Eamon Coleman

[Kerry Mike]

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Very sad news, never heard it all day, will always be a legend in Derry after what he did for the county in 1993.

[Rufus T Firefly]

Very sorry to hear this news - a great character gone.

Sympathies to the Coleman family and Derry GAA.

May Eamon Rest In Peace

[tone]

Very sorry to hear this news - a great character gone.

Sympathies to the Coleman family and Derry GAA.

May Eamon Rest In Peace

My lasting memory of Eamon was the emotion on his face as Henry Downey thanked him for what he had done for that particular team and the whole of  Co.Derry in his speech at Croke Park a very special moment his family can cherish for ever.

[sitdown]

      Very sorry to hear about Eamon Coleman.He was one true gael who said it as he seen it.
      May he rest in peace.Mary Queen Of The Gael pray for him.

[GrandMasterFlash]

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

[anglocelt39]

God rest the man and deepest sympathy to all his extended family. While we in Cavan benefited greatly from Eamons presence you always knew Eamon was first an foremost an Oak Leafer. I remember during the 2004 campaign he said that his greatest nightmare would be drawing Derry in the qualifier-from the heart as usual, no spin. If Tom Humphries ever gives up writing about the Dubs he would have enough in this great man's life for five volumes-underage all irelands as a player, First All Ireland as a Manager, dismissal, the emigrant trail, back into management beyond his home boundaries.

As a one eyed Cavan man I always felt that himself and McIlkennon could have brought us back close to respectability. Had the foresight to blood Mickey Lyng and Anthony Gaynor as 19 year olds at the highest level, was the only man ever to talk Trevor Crowe into wearing the Breffni Blue at any level. That day in Clones in 04 when we had Armagh on the ropes with 14 men and Dermot McCabe partolling midfield on one leg.

To Eamons immediate and extended family, be proud that the man packed more into 60 odd years than most mortals do into 3 lifetimes.

[dodo]

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

[stew]

I am saddened to hear about Eamon's death, a great gaa man has been lost. My thoughts and prayes are with the Coleman family.

[navaniarmhi]

Eamon Coleman will be remembered by me for his time at Athlone as well as his national titles with Derry. He won two Westmeath championships with Athlone in '79 and ?'81. Des Dolan, now with Leitrim, was the coach at the time and, I believe, influenced Eamon in terms of training method. It is interesting that they both went on to be intercounty managers. I spent a lot of time with these teams as my older brother was a team member and remember in particular Coleman's views on cigarettes and alcohol in sport. He laughed when he heard I had married a Derry footballer's (Hugh Francis Gribbin) daughter.

[mc_grens]

Eammon Coleman was a man greatly responsible for one of the best days of many of our lives.

God Rest.

[Louper]

very sad to that eamon has passed away, seein the clips and things on the news u realise he brought somethin special to derry and its something that hasnt been the same with him not at the reins. he'll be sorely missed. RIP.

[MaroonAndWhite]

Anchor's Angle with Michael Lyster

Normally in this column, we look ahead to the upcoming matches and fixtures in Gaelic games but I would just like to dedicate this article to a reflection on two events from this week in relation to Ulster football.

The first is the passing of Eamonn Coleman, the former Derry manager and the man who was in charge when the county made their breakthrough in 1993 by winning the All-Ireland title.
The early Nineties were very special years for Ulster football as the province well and truly dominated the Championship scene. Down had two All-Ireland victories, Donegal claimed the Sam Maguire in '92 and then Derry got in on the act twelve months later. Only Tyrone in 1995 failed to keep the hit rate going but then, of course, they were to be finally rewarded a few years later themselves.

Eamonn began his playing career at minor and Under-21 level with distinction for the county in the Sixties and he followed that up with a lifetime of dedication to football in Derry.

When he took over the Derry senior side in the early Nineties it was to become the most successful period in the county's history. In a spell of a little more than 16 months, they had won the National League, the Ulster Championship and the All-Ireland itself.

That was a time when I got to know Eamonn Coleman quite well and, indeed, many of the players who were on that Championship-winning side, not least a certain Joe Brolly. Eamonn was a quiet man and you got the impression that he wasn't always comfortable with the presence of the media. In truth he was probably a little bit shy but he was certainly good company.

I recall going to do an interview with him one time at his home in the lead-up to a big Championship match. Somewhat lengthy and convoluted directions eventually brought me to a house sitting in splendid isolation on the shores of Lough Neagh. When I knocked on the door, Eamonn shouted for me to come in.

He was sitting in the living room watching a video of some match, so for the next while the two of us just sat there, watching, nothing much being said by either of us except for the odd comment on a player or a passage of play in the match. When the tape had finally run its course, Eamonn chirpily said: 'Sure, we might as well do this interview.'

For some reason, that evening has always stuck in my memory, partly for the slight oddness of the situation but partly because of the world-apart setting of his home which, I think, I possibly envied.However, if Eamonn was slightly wary of the media at times he certainly had no trouble communicating with his players. He was very much a players' man and was noted for constantly boosting their confidence by telling them how great they were as a team and how talented they were as individuals; mind you, I doubt if he had to work too hard to bring out Brolly's self belief!

As so often happens, of course, the close bond that forms between a manager and his players can make County Board officials feel left out of the party and so it came to pass that, less than a year after their massive All-Ireland success, Eamonn Coleman was dropped as Derry manager. The good times, short-lived as they were, had just come to an end.

While I got to know Eamonn Coleman during those years, I never got the chance to make the acquaintance of young Tyrone minor Paul McGirr. It's exactly a decade ago (15 June) since Paul's life came to a sudden and unbelievable end following a collision during their Ulster Championship match against Armagh in Omagh. As the Dromore player chased a ball that brought Tyrone the decisive goal in the game, he was involved in a heavy collision with the Armagh goalkeeper and died some hours later in hospital as a result of fatal bleeding from a torn artery.

A look at the Tyrone minor team photo from that day is a poignant reminder of what might have lain ahead for Paul in his football career. In that picture are most of the players who went on to win the minor All-Ireland in 1998, the Under-21 national crown in 2000 and the county's first senior All-Ireland in 2003, players like Kevin Hughes, Stephen O'Neill, Brian McGuigan and, of course, another young man whose life was to be tragically short, Cormac McAnallen. But a decade after Paul's  death, his memory lives on with his former colleagues and manager, Mickey Harte, and it is fitting this week to see that Tyrone are supporting a project in his name to bring an improved quality of life for people in need in Africa.

Galway hurler Alan Kerins set up a similar project a couple of years ago with great success to date and I am delighted to see that Tyrone are marking the tenth anniversary of Paul's death by ensuring that his name will live on as an inspiration and as a benefit to others.  

In a week of suspensions, fines and general off-the-field headlines, it's no harm sometimes to take a step back and take a look at the bigger, clearer picture.

[oakleafgael]

I sat down on Tuesday to write a tribute to the wee man but the emotions where too raw and I decided to leave it till now. Firstly, Eamon was gave a send off yesterday befitting his status and showed the high regard in which he was held by the GAA community in Ulster and further afield. Particularlly telling was the amount of former players who came to pay their respects. Henry carrying the cup at the head of the funeral procession into the chapel was a lovely touch, he was Eamon's leader both on and off the field.

I have been around football a long time and in all that time I have never heard a bad word said about Eamon. We all have our own wee stories to tell about him and the memories will live with me for the rear of my days. He lived and breathed for football and his family. The man gave more for Derry than any who have went before him or any who will come behind him. He delivered the holy grail to the oak leaf county and for this alone he will never be forgotton.

I wouldn't have knew Eamon fairly well but any time I met him he remembered my name, where I was from, indeed who my father was and often regaled me with stories of the aul boys footballing career when football was a lot harder than it is today. No matter what the topic of discussion was it always turned around to football. How would Derry go this year, what where our chances. I was particular fond of Eamon for one thing in particular, his direct honesty. No matter what the consequences he was always true to what he believed in, speaking his mind and dealing with whatever resulted. The smile and the sparkling eyes may be gone but they will live on in my mind forever.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

[mylestheslasher]

Piece from this weeks Cavan Echo....

Gowna pay tribute to 'inspirational' leader 
 
BY MARIA MCCOURT 
 
 
 
The man responsible for bringing the All-Ireland winning manager Eamonn Coleman to Cavan club Gowna, has paid tribute to "the greatest manager" he has ever seen.
Chairman of Gowna GAA, Sean McGahern was speaking after the untimely death of the 59-year-old Derry native last Monday after a two-year battle with cancer.
Sean, who persuaded Coleman to join the club in 1996 shortly after he himself had taken the chairman's role in January of that year, described him as "an inspiration" and paid tributes to his qualities both as a manager and as a man.
"After the very first training session he had with the club, you just knew it was going to happen," said Sean.
"He brought discipline, fitness and for the first time ever, a real sense of direction. The players knew where they were supposed to be, what they were supposed to do and he wasn't afraid to tell them when they weren't doing just that."
Beginning with a core squad that included names such as Bernard Morris, Laurence Brady, Dessie, Joe and Ciaran Brady, Sean Pierson and the McCabe brothers among others, Coleman went on to win five county championships and two senior leagues with Gowna, twice securing the double.
"Having lost the final in 1995 people felt that our best years were gone but in 1996 Eamonn brought us the championship and, on top of that, to beat our neighbours Mullahoran in the final was just fantastic."
Coleman's ability to motivate players and command their respect was, believes Sean, a key to his success as a manager and his popularity as a man.
"Eamonn's half-time team talks were as good as five points to a team. He had such a presence in the dressing room, he made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. He could push players to the very limit and still never fall out with them."
Yet despite his widespread popularity, and reputation as a player's man, Coleman was renowned for pulling no punches when straight talking was required.
"Players knew what was waiting for them when they went in there at half time, especially if they had been playing badly," admitted Sean, "but for me his greatest assets were his reading of the game, motivating his men and his ability to make moves that no one else could see."
When asked if he sometimes doubted his colourful manager, Sean laughed; "I always doubted him but it never did me any good. I'd be thinking 'why the hell's he doing that?' then ten minutes later you'd be 'ahh, now I see'."
The Gowna chairman added a personal tribute to his good friend.
"He was just fierce craic, you could talk to him about anything and we just enjoyed being with him. Everyone who knew him listened to him and respected him and it's so hard to believe he's gone." 

[Cloc Mor]

Pathetic one minute 'tribute' to Eamon on the Championship tonight.  Obviously just thrown together today with interviews with ex-managers at Clones today.  The man deserved better than this.