http://gaelicplayers.com/home/844-sligo-legend-ohara-announces-retirement-from-county-football (http://gaelicplayers.com/home/844-sligo-legend-ohara-announces-retirement-from-county-football)
Sligo greatest player of the last 30 years has announced his retirement. Legend of a player who scored the goal who helped to end our Connaught Championship drought in 07. Best of luck in retirement
Very good player for Sligo, strange time to announce he is leaving after it was mentioned yesterday that he wasn't ruling out a return http://www.hoganstand.com/Sligo/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=192162f.Maybe he wasn't selected for the championship panel, didn't play any part in the league due to work reasons.
He prob will be back tomorrow :D
Great player who I think might have been discarded by Walsh a little to hastily!
Top, top player.
Will you ever forget "that" goal in the final in 2007 v Galway ?
Seems to be a bit pre-mature to be cutting him from the panel.
Great player that was certainly admired in Meath footballing circles. 07 instantly comes to mind when his name comes up.
Great day even for the neutrals.
Quote from: thejuice on May 14, 2013, 01:26:59 PM
Seems to be a bit pre-mature to be cutting him from the panel.
Great player that was certainly admired in Meath footballing circles. 07 instantly comes to mind when his name comes up.
Great day even for the neutrals.
Reason he was discarded along with 1 or 2 others was he couldn't commit to training in Nov/Dec. 2 or 3 others didn't make the commitment either during that period either but were welcomed back along with injured players like Kelly. Walsh has defended O'Hara omission saying he couldn't commit which is lies and hypocritical. Its a disgrace the way the manager has handled this and forced 1 of Sligo's greatest players into retirement.
If the panel was extremely strong you could understand the omission however its the weakest squad of players Sligo have had since the early 90's. Won't be long until Walsh himself is finally forced out
Quote from: Mano on May 14, 2013, 01:54:36 PM
Quote from: thejuice on May 14, 2013, 01:26:59 PM
Seems to be a bit pre-mature to be cutting him from the panel.
Great player that was certainly admired in Meath footballing circles. 07 instantly comes to mind when his name comes up.
Great day even for the neutrals.
Reason he was discarded along with 1 or 2 others was he couldn't commit to training in Nov/Dec. 2 or 3 others didn't make the commitment either during that period either but were welcomed back along with injured players like Kelly. Walsh has defended O'Hara omission saying he couldn't commit which is lies and hypocritical. Its a disgrace the way the manager has handled this and forced 1 of Sligo's greatest players into retirement.
If the panel was extremely strong you could understand the omission however its the weakest squad of players Sligo have had since the early 90's. Won't be long until Walsh himself is finally forced out
Every word Mano says there is true. It's a complete scandal what Walsh has done to our greatest ever servant. The sooner he is ran from our county, the better. If we had a county board at all he'd be long gone but all we have is a group of clowns and politicians (not mutually exclusive).
On Eamonn's retirement I'm almost lost for words because I'm so keen to pay a fitting tribute. Undoubtedly the greatest Sligo player I've ever witnessed. I've seen him give performances in the face of adversity that would be unbelievable unless you'd seen them. The big days on the national stage will be familiar to all - the goal in 2007, terrorising Tyrone and Armagh in 2002 - but his greatness is from the way he prepared to performing at ridiculous levels with such consistency for so long. I'm really sad I won't see him in a Sligo jersey again. Just last summer he changed the game in the Connacht final against a team that got to the AI Final.
Thanks Eamonn for all the effort and the memories.
Poor form by Walsh, as was said not as if it's a very strong Sligo panel where they could afford to let good players go
Let's be fair, Big Emmo was a bit player at this stage and even though he managed to make an impact in the Connacht final he did look pretty upright and immobile.
If anyone knows what you need in the middle it's Walsh and he snagged a gem in James Kilkullen (who's going to have a far bigger say in how Sligo's season goes than EO would have) and sadly for such a great servant of Sligo it made O'Hara expendable, even as a bench player.
Quote from: magpie seanie on May 14, 2013, 02:05:36 PM
Quote from: Mano on May 14, 2013, 01:54:36 PM
Quote from: thejuice on May 14, 2013, 01:26:59 PM
Seems to be a bit pre-mature to be cutting him from the panel.
Great player that was certainly admired in Meath footballing circles. 07 instantly comes to mind when his name comes up.
Great day even for the neutrals.
Reason he was discarded along with 1 or 2 others was he couldn't commit to training in Nov/Dec. 2 or 3 others didn't make the commitment either during that period either but were welcomed back along with injured players like Kelly. Walsh has defended O'Hara omission saying he couldn't commit which is lies and hypocritical. Its a disgrace the way the manager has handled this and forced 1 of Sligo's greatest players into retirement.
If the panel was extremely strong you could understand the omission however its the weakest squad of players Sligo have had since the early 90's. Won't be long until Walsh himself is finally forced out
Every word Mano says there is true. It's a complete scandal what Walsh has done to our greatest ever servant. The sooner he is ran from our county, the better. If we had a county board at all he'd be long gone but all we have is a group of clowns and politicians (not mutually exclusive).
On Eamonn's retirement I'm almost lost for words because I'm so keen to pay a fitting tribute. Undoubtedly the greatest Sligo player I've ever witnessed. I've seen him give performances in the face of adversity that would be unbelievable unless you'd seen them. The big days on the national stage will be familiar to all - the goal in 2007, terrorising Tyrone and Armagh in 2002 - but his greatness is from the way he prepared to performing at ridiculous levels with such consistency for so long. I'm really sad I won't see him in a Sligo jersey again. Just last summer he changed the game in the Connacht final against a team that got to the AI Final.
Thanks Eamonn for all the effort and the memories.
Jeez why the hell do managers do this especially in an amateur sport defined by county boundaries. It's not as if he can just increase the Sligo playing pool at the click of a finger! If it is just an ego thing there must be a smarter way to assert their authority. It's not just Sligo either with a certain blond genius was moved along in similar fashion by their near neighbours :-X.
p.s. The blond genius isn't from south Mayo ;)
He was one of those players who'd be a first choice on every team in the country. He had a great warhorse, battling attitude to add to his tremendous skills and bottomless well of energy. A complete player.
Best wishes on your retirement Tanman no.2 .
You were a good one but you never had a good word to say about us buckeens.
When i think of Eamonn O Hara i think of those ball carrying skills, those scores, those catches, those hits, etc.. he put everything on the line for us, everything, there was no holding back, no fear, no mercy, no respect of the oppositions, he changed our mentality, our hopes and dreams rested on his shoulders. Boy were we lucky he was a Sligoman. I feel blessed to have witnessed him play for us but today i am so sad, this is a travesty, our best player since mickey kerins has been forced into retirement by a manager who in my opinion has disgraced the county in the last 15 months and should be long gone but enough wasted words on him.
I remember Eamonns first championship game in 1994 away to Mayo, he got taken off at ht, in fact i remember him playing against Antrim in 93 league before christmas, there were 3 supporters at that game in total..i have many memories of eamonn, but the main one is surprising, my favourite one is not is his mazy runs against mayo in 2000, or his one man show in 2002 first half against tyrone or armagh, or his awesome goal against galway in 07 which does justice to his skill...my favourite memory of ohara was when i felt most proud of him more than any other day in a sligo jersey, a day of darkness when his heart and desire shone brightly in the face of certain annihilation, i am talking about breffni park 2010, down v sligo, in the second half when most threw in the towel, O Hara was still competing as gamely as ever, still catching, still takling, still running, in the face of certain heavy defeat O Haras effort never dropped, the other 14 had given up long ago, stopped trying but O Hara, no, not acceptable to him, once he has that jersey on his back he gives it everything all the time, even when its toughest, even when its impossible he's still there putting his body on the line, what a hero, for us Sligofans THAT is always enough (pity we still dont get that too often) but it was always guanrteed with him, because hes cares about Sligo and more importantly he shows his love for Sligo every time he wears that jersey, he's lifted my heart so many times, hes always given me hope, now he is gone, thank you, thank you, doesnt even come close to the gratitude i feel for being lucky enough to watch you through the years. U owe Sligo nothing, it would be great for us to give you the send off you deserve and see you in black and white again but a last if not best of luck in all your future endeavours. Sligeach abu....
Great player and an even better tan! Seriously I really enjoyed watching him play .........apart from P O'Rourke's last game in charge obviously.
Fine player. Sligo will miss him.
Top player, who deserved a more fitting county exit.
All the best to him in his retirement. Sounds like he wanted to carry on but Walsh had no plans for him. I'd say he'll back some day as Sligo manager in the meantime he can top up on the excellent tan of his ;)
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on May 14, 2013, 05:16:24 PM
my favourite memory of ohara was when i felt most proud of him more than any other day in a sligo jersey, a day of darkness when his heart and desire shone brightly in the face of certain annihilation, i am talking about breffni park 2010, down v sligo, in the second half when most threw in the towel, O Hara was still competing as gamely as ever, still catching, still takling, still running, in the face of certain heavy defeat O Haras effort never dropped, the other 14 had given up long ago, stopped trying but O Hara, no, not acceptable to him, once he has that jersey on his back he gives it everything all the time, even when its toughest, even when its impossible he's still there putting his body on the line, what a hero, for us Sligofans THAT is always enough (pity we still dont get that too often) but it was always guanrteed with him, because hes cares about Sligo and more importantly he shows his love for Sligo every time he wears that jersey, he's lifted my heart so many times, hes always given me hope, now he is gone, thank you, thank you, doesnt even come close to the gratitude i feel for being lucky enough to watch you through the years.
A 220 word sentence. Sligonian, you're feeling fairly raw about this one.
For my own two cents, Eamon O'Hara was a warrior, a credit to his game and his county. He'll be missed. One of the greats.
Nice one Sligonian.
We used to have 'what player would you sign for your county' type threads on the board in days gone by. I used always mention O'Hara.
As a neutral he was a great player to watch, no matter where he played, when your team playing against Sligo your supporters would hush when O'Hara got the ball, mainly out of extreme concern, and for Sligo supporters it must have been worth the entrance fee alone to watch him.
Great player and good luck to him.
Only seen him near the end of the line 3/4 yrs ago, best player came out sligo since kerins, great ability to outfield men much bigger than him and had speed and scoring ability to burn. Time waits for no man, even the very best
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on May 14, 2013, 05:16:24 PM
When i think of Eamonn O Hara i think of those ball carrying skills, those scores, those catches, those hits, etc.. he put everything on the line for us, everything, there was no holding back, no fear, no mercy, no respect of the oppositions, he changed our mentality, our hopes and dreams rested on his shoulders. Boy were we lucky he was a Sligoman. I feel blessed to have witnessed him play for us but today i am so sad, this is a travesty, our best player since mickey kerins has been forced into retirement by a manager who in my opinion has disgraced the county in the last 15 months and should be long gone but enough wasted words on him.
I remember Eamonns first championship game in 1994 away to Mayo, he got taken off at ht, in fact i remember him playing against Antrim in 93 league before christmas, there were 3 supporters at that game in total..i have many memories of eamonn, but the main one is surprising, my favourite one is not is his mazy runs against mayo in 2000, or his one man show in 2002 first half against tyrone or armagh, or his awesome goal against galway in 07 which does justice to his skill...my favourite memory of ohara was when i felt most proud of him more than any other day in a sligo jersey, a day of darkness when his heart and desire shone brightly in the face of certain annihilation, i am talking about breffni park 2010, down v sligo, in the second half when most threw in the towel, O Hara was still competing as gamely as ever, still catching, still takling, still running, in the face of certain heavy defeat O Haras effort never dropped, the other 14 had given up long ago, stopped trying but O Hara, no, not acceptable to him, once he has that jersey on his back he gives it everything all the time, even when its toughest, even when its impossible he's still there putting his body on the line, what a hero, for us Sligofans THAT is always enough (pity we still dont get that too often) but it was always guanrteed with him, because hes cares about Sligo and more importantly he shows his love for Sligo every time he wears that jersey, he's lifted my heart so many times, hes always given me hope, now he is gone, thank you, thank you, doesnt even come close to the gratitude i feel for being lucky enough to watch you through the years. U owe Sligo nothing, it would be great for us to give you the send off you deserve and see you in black and white again but a last if not best of luck in all your future endeavours. Sligeach abu....
Arrah, feck the full stops- or the lack of 'em! ;D
You got your message across very well. It's a fitting tribute to a great player
Thanks lads, i may have got a bit carried away with the memories, man i am going to miss that feeling of excitment when O Hara gets on the ball..Sligo GAA will live on but we are at a low ebb at the minute. But at least i'll see him play for Tourlestrane which is an honour in itself aswell to watch them.
Also clearly something happened during this week as he was interviewed and no intention of retiring 3/4 days only to retire yday, only in Sligo GAA but no doubt we'll find out.
A top player and good luck to him in his retirement.
Eamon O Hara - Man of Connaught
Quote from: rrhf on May 15, 2013, 09:13:17 PM
Eamon O Hara - Man of Connaught
I knew he wore black and was quite a tanned man but I thought it was just a coincidence.
Surprised this thread doesn't have this goal on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5ZjZUmrDBQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5ZjZUmrDBQ)
Quote from: muppet on May 14, 2013, 07:30:08 PM
Nice one Sligonian.
We used to have 'what player would you sign for your county' type threads on the board in days gone by. I used always mention O'Hara.
As a neutral he was a great player to watch, no matter where he played, when your team playing against Sligo your supporters would hush when O'Hara got the ball, mainly out of extreme concern, and for Sligo supporters it must have been worth the entrance fee alone to watch him.
Great player and good luck to him.
Ye nearly got him too. He was on the verge of transferring to Knockmore in the 90's but had a change of heart at the last minute.
I remember the first time I saw him. We had an very good U-14 team and Eamonn's school (where one of our mentors taught) had a good team at that age. We played a challenge match in our place and things were going our way. Eamonn got a bit frustrated and sat down briefly in disgust. The ball came his way and he hopped up, got the ball, slalomed his way through our defense and whizzed a rocket shot past my right ear before I could move (not unlike his most famous goal!). At that point I reckoned the hype I'd heard about him even at that age was justified.
When he was county minor I recall him having trouble with a dislocated shoulder on a few occasions and thought - God, that could be an issue for his senior career. How wrong was I! He had a multitude of injuries over the years and still played almost 20 years senior intercounty. Superhuman to be honest.
I think I had the honour of playing on the same side as him once - in a county U-16 match in Oxfield.
Sligonian made great points about the Down match and how when we had him in our ranks we always had hope. We'll never see his likes again in a Sligo jersey unfortunately.