London

[irunthev]

Just a quick input regarding London. I'm out of London too long now to know too many of the current players but I would like to give the manager and his backroom team a mention.
Paul Coggins was a very loyal servant of London as a footballer and he was on the London panel for their first ever game in the National League back in 1993 (coincidentally against Waterford – a game London won) and he continued to serve London for another ten years as a player.
Throughout that time he suffered all the disappointments that we all did, including losing five or six All Ireland Club quarter finals with Tir Chonaill Gaels.
One of his selectors Tony Murphy also played for the county for six or seven years and gave unstinting service to the team throughout that time. Both have been great servants to London and I'm delighted that when London finally broke their Championship jinx that it was guys like Coggs and Murphy who were in charge at the time.
Likewise the two other selectors Tony Griffin and Aiden Thompson, while having never played for London, have served the county well as part of the backroom teams for a variety of county teams, including the senior hurlers and county juniors. Well done to the whole team and who knows,  maybe there's a few more days-out for them yet.

[Cosmo Kramer]

I think all neutrals will have been delighted to see London get the win on Saturday. That it is the second big performance in the space of a few weeks shows that was no flash in the pan. On current form and with confidence high they could well be too good for Waterford. It would be nice to see them win again and get another crack at a Division 1 or 2 side in round 3.

[AQMP]

Anybody know where the players come from...apparently a very handy Galway contingent this year?

[Rav67]

Ballymena man Sean McVeigh is captaining them now, he played a few different positions for Antrim when he was just out of minors and seems to have settled in his natural position in midfield for London.  Judging by the big crowd for the Mayo game I was thinking they must have a big contingent over there.  McStay on the Sunday Game mentioned they have a lock of Kerry footballers too.

[armaghniac]

London are a shower of blow-ins, is there even one Cockney among them?

[Orior]

Assuming Landan beat Waterford, and get a six-county team in the next round, shouldnt they try to have that game played in Wembley? OWC adore the English so I'm sure you'd get a right crowd of them to go.

Get it booked now!

[irunthev]

London are a shower of blow-ins, is there even one Cockney among them?

Like half the country at this moment my friend, you are one P45 away from joining them, so don't get too cocky. And yes, they do have English born players on the panel.

[bcarrier]

Time to revive the wembley fixtures? ...

Year date team 1 score1 team2 score2 venue ref attendence
1958 5/24/1958 Galway 3 08 Derry 2 04 Wembley B Cremin 33240
1959 5/16/1959 Galway 4 04 Down 3 08 Wembley T Murray 30000
1960 6/4/1960 Down 4 11 Galway 3 06 Wembley P Finnergan 30000
1961 5/20/1961 Down 4 04 Kerry 1 07 Wembley E McArdle
1962 6/9/1962 London New York Wembley J Dowling
1962 6/9/1962 Offaly Kerry Wembley S Shiel
1963 6/1/1963 Kerry Cavan Wembley £11000
1964 5/16/1964 Dublin Galway Wembley D O'Brien
1965 6/5/1965 Galway 1 12 Meath 1 15 Wembley P Finnegan 30000
1966 5/28/1966 f Sligo Cavan Wembley
1967 6/10/1967 Galway 1 10 Cavan 1 11 Wembley M Clifford
1968 6/1/1968 Meath 2 10 Mayo 2 12 Wembley P Finnegan
1969 5/24/1969 Down Kerry Wembley
1970 5/23/1970 Mayo 3 12 Offaly 3 06 Wembley S McCormack 30000
1971 5/29/1971 Kerry 1 11 Meath 10 Wembley
1971 5/29/1971 Mayo 1 09 Derry 1 11 Wembley
1971 5/30/1971 Derry 3 10 Kerry 2 06 Wembley
1972 5/27/1972 s Galway Derry Wembley
1972 5/27/1972 s Offaly Cork Wembley
1973 5/26/1973 Donegal 3 14 Britain 1 07 Wembley 15000
1973 5/26/1973 Kerry 3 16 All Stars 2 17 Wembley
1974 5/26/1974 Cork 09 Galway 2 11 Wembley 20000
1975 6/1/1975 Galway 4 04 Dublin 1 09 Wembley 13500
1976 10/17/1976 f Dublin 10 Kerry 07 Wembley J. Hickey 12500
1976 10/17/1976 London 1 11 AIB 1 12 Wembley S. Heron 12500

[Bogball XV]

Time to revive the wembley fixtures? ...

Year date team 1 score1 team2 score2 venue ref attendence
1958 5/24/1958 Galway 3 08 Derry 2 04 Wembley B Cremin 33240
1959 5/16/1959 Galway 4 04 Down 3 08 Wembley T Murray 30000
1960 6/4/1960 Down 4 11 Galway 3 06 Wembley P Finnergan 30000
1961 5/20/1961 Down 4 04 Kerry 1 07 Wembley E McArdle
1962 6/9/1962 London New York Wembley J Dowling
1962 6/9/1962 Offaly Kerry Wembley S Shiel
1963 6/1/1963 Kerry Cavan Wembley £11000
1964 5/16/1964 Dublin Galway Wembley D O'Brien
1965 6/5/1965 Galway 1 12 Meath 1 15 Wembley P Finnegan 30000
1966 5/28/1966 f Sligo Cavan Wembley
1967 6/10/1967 Galway 1 10 Cavan 1 11 Wembley M Clifford
1968 6/1/1968 Meath 2 10 Mayo 2 12 Wembley P Finnegan
1969 5/24/1969 Down Kerry Wembley
1970 5/23/1970 Mayo 3 12 Offaly 3 06 Wembley S McCormack 30000
1971 5/29/1971 Kerry 1 11 Meath 10 Wembley
1971 5/29/1971 Mayo 1 09 Derry 1 11 Wembley
1971 5/30/1971 Derry 3 10 Kerry 2 06 Wembley
1972 5/27/1972 s Galway Derry Wembley
1972 5/27/1972 s Offaly Cork Wembley
1973 5/26/1973 Donegal 3 14 Britain 1 07 Wembley 15000
1973 5/26/1973 Kerry 3 16 All Stars 2 17 Wembley
1974 5/26/1974 Cork 09 Galway 2 11 Wembley 20000
1975 6/1/1975 Galway 4 04 Dublin 1 09 Wembley 13500
1976 10/17/1976 f Dublin 10 Kerry 07 Wembley J. Hickey 12500
1976 10/17/1976 London 1 11 AIB 1 12 Wembley S. Heron 12500

I always remember hearing about Derry playing in the first game at Wembley - what exactly were these and how did you qualify for them?
Derry had some record in them by the looks of it, maybe we should claim they were a step further on than the All Ireland and boost our tally of one final and one win in that secondary competition

[seafoid]

I remember iruntherev had a thread about London and how they were a coming team - was it last year?
And people were laughing.  Now they will probably get to round 3 in the qualifiers if not go further. 

[DownFanatic]

David McGreevey at corner back is from a Division 4 club Teconnaught in Down. Never made a county underage or senior team but was always a tidy player.

[Dont Matter]

Is the anthem played before London home games? If so which one?

[muppet]

Is the anthem played before London home games? If so which one?

N17.

[ballela-angel]

Regarding the Wembley games - Patsy O'Hagan from Down (Cabra) scored the first hat-trick made by a GAA player in Wembley

[irunthev]

I remember iruntherev had a thread about London and how they were a coming team - was it last year?
And people were laughing.  Now they will probably get to round 3 in the qualifiers if not go further.

The challenge that London face whenever this particular adventure is over is building on it in 2012. There will be a lot of energy in the group right now and that is fantastic and certainly some of the emails I have received from players in the group are so positive and that's brilliant and certainly a first for London. Too often though the team spirit of May dissolves over the course of the summer and when the call comes up again in December of January players are slow to commit.... hence the Nat League is always a painful rebuilding process. Hopefully Paul Coggins can avoid that this winter. I can remember making my Championship debut against Galway in June 94 and by the time our first NFL game came about in Oct 94, there were only 2 of us left from the Championship side. That's an impossible situation for any manager, but hopefully a thing of the past.
One further point worth noting is that when London joined the NFL in 93 and became a fully functioning inter-county team, it was also the birth of the Celtic Tiger and the team have been on a hiding to nothing since then. It's only in the last couple of years that there has been a sizeable influx of reasonably talented players into the county. Previously there would always have been a few, but nothing like the number that are there are the moment and will continue to come unless Enda Kenny has some magic trick up his sleeve that none of us know about at the moment. Huge credit though has to go to Paul and his mentors. I spent several years standing in their shoes as a selector and trainer for London and it is not a easy job. I'm glad that the good guys are there when the success comes as over the years they have more than earned their success.