -Sean Cavanagh, great at making runs and always there when
you need him. Great tackler I may add also.
8. No.8 - Mark Lynch, bull of a man who takes ome stopping
9. Scrum-half- Cian Mackey, great passer and will always keep up with play.
10. Out-half - Alan Brogan, great at conduction the orchrestra and kicker of the ball.
11. Winger - Jack McCaffrey, flyer of a man.
12. Inside Centre - Michael Murphy, Not the quickest but can punch holes in the opposition defences and great at scoring.
13. Connolly - Great ball skills.
14. Winger - Paul Kerrigan, when with ball in hand, fastest man in the game.
15. Full back - Kevin McGourty, just because id love to see him get minced

Very interesting

A load of Irish wans there met the Queen recently, but would you or would you not. Can you give reasons please.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26744429

any links?

The one on HAHA sport is not working

What sacrafice are ye all making?

Might do the usual and go off chocolate and crisps and get to Church more often.

With Davy's revelation about the Clare team of a few years ago how prominent is drugs in the area you live?

In my local in Liverpool drugs are rife , when they use it in the toilet you see the boys come out of the one cubicle. Everyone knows the people who take it and the bar staff and manager too. Thats why it is not my local anymore.

When you go into town you do get offered it and see it happening openly in the toilets.

anybody any links for stream?

We had Dknal Curtis to ours there recently and he began.

'A lot of you may not know me, but I wasnt as popular as other Meath players. I wasnt invited to speak at dinner dances and such all they wanted was Trevor Giles, Ollie Murphy, Graham Geraghty and Darren Fay.'

I found that very humourous.