Sligo v Roscommon. June 20th

[Lar Naparka]

Sligo have probably underperformed in terms of Connacht titles - current population is 65k compared with 31k for Leitrim and 65k for Roscommon.

The strength of soccer in Sligo town and the big interest in rallying probably explains some of it

That's completely the wrong way to look at it, we have 26 clubs, Leitrim have 28 and some of their clubs have 3 teams, add in the fact that of all the counties Sligo has by far and away the lowest population of gaa families which im convinced is a measurable factor that no one takes into account. You have to look at playing population rather then population imo. We have a serious chance under a very good manager like Carew to make hay, with our minors this year have serious players if we can just hold it together next few years. We do have I think the worst county board in Ireland which hits us with clubs and standard and structures within the county. Also the shocking bad choices of managers over the yrs has handicapped us at underage and senior and cost us titles but we got lucky with carew and he will maximise the potential of the seniors. Sligo has underachieved imo but our biggest issue is very good astute clubmen turning their back on gaa and absolute numpties thinking there great. The infighting at cb level was to blame for the post 2012 horror shows as walsh was kept on is a prime example, men in there power hungry and if there not involved they want Sligo to fail type stuff.

LOL at rallying btw

Look at the make up of the underage teams over the last few years and the current senior team. The majority of players are from the South and North divisions. What has happened to clubs who provided a lot of players in previous years the former strongholds of Shamrock Gaels, Eastern Harps, Easkey. GAA is a minority sport in some of our bigger towns Ballymote, Cooloney, Ballisodare, Enniscrone. What are the County Board doing to resurrect GAA in these areas?

Reason for our poor performance at under 21 level in recent years apart from 2014 is down to little or no preparation. The difference in players like C Brehony, Davey, McDonnell at u21 and senior level says it all. Players looked disinterested at the under 21 level as they knew they hadn't the preparation behind them. During the Walsh era he rarely gave the u21 management access to their players even forcing them to play a senior challenge a few days before the Connaught final. The County board allowed this to happen and seem to put all the focus on the senior team to the detriment of the under 21 team and the clubs.

The club scene is definitely a big problem in Sligo football. For a start, I feel we have clubs who have way too big of catchment areas. You look at the likes of Johns and all the underage successes they have enjoyed over the past 20 years or so, why has this never really transferred into senior, a lot of their best players for the underage teams never develop and many of them don't even play senior football. Johns and Marys must be two of the biggest clubs in terms of playing pick in the whole of Connacht but they have only shared one senior club championship between them in this millennium and this is despite them dominant A teams underage for the last 15 years. Harps are another side who have far too big of an area to pick from, there could easily be three clubs in that area and I think it's very damaging for the development of the game there which is why I feel they have fallen off so badly in recent years. It's not so long ago since their intermediate team were making Championship finals. I feel when clubs have such big areas to pick from they let young lads slip through their grasp much easier whereas this wouldn't be the case in normal circumstances.

Of course, soccer is a big factor but other than that you need a county board willing to put all its resources into areas where the game is dead. It's sad to see the way the GAA is in towns like Ballymote, Collooney and Ballisodare where it seems to have no interest at underage levels.

A bloke I work with is a mad soccer fan and into most sports. The other evening I got a text from him during the Ros/Sligo game. It was about Stan Bowles. I text him back that I was in Sligo at the game. He was a bit surprised by that. He himself was in Sligo town visiting his mother and it wouldn t enter his mind to go to see his county play. He s never been. Resents it I think. Is that usual for a Sligo townie? I can t understand it?
Then again I ve never been to a Sligo Rovers game and a few from around here go regular.

That type of attitude would be widespread in Sligo town.

Could the fact be  that Sligo town was once a busy port and that the English army had a big presence in the place for many generations?
If you consider all the port town in the country you'll find that soccer is strong in every one of them, from Drogheda right around the coast to Galway. ( I think you could add Ballina in as well.)
The same can be said for ports in Norn Iron.
Also, in towns that once had an army barracks you'll find soccer is thje predominant sport. I'm think of the likes of Longford and Athlone here.
Even in my home town of Swinford when I was growing up, there was a sharp divide between those who lived in "The Lane," and the rest of the parish. For all I know there could a bit of a divide there still.
The fact that about 50% of the county's population live in Sligo could help explain the fact that the GAA isn't the number one sport in the county.

[AZOffaly]

Mullingar was a barracks town, and so is Limerick. The GAA is strong in Mullingar and Limerick, although Junior Soccer is massive in Limerick alright.

[laoislad]

Sligo have probably underperformed in terms of Connacht titles - current population is 65k compared with 31k for Leitrim and 65k for Roscommon.

The strength of soccer in Sligo town and the big interest in rallying probably explains some of it

That's completely the wrong way to look at it, we have 26 clubs, Leitrim have 28 and some of their clubs have 3 teams, add in the fact that of all the counties Sligo has by far and away the lowest population of gaa families which im convinced is a measurable factor that no one takes into account. You have to look at playing population rather then population imo. We have a serious chance under a very good manager like Carew to make hay, with our minors this year have serious players if we can just hold it together next few years. We do have I think the worst county board in Ireland which hits us with clubs and standard and structures within the county. Also the shocking bad choices of managers over the yrs has handicapped us at underage and senior and cost us titles but we got lucky with carew and he will maximise the potential of the seniors. Sligo has underachieved imo but our biggest issue is very good astute clubmen turning their back on gaa and absolute numpties thinking there great. The infighting at cb level was to blame for the post 2012 horror shows as walsh was kept on is a prime example, men in there power hungry and if there not involved they want Sligo to fail type stuff.

LOL at rallying btw

Look at the make up of the underage teams over the last few years and the current senior team. The majority of players are from the South and North divisions. What has happened to clubs who provided a lot of players in previous years the former strongholds of Shamrock Gaels, Eastern Harps, Easkey. GAA is a minority sport in some of our bigger towns Ballymote, Cooloney, Ballisodare, Enniscrone. What are the County Board doing to resurrect GAA in these areas?

Reason for our poor performance at under 21 level in recent years apart from 2014 is down to little or no preparation. The difference in players like C Brehony, Davey, McDonnell at u21 and senior level says it all. Players looked disinterested at the under 21 level as they knew they hadn't the preparation behind them. During the Walsh era he rarely gave the u21 management access to their players even forcing them to play a senior challenge a few days before the Connaught final. The County board allowed this to happen and seem to put all the focus on the senior team to the detriment of the under 21 team and the clubs.

The club scene is definitely a big problem in Sligo football. For a start, I feel we have clubs who have way too big of catchment areas. You look at the likes of Johns and all the underage successes they have enjoyed over the past 20 years or so, why has this never really transferred into senior, a lot of their best players for the underage teams never develop and many of them don't even play senior football. Johns and Marys must be two of the biggest clubs in terms of playing pick in the whole of Connacht but they have only shared one senior club championship between them in this millennium and this is despite them dominant A teams underage for the last 15 years. Harps are another side who have far too big of an area to pick from, there could easily be three clubs in that area and I think it's very damaging for the development of the game there which is why I feel they have fallen off so badly in recent years. It's not so long ago since their intermediate team were making Championship finals. I feel when clubs have such big areas to pick from they let young lads slip through their grasp much easier whereas this wouldn't be the case in normal circumstances.

Of course, soccer is a big factor but other than that you need a county board willing to put all its resources into areas where the game is dead. It's sad to see the way the GAA is in towns like Ballymote, Collooney and Ballisodare where it seems to have no interest at underage levels.

A bloke I work with is a mad soccer fan and into most sports. The other evening I got a text from him during the Ros/Sligo game. It was about Stan Bowles. I text him back that I was in Sligo at the game. He was a bit surprised by that. He himself was in Sligo town visiting his mother and it wouldn t enter his mind to go to see his county play. He s never been. Resents it I think. Is that usual for a Sligo townie? I can t understand it?
Then again I ve never been to a Sligo Rovers game and a few from around here go regular.

What's the problem here?
The guy doesn't like GAA, what's the big deal with that?
Not everyone in the country likes or cares about GAA.  Why should they?

[Dinny Breen]

Also, in towns that once had an army barracks you'll find soccer is thje predominant sport.

Na, Kildare Town had a barracks for years and the smallest field sport club in the Town is the soccer club, the rugby club has the actually biggest playing numbers but that's because it covers most of South-West Co. Kildare. Towers are the biggest supported club in the town though.

Newbridge also had a barracks - Moorfield and Sarsfields would both be bigger than any of the soccer clubs in the Town. Likewise in Naas where the old army apprentice school was Naas GAA and Rugby dwarf their soccer counterparts.

What about Kilkenny City? Is soccer bigger than hurling down there?

[laoislad]

It's not bigger than hurling but soccer is pretty big in Kilkenny.
Played in the Kilkenny league myself for 15 years and it is taken very seriously down there.

[muppet]

Mullingar was a barracks town, and so is Limerick. The GAA is strong in Mullingar and Limerick, although Junior Soccer is massive in Limerick alright.

I always get the impression, rightly or wrongly, that Limerick teams are all very well supported, no matter what sport.

Castlebar is considered a Garrison Town, but there is a great cross-over and co-operation between GAA, Soccer and Rugby with many players involved in different clubs (at least there was when I was around). It is probably fair to say that the support of the wider public in the town isn't huge for any of those clubs though. Support for the county is massive though.

[magpie seanie]

Sligo have probably underperformed in terms of Connacht titles - current population is 65k compared with 31k for Leitrim and 65k for Roscommon.

The strength of soccer in Sligo town and the big interest in rallying probably explains some of it

That's completely the wrong way to look at it, we have 26 clubs, Leitrim have 28 and some of their clubs have 3 teams, add in the fact that of all the counties Sligo has by far and away the lowest population of gaa families which im convinced is a measurable factor that no one takes into account. You have to look at playing population rather then population imo. We have a serious chance under a very good manager like Carew to make hay, with our minors this year have serious players if we can just hold it together next few years. We do have I think the worst county board in Ireland which hits us with clubs and standard and structures within the county. Also the shocking bad choices of managers over the yrs has handicapped us at underage and senior and cost us titles but we got lucky with carew and he will maximise the potential of the seniors. Sligo has underachieved imo but our biggest issue is very good astute clubmen turning their back on gaa and absolute numpties thinking there great. The infighting at cb level was to blame for the post 2012 horror shows as walsh was kept on is a prime example, men in there power hungry and if there not involved they want Sligo to fail type stuff.

LOL at rallying btw

Look at the make up of the underage teams over the last few years and the current senior team. The majority of players are from the South and North divisions. What has happened to clubs who provided a lot of players in previous years the former strongholds of Shamrock Gaels, Eastern Harps, Easkey. GAA is a minority sport in some of our bigger towns Ballymote, Cooloney, Ballisodare, Enniscrone. What are the County Board doing to resurrect GAA in these areas?

Reason for our poor performance at under 21 level in recent years apart from 2014 is down to little or no preparation. The difference in players like C Brehony, Davey, McDonnell at u21 and senior level says it all. Players looked disinterested at the under 21 level as they knew they hadn't the preparation behind them. During the Walsh era he rarely gave the u21 management access to their players even forcing them to play a senior challenge a few days before the Connaught final. The County board allowed this to happen and seem to put all the focus on the senior team to the detriment of the under 21 team and the clubs.

The club scene is definitely a big problem in Sligo football. For a start, I feel we have clubs who have way too big of catchment areas. You look at the likes of Johns and all the underage successes they have enjoyed over the past 20 years or so, why has this never really transferred into senior, a lot of their best players for the underage teams never develop and many of them don't even play senior football. Johns and Marys must be two of the biggest clubs in terms of playing pick in the whole of Connacht but they have only shared one senior club championship between them in this millennium and this is despite them dominant A teams underage for the last 15 years. Harps are another side who have far too big of an area to pick from, there could easily be three clubs in that area and I think it's very damaging for the development of the game there which is why I feel they have fallen off so badly in recent years. It's not so long ago since their intermediate team were making Championship finals. I feel when clubs have such big areas to pick from they let young lads slip through their grasp much easier whereas this wouldn't be the case in normal circumstances.

Of course, soccer is a big factor but other than that you need a county board willing to put all its resources into areas where the game is dead. It's sad to see the way the GAA is in towns like Ballymote, Collooney and Ballisodare where it seems to have no interest at underage levels.

A bloke I work with is a mad soccer fan and into most sports. The other evening I got a text from him during the Ros/Sligo game. It was about Stan Bowles. I text him back that I was in Sligo at the game. He was a bit surprised by that. He himself was in Sligo town visiting his mother and it wouldn t enter his mind to go to see his county play. He s never been. Resents it I think. Is that usual for a Sligo townie? I can t understand it?
Then again I ve never been to a Sligo Rovers game and a few from around here go regular.

What's the problem here?
The guy doesn't like GAA, what's the big deal with that?
Not everyone in the country likes or cares about GAA.  Why should they?

Laoislad - if you read the post above it is more than not liking GAA. There is a widespread hatred and resentment of the GAA to the point where people love seeing Sligo lose (they're happy a lot!!!). I don't like that and I suppose I would have been as bad when I was younger in regard to Sligo Rovers.

[magpie seanie]

That's a huge slice of the population not involved. If you took Ballina and Castlebar out of Mayo football history it would leave some hole. The towns have produced some of the greats.

Many townies play with Sligo down the years? Is Barry O Mahoney involved this year. He's a townie, isn t he? Looked good when I saw him as a youngster a few years ago.

Oh dear...

*holds Seanie back*

Hahaha!

For those not in the know....in our club we (well definitely me) get touchy at being called townies. We most certainly are not but sometimes (perhaps mischieviously??) lads from other parts of the county tar us with that brush.

Lovely part of the world. Is there a finer sight in Ireland than to stand at the top of Knocknarea, commune with the Goddess Maeve, down then to Strandhill for an ice-cream at Mammy Johnstons, across the street for a bite to eat and a pint at The Strand, a seaweed bath and a bit of surfing. Good luck against Mayo.

I'm hopelessly biased so of course I agree. I just think it's an amazing place. Ran the mountain loop from my parents house for the first time this year last week and it's just a gorgeous run (punctuated by some vicious hills but for every up there's a down). It's sensational today.

[magpie seanie]

Sligo have probably underperformed in terms of Connacht titles - current population is 65k compared with 31k for Leitrim and 65k for Roscommon.

The strength of soccer in Sligo town and the big interest in rallying probably explains some of it

That's completely the wrong way to look at it, we have 26 clubs, Leitrim have 28 and some of their clubs have 3 teams, add in the fact that of all the counties Sligo has by far and away the lowest population of gaa families which im convinced is a measurable factor that no one takes into account. You have to look at playing population rather then population imo. We have a serious chance under a very good manager like Carew to make hay, with our minors this year have serious players if we can just hold it together next few years. We do have I think the worst county board in Ireland which hits us with clubs and standard and structures within the county. Also the shocking bad choices of managers over the yrs has handicapped us at underage and senior and cost us titles but we got lucky with carew and he will maximise the potential of the seniors. Sligo has underachieved imo but our biggest issue is very good astute clubmen turning their back on gaa and absolute numpties thinking there great. The infighting at cb level was to blame for the post 2012 horror shows as walsh was kept on is a prime example, men in there power hungry and if there not involved they want Sligo to fail type stuff.

LOL at rallying btw

Look at the make up of the underage teams over the last few years and the current senior team. The majority of players are from the South and North divisions. What has happened to clubs who provided a lot of players in previous years the former strongholds of Shamrock Gaels, Eastern Harps, Easkey. GAA is a minority sport in some of our bigger towns Ballymote, Cooloney, Ballisodare, Enniscrone. What are the County Board doing to resurrect GAA in these areas?

Reason for our poor performance at under 21 level in recent years apart from 2014 is down to little or no preparation. The difference in players like C Brehony, Davey, McDonnell at u21 and senior level says it all. Players looked disinterested at the under 21 level as they knew they hadn't the preparation behind them. During the Walsh era he rarely gave the u21 management access to their players even forcing them to play a senior challenge a few days before the Connaught final. The County board allowed this to happen and seem to put all the focus on the senior team to the detriment of the under 21 team and the clubs.

The club scene is definitely a big problem in Sligo football. For a start, I feel we have clubs who have way too big of catchment areas. You look at the likes of Johns and all the underage successes they have enjoyed over the past 20 years or so, why has this never really transferred into senior, a lot of their best players for the underage teams never develop and many of them don't even play senior football. Johns and Marys must be two of the biggest clubs in terms of playing pick in the whole of Connacht but they have only shared one senior club championship between them in this millennium and this is despite them dominant A teams underage for the last 15 years. Harps are another side who have far too big of an area to pick from, there could easily be three clubs in that area and I think it's very damaging for the development of the game there which is why I feel they have fallen off so badly in recent years. It's not so long ago since their intermediate team were making Championship finals. I feel when clubs have such big areas to pick from they let young lads slip through their grasp much easier whereas this wouldn't be the case in normal circumstances.

Of course, soccer is a big factor but other than that you need a county board willing to put all its resources into areas where the game is dead. It's sad to see the way the GAA is in towns like Ballymote, Collooney and Ballisodare where it seems to have no interest at underage levels.

A bloke I work with is a mad soccer fan and into most sports. The other evening I got a text from him during the Ros/Sligo game. It was about Stan Bowles. I text him back that I was in Sligo at the game. He was a bit surprised by that. He himself was in Sligo town visiting his mother and it wouldn t enter his mind to go to see his county play. He s never been. Resents it I think. Is that usual for a Sligo townie? I can t understand it?
Then again I ve never been to a Sligo Rovers game and a few from around here go regular.

That type of attitude would be widespread in Sligo town.

Could the fact be  that Sligo town was once a busy port and that the English army had a big presence in the place for many generations?
If you consider all the port town in the country you'll find that soccer is strong in every one of them, from Drogheda right around the coast to Galway. ( I think you could add Ballina in as well.)
The same can be said for ports in Norn Iron.
Also, in towns that once had an army barracks you'll find soccer is thje predominant sport. I'm think of the likes of Longford and Athlone here.
Even in my home town of Swinford when I was growing up, there was a sharp divide between those who lived in "The Lane," and the rest of the parish. For all I know there could a bit of a divide there still.
The fact that about 50% of the county's population live in Sligo could help explain the fact that the GAA isn't the number one sport in the county.

Lar - it's a garrison town so yeah, that's the main reason. You'd want to talk to my Dad about it. He grew up in the town and remembers union jacks flying at the end of WW2 and at other times after that. He would say there's "nothing Irish" about Sligo town.

[sligoman]

Anthony Moyles and Colm Parkinson fairly savaged John Evans on Off The Ball last night.

[theticklemister]

I was in Sligo wan weekend, turned out Derry City were playing Sligo rovers in a cup game At the same time. So Anyways me and my mate went over to see the game; we left at half-time.

Anyways it was Kilkenny v tip in the all Ireland 2 days later and us being in sligo and pissed decided whoever won we were for the celebrations in that county. The cats won, I had a pish next to Tommy walsh when in Kilkenny  and it was a fecking mad week.

Moral of the story, don't get pissed in Sligo or you'll be skint.

Just thinking I may have rolled two stories into one there, but anyway, enjoyed my time in Sligo.

[Syferus]

I was in Sligo wan weekend, turned out Derry City were playing in them in a cup game I think. Anyways me and my mate went over to see the game; we left at half-time.

Anyways it was Kilkenny v tip in the all Ireland 2 days later and us being in sligo and pissed decided whoever won we were for the celebrations in that county. The cats won, I had a push next to Tommy walsh and it was a fecking mad week b

Moral of the story, don't get pissed in Sligo or you'll be skint.

Just thinking I may have rolled two stories into one there, but anyway, enjoyed my time in Sligo.

You went to the wrong pubs.

[Farrandeelin]

Sligo have probably underperformed in terms of Connacht titles - current population is 65k compared with 31k for Leitrim and 65k for Roscommon.

The strength of soccer in Sligo town and the big interest in rallying probably explains some of it

That's completely the wrong way to look at it, we have 26 clubs, Leitrim have 28 and some of their clubs have 3 teams, add in the fact that of all the counties Sligo has by far and away the lowest population of gaa families which im convinced is a measurable factor that no one takes into account. You have to look at playing population rather then population imo. We have a serious chance under a very good manager like Carew to make hay, with our minors this year have serious players if we can just hold it together next few years. We do have I think the worst county board in Ireland which hits us with clubs and standard and structures within the county. Also the shocking bad choices of managers over the yrs has handicapped us at underage and senior and cost us titles but we got lucky with carew and he will maximise the potential of the seniors. Sligo has underachieved imo but our biggest issue is very good astute clubmen turning their back on gaa and absolute numpties thinking there great. The infighting at cb level was to blame for the post 2012 horror shows as walsh was kept on is a prime example, men in there power hungry and if there not involved they want Sligo to fail type stuff.

LOL at rallying btw

Look at the make up of the underage teams over the last few years and the current senior team. The majority of players are from the South and North divisions. What has happened to clubs who provided a lot of players in previous years the former strongholds of Shamrock Gaels, Eastern Harps, Easkey. GAA is a minority sport in some of our bigger towns Ballymote, Cooloney, Ballisodare, Enniscrone. What are the County Board doing to resurrect GAA in these areas?

Reason for our poor performance at under 21 level in recent years apart from 2014 is down to little or no preparation. The difference in players like C Brehony, Davey, McDonnell at u21 and senior level says it all. Players looked disinterested at the under 21 level as they knew they hadn't the preparation behind them. During the Walsh era he rarely gave the u21 management access to their players even forcing them to play a senior challenge a few days before the Connaught final. The County board allowed this to happen and seem to put all the focus on the senior team to the detriment of the under 21 team and the clubs.

The club scene is definitely a big problem in Sligo football. For a start, I feel we have clubs who have way too big of catchment areas. You look at the likes of Johns and all the underage successes they have enjoyed over the past 20 years or so, why has this never really transferred into senior, a lot of their best players for the underage teams never develop and many of them don't even play senior football. Johns and Marys must be two of the biggest clubs in terms of playing pick in the whole of Connacht but they have only shared one senior club championship between them in this millennium and this is despite them dominant A teams underage for the last 15 years. Harps are another side who have far too big of an area to pick from, there could easily be three clubs in that area and I think it's very damaging for the development of the game there which is why I feel they have fallen off so badly in recent years. It's not so long ago since their intermediate team were making Championship finals. I feel when clubs have such big areas to pick from they let young lads slip through their grasp much easier whereas this wouldn't be the case in normal circumstances.

Of course, soccer is a big factor but other than that you need a county board willing to put all its resources into areas where the game is dead. It's sad to see the way the GAA is in towns like Ballymote, Collooney and Ballisodare where it seems to have no interest at underage levels.

A bloke I work with is a mad soccer fan and into most sports. The other evening I got a text from him during the Ros/Sligo game. It was about Stan Bowles. I text him back that I was in Sligo at the game. He was a bit surprised by that. He himself was in Sligo town visiting his mother and it wouldn t enter his mind to go to see his county play. He s never been. Resents it I think. Is that usual for a Sligo townie? I can t understand it?
Then again I ve never been to a Sligo Rovers game and a few from around here go regular.

What's the problem here?
The guy doesn't like GAA, what's the big deal with that?
Not everyone in the country likes or cares about GAA.  Why should they?

He likes sport though. I like sport and like to watch all main sports, I would even watch American football, but for the fact it's on late on a Sunday night, but this fella apparently likes sports but doesn't like GAA. I find that hard to understand myself, he could have an interest in it despite not going to matches. I put the part in bold that I can't really fathom myself.

[laoislad]

Sligo have probably underperformed in terms of Connacht titles - current population is 65k compared with 31k for Leitrim and 65k for Roscommon.

The strength of soccer in Sligo town and the big interest in rallying probably explains some of it

That's completely the wrong way to look at it, we have 26 clubs, Leitrim have 28 and some of their clubs have 3 teams, add in the fact that of all the counties Sligo has by far and away the lowest population of gaa families which im convinced is a measurable factor that no one takes into account. You have to look at playing population rather then population imo. We have a serious chance under a very good manager like Carew to make hay, with our minors this year have serious players if we can just hold it together next few years. We do have I think the worst county board in Ireland which hits us with clubs and standard and structures within the county. Also the shocking bad choices of managers over the yrs has handicapped us at underage and senior and cost us titles but we got lucky with carew and he will maximise the potential of the seniors. Sligo has underachieved imo but our biggest issue is very good astute clubmen turning their back on gaa and absolute numpties thinking there great. The infighting at cb level was to blame for the post 2012 horror shows as walsh was kept on is a prime example, men in there power hungry and if there not involved they want Sligo to fail type stuff.

LOL at rallying btw

Look at the make up of the underage teams over the last few years and the current senior team. The majority of players are from the South and North divisions. What has happened to clubs who provided a lot of players in previous years the former strongholds of Shamrock Gaels, Eastern Harps, Easkey. GAA is a minority sport in some of our bigger towns Ballymote, Cooloney, Ballisodare, Enniscrone. What are the County Board doing to resurrect GAA in these areas?

Reason for our poor performance at under 21 level in recent years apart from 2014 is down to little or no preparation. The difference in players like C Brehony, Davey, McDonnell at u21 and senior level says it all. Players looked disinterested at the under 21 level as they knew they hadn't the preparation behind them. During the Walsh era he rarely gave the u21 management access to their players even forcing them to play a senior challenge a few days before the Connaught final. The County board allowed this to happen and seem to put all the focus on the senior team to the detriment of the under 21 team and the clubs.

The club scene is definitely a big problem in Sligo football. For a start, I feel we have clubs who have way too big of catchment areas. You look at the likes of Johns and all the underage successes they have enjoyed over the past 20 years or so, why has this never really transferred into senior, a lot of their best players for the underage teams never develop and many of them don't even play senior football. Johns and Marys must be two of the biggest clubs in terms of playing pick in the whole of Connacht but they have only shared one senior club championship between them in this millennium and this is despite them dominant A teams underage for the last 15 years. Harps are another side who have far too big of an area to pick from, there could easily be three clubs in that area and I think it's very damaging for the development of the game there which is why I feel they have fallen off so badly in recent years. It's not so long ago since their intermediate team were making Championship finals. I feel when clubs have such big areas to pick from they let young lads slip through their grasp much easier whereas this wouldn't be the case in normal circumstances.

Of course, soccer is a big factor but other than that you need a county board willing to put all its resources into areas where the game is dead. It's sad to see the way the GAA is in towns like Ballymote, Collooney and Ballisodare where it seems to have no interest at underage levels.

A bloke I work with is a mad soccer fan and into most sports. The other evening I got a text from him during the Ros/Sligo game. It was about Stan Bowles. I text him back that I was in Sligo at the game. He was a bit surprised by that. He himself was in Sligo town visiting his mother and it wouldn t enter his mind to go to see his county play. He s never been. Resents it I think. Is that usual for a Sligo townie? I can t understand it?
Then again I ve never been to a Sligo Rovers game and a few from around here go regular.

What's the problem here?
The guy doesn't like GAA, what's the big deal with that?
Not everyone in the country likes or cares about GAA.  Why should they?

He likes sport though. I like sport and like to watch all main sports, I would even watch American football, but for the fact it's on late on a Sunday night, but this fella apparently likes sports but doesn't like GAA. I find that hard to understand myself, he could have an interest in it despite not going to matches. I put the part in bold that I can't really fathom myself.

If he resents it then yeah fair enough I don't understand it.At the end of the day it's only a game and not really that important that you would resent it.
If he just doesn't like it then I can completely understand it.
I would consider myself a big sports fan but I wouldn't cross the road to watch some sports like Rugby or Tennis.
I really don't understand why you can't understand why someone wouldn't like GAA.

[theyellowbus]

A bit late with a post about the match but a lot of what I posted earlier in the thread came to fruition.
Sligo management installed a game plan and the team pulled it off more or less to perfection.That was the major difference between both teams.From what I seen we went out with very little instruction only to run at the Sligo defence which I think our management underestimated. Sligo's hunger and desire was evident from the very start and we seemed to be way off the pace which is strange considering our management were supposedly pinpointing this game as a catalyst for a Connacht final challenge.
Same strange positional changes before the game and the decision to start two players obviously not fit enough was very amateurish.
Under the current set up we have had very good league campaigns but our championship record under the same management is poor.
We haven't beaten a top side in championship or won a championship game of note for a long time.Our best performance in championship under Evans was last year in the Hyde against Mayo any other performance has been fairly average.
Evans should get the chance to turn it around for the qualifiers but a win is a most in my opinion against Cavan anything less and he has to go.
We have to be realistic about where we are as a side and while being in Division 1 is great we have to take stock of our championship record over the last three years and how we have performed.Its been simply not good enough and to be honest until we start realising we still aren't a top eight side yet never mind a top 4 side then and only then can this side start trying to put their minds to staying in the championship for as long as possible.