Messages

Smurfy and Wobbler are obviously in the minority when the subject of Ballykinlar is raised, if either of them had a viable alternative , I would be interested, but there isn't , the positives out weigh the negatives , for years players have trained in Ballykinlar , it's the only pitch playable after wet weather , your moaning about travelling to Ballykinlar, for years players trekked to Newry and not a word and the cost of hiring pitches for both hurling and football won't be an issue, there will be an income from clubs hiring the facility so ultimately our finances will be in a better shape, so wobbler, smurfy and target man wake up and smell the coffee , it's going to happen and all your petty personal greviances you may have with the county board won't stop it, Mourne rovers comments are right on the mark, if any one has a viable alternative that won't bankrupt us or that is unattainable please come forward because I for one would be interested in reading them

Target man, in case you didn't watch Monaghan thumped us last week, Dublin thumped them so it tells you that we have fallen way behind and one of the reasons is we don't have a centre of excellence, now unless you know a piece of land at a reasonable price, Ballykinlar seems to be the best show in town, also it's fairly central to all , the ground is sand based and won't cost a fortune , now I know there's going to be a few die hards who will revel in the British connection controversy but I believe them to be in the minority as the vote at the county board meeting will testify, so unless there's a spare million somewhere or some one has a positive alternative we should back this initiative,best news in a long time.

Watched the game again , wasn't it nice to see Oisin mcconville squirm but the match asked me one question , how far can we go, is it a case of everything else is a bonus or can we really challenge, personally a fully fit and motivated Down will give any team a run , I say sit back lads and enjoy the ride , it will be good, to all involved congrats (Sean og included) to the begrudgers feck off , to Tyrone ,  beware of the crouching tiger in the red and black!!!

Was at game in Armagh and like many others thought down were in game until last 10 mins when bad decisions in front of goal came back to haunt us, much better performance than last year but I would ask the question , how many u 21 s are or could play senior football for down, unlike many other county teams I would have to say 2 at most , so that being the case something isn't right , we need a seamless transition from u 21 to senior, more of the guys on show last night must be invited into the senior panel, our no 8 last night looked capable , our keeper was playing senior , is capable but his kick outs are brutal, that's it! So we look forward to the end of May , I'm quietly confident

So it was passed that the clubs will pay an extra 2500 each to help pay the debt we currently have.I have a few observations,
1. Why did the top table have a vote on an individual basis when they didn't represent a club
2. Why is there still people at the top table who presided over Burrenbridge and left our county in a terrible financial mess. One of these represents Down at Croke Park!!!
3. If our secretary and chairman think that Croke park will restructure our debt because we can show we not only can service our existing debt but can show our clubs will pay more, both are living in a different world that I live in
4.It seems that a lot of clubs reluctantly agreed to pay more, there are clubs who currently are struggling and this may be not be motion that puts them out of business but this increased payment together with the increased public liability and players insurance may cause closure and that would be catastrophic.
5. It's time for greater transparency of county finances, I would like to know where every penny is going and be assured we are getting value for money and every major capital expenditure is discussed and agreed at county board level so a Burrenbridge can never happen again.
6. Lastly what is our 3 or 5 year plan for the acquisition of land for a centre of excellence , paying of debt is great and will please our accountants and our debtors but it won't help us develop as a county on and of the field.At this rate the DUP will have agreed to an all Ireland with the tricolour flying above the city hall before we have a centre of excellence but we can always hope !!!

Great to see our team back to wining ways, we are peaking at the right time with Armagh coming up shortly , can see us just edging that encounter , back to more mundane matters, what do ye think about proposals to increase the fees clubs pay to the county , is this a move for clubs to dig deeper to pay for the Burrenbridge debacle, too much secrecy sand not enough transparency when it comes to county finance, but there must be a solution to our off field problems , any suggestions?

Few doom and gloom merchants on here have been proven wrong tonight, particularly Mr Woobler , we all want to see Down do well, realism with a tinge of patience is what's needed. We are a work in progress , we have some some terrific footbaiilers but at this stage not enough of them, congrats to the management and players on beating Meath , take the the praise because you have had loads of criticism on here, as the wise men on here will tell ye , your only as good as your next game, I for one hope there's better to come when we meet Armagh but for now I will take that win and move on to Derry who without the Slaughtneil players might be vulnerable.

Mighty mad as someone who played 19 yrs in senior football and for the past 20 yrs being involved in running my club I take great exception to your comments, I accept our county is not in good shape on and of the field but  I believe we are improving , albeit slowly but like a previous post a strong club = a strong county,.
The closed fortnight needs to be re introduced, regular football is good and any postponed matches should be played within the 10 days as per county bye law , I think the proposal regarding postponements by Ballymartin has merit, and I would like to see any decisions regarding
refixing matches be agreed by the clubs and not by the ccc who have shown in the past to be totally inept.The voting on county issues should be made solely by the club representatives with only the county chairman having a vote from the top table , should be an interesting meeting tonight.

You will never be able to get rid of any one at the top table while the current system of voting exists as was Bourne out when Seamus oHanlon stood against Devaney, the latter was up 17 votes plus his clubs 3 votes before it went to the floor ,therefore in reply to one question as to why certain individuals who headed up the Burrenbridge debacle are still at the top table and are representing our county at Ulster and national level.
It wasn't some business heads who decided to turn down a phenomenal amount of money for St Patrick's park and drive our county into a further 660 k of debt, it was individuals who were way out of their depth , they were full of good intentions but failed miserably.
Much has been said on the subject but in order to achieve success in the future we must learn from our mistakes in the past and it seems we haven't learned from our mistakes if some of the people who made these mistakes still sit at the top table.
One more item, there is a very important meeting on Thursday to discuss and implement changes to the league calendar for 2017 , interesting only two club representatives allowed with one vote per club!!
After Thursday this forum should be lively.

I was part of the original Club Down, paid my dues over 3 years got a dinner in slieve , wasn't concerned until I seen past players taking advantage , they paid for nothing , weren't members and wanted everything,I know of one member who raised 70k and was treated with contempt, doesn't surprise me there was a poor turn out .

I'm astounded by the decision to play the 2016 league final in 2017, and I don't care it doubles up as a league match, once again the ccc under the leadership of Devaney has shown how inept it is , I wonder what threats were issued by Kilcoo, I have nothing against Kilcoo but it seems they flexed a few muscles to get there own way, I wonder who gets the gate money, so much for rules, clubs have been assured this won't happen in 2017, time will tell,rules have now been set up AGAIN ,I am just angry how we were treated in similar circumstances!

Surely the fact that each club attending the county convention has a max of 3 votes is a factor, all I'm saying is at the present there is no chance of changing the top table and introducing new blood while the current system prevails, it's musical chairs at present unless someone steps down.

Why does each of the top table at the county convention get an individual vote in the election of county officers, because I believe this rule allows for the musical chair syndrome to prevail , culminating in the election of Mr Devaney as vice chair, I believe along with others that we need new blood which won't happen with the present rules in place.

UTM , good luck tomorrow

Good luck Bredagh, hope you win,and to Kilcoo I extend best wishes from the Island , hope you go on and win today and Ulster .
A recent post on another site quoted the Pro from Kilcoo talking about an agaenda against his club, he may have a point , we thought the same about how we were treated, my view is that the chairman of the ccc is an arrogant sod who only has one view of things HIS,I sincerely hope Kilcoo win today and win their appeal as the team who finish top of the league are in my eyes the league winners and there should be no need for league finals, time for change!!!!!