Armagh Club football & hurling

[Aghdavoyle]

Every club has a couple of headers who get carried away on the pitch, none more so than yourselves, but its generally it'd be confined to the heat of games. Players who question other clubs' players' very presence on the same pitch as them are not in short supply round your club either.

i suppose discussion boards are supporters' version of matches!

[doire na raithe]

BC:

Uladh, I would disagree with you a bit there.  The arrogance that I speak of is from a number of players who sneered down their noses at the likes of me,  "how could someone like you win an AI?"  attitude.  The majority of players were fine but one or two were hard work.  As you say though off the field I would have been fairly friendly with most of them and thought they were decent lads.

Now that is pure snobbery from Dromintee folk, a bit rich too. It appears we are judged as quite a cocky club and it would have been something I was unaware of. I know the supporters who go to the away matches (the hardcore!) is made up of the over 40 bracket mainly and is full of people who were around when we were slogging it out in the lower divisions. In all my time following the team there has never been any arrogance from these fans. There is probably a few who run their mouth at times but I think people are realistic that we are a small club with limited success.

Regarding the players, we are a very young team and I don't think they are a cocky bunch. As I say every club has a few slabbers.

Corn, was BC not talking about some of the cross players being arrogant as opposed to their fans like uladh mentioned? I gathered from what he said that it was some of his own players who were lookin down their nose at him. maybe im completely wrong here.

[winsamsoon]

It's probably off, due to the fact that galway utd  are playing waterford in the quarter final of the eircom shield ffs  .  If the county board has changed the night of the U-21's to a thurs night because of the champions league game then this is a disgrace. It is nothing to do with other sports doire it is the fact that we have gone out of our way to postpone our sports to watch and in a way promote another.

I have said it before football has now become a business, each sport is competing against each other for viewers and crowds etc. It seems like every chance the GAA get to bend over backwards for soccer and rugby now they will do it. I don't see this being recipricated the other way.

What about the people who follow gaelic that are perhaps working on a thurs night and won't be able to get to that game now?? The matches were set for a wed and should be played on a wed never mind what other sports are doing. I know in our club if we were training on wed night we would be training and it wouldn't be changed so as a certain section could go and watch utd play.

[bennydorano]

Why is it off, Friday night matches are always gret and gives the players the weekend.

County players who were in portugal last week were strongly advised to recouperate for one full week because of the intensity of the training, therefore the game would have been played on Friday night without county men and Dromintee didn't want that.  99% certain the game is on Monday night btw.

[corn02]

It's not a disgrace , it's commoin sense.Poeple support Man United and wil lwant to watch it. By forcing them to play a match when it can be changed to the next night will sour their opinion of the association.

[doire na raithe]

Winsam, when was the game fixed for Wednesday night? this is not a re-fixture for a start. If we try and make a comparison - Do you think if Dublin were playing Derry in the all-ireland final there would be any small soccer club fixtures in those counties on that day? lets says its even a replay and the game is on a saturday.

Edit: I picked those counties because of their cities being obvious soccer strongholds.

[winsamsoon]

Doire it was well known that the county u-21 championship would be played on consecutive wednesday nights. This week should have been no exception.

Regarding the question about the All Ireland. I can tell you for a fact that if the scenario did arise the soccer games would be played. Soccer fixtures are made by the IFA and they certainly wouldn't have cattered for no All Ireland final considering they are part of an organisation that refuses to recognise a 32 county Ireland, it would be very hypocritcal to change their fixtures for such an event.

I live in Lurgan Doire and i have watched soccer football erode the gaelic code over the years. My own club Clan Na Gael have put a lot of effort into trying to get more youth into our club, through summer and easter camps. But i have watched soccer managers giving ultimatums to kids as young as 9 and 10 years of age. Telling them that if they don't play for sunnyside instead of the clans or other clubs then they will be pulling teams out of the league. I even witnessed them trying to tell our u-16 lads not to go to county development squads. If soccer had it's way then gaelic would be no more. For this reason i would be strongly against putting off any gaelic event for a soccer game that really no one from here should have any affiliation to. After all i ain't from chelsea or manchester, neither are the folks from Cross or cruppen . The game should be fixed for the wed and the true gaels would always be there. If it weren't for the true gaels at our club and even in our town Gaelic football would has folded.

I would watch soccer myself and even have the odd punt on the games  but Soccer football has added to the demise of gaelic games in North Armagh. You have only to look at the league tables from division 1-4 and you will understand. For this reason i wouldn't give them an inch.

[Goats Do Shave]

You're turning into a right whinger Win! 

EDIT: Cheers for that BC 

[brokencrossbar1]

You're turning into a right winger Win! 

A la Ronaldo or whinger a la Johnny Giles?

[winsamsoon]

Goats when you watch it eroding away at a game you love then you would be a winger yourself   

[doire na raithe]

I think you have a very fair point winsam but just like its wrong for your local soccer clubs to try and take players away from Gaelic, I don't believe a sports person has to be exclusively committed to any one sport. I don't think making a very small accommodation which will enable everyone involved, if they're interested, to view one of a the biggest sporting events of the year which gathers huge interest from all over the globe, will lead to soccer taking over the lives of these players.

You may say that it sends out a bad message that we are willing to move over for soccer, but it also sends out a mesage that soccer doesn't threaten us and that we can maturely make decisions like this which allow people not to miss one of the biggest events of the year.

[Aghdavoyle]

The problem with your approach win is that you are also delivering an ultimatum to people in which sport they should put number one. we should be mature enough to sensibly schedule so that people who want to see both can and then be confident in our games that the average punter will develop their love of gaelic football in the long term.

if you want to have a head to head to force a decision in peoples' minds then you are choosing the wrong battle ground. armagh u21 club championship versus the CL final is harly a fair test. If you feel we have to go head to head then by all means use an ulster champinship match or similar to give the GAA  fighting chance.

[bud]

if you want to have a head to head to force a decision in peoples' minds then you are choosing the wrong battle ground. armagh u21 club championship versus the CL final is harly a fair test. If you feel we have to go head to head then by all means use an ulster champinship match or similar to give the GAA  fighting chance.

To me if you are a good clubman/women it is a fair test.
I have played and watched soccer for most of my time.  Still to me, if my club was playing in the semi final of the under 21 club championship and the soccer team i supported was in the champions league final i know where i'd be at and i'm sure those true Cross or Cruppen fans would agree with me.

[corn02]

Plenty of supporters wouldn't Bud.

[Uladh]

To me if you are a good clubman/women it is a fair test.
I have played and watched soccer for most of my time.  Still to me, if my club was playing in the semi final of the under 21 club championship and the soccer team i supported was in the champions league final i know where i'd be at and i'm sure those true Cross or Cruppen fans would agree with me.

It'd be great if everyone was like you bud. the gaa are competing for the floating voters on this one, not the traditional voters