Messages

God that took a while to get caught up on. Some shite talked on here in the past few days.

My take on it.

Devenney one of the worst refs about, no question about it. Has to make it all about himself. And whoever does the referees appointments needs to put a bit more effort into picking neutral referees for games.

Douglasbridgeexile and superstar_ definitely the same poster from Newtown. As plain as the nose on your face! Has a great memory of the games as well, you'd almost think he was playing it them. 

There's about 6 Newtown players posting on the forum under neighbouring club alias, embarassing at this point and destroying the forum. Wonder will they be as chatty next year when they're getting the shite beat out of them in Division 1 (that's if they don't f**k it up in the next 3 games)?

The double fixtures Friday and Sunday are absolutely crazy. Not even a full two days between games. You wouldn't see it in professional sports let alone intermediate and junior amateur club football. Totally unfair, particularly on smaller clubs who haven't the benefit of rotating 5/6 men. Next year it has to be addressed and go to one game a week. Teams aren't even training currently just playing games because of the scheduling. I can't see the development in that. Only winners are the Physios who are currently making eye watering money.

That's what happens when you have people in the CCC who wouldn't know if it was blown up or stuffed.

I see in the continued behind covering from the powers at be to shield the golden boys of Errigal Ciaran they have now renamed all Reserve Championships to "Reserve KO" with the division added as a prefix depending on the grade.

Im not sure who they are expecting to fool with this but it isn't good enough at all.

Errigal should've been punished last year and that would've been the end of it.

It's always been called Reserve knockout, as long as I can remember.

Sure people call it Championship but that term is very tightly defined in the official guide.

Im sure its referenced here and there as Reserve knockout...

However when it was most recently on the tyrone website last year during the fallout of ECIII and D-Tresk it was definitely called championship

Have a look for yourself.

Reserve Championship reference

Will all these clubs in Division 3A who haven't entered a reserve team in the league be allowed to enter a reserve team in the championship? Surely not.

Is there any clubs in the other 3 divisions regularly conceding reserve fixtures?

[A chara]

Email from the CCC on 3rd June. Clann na nGael senior team fielding 13 a side, and clubs just expected to go with it. Just another change to the league that has been forced on junior clubs without discussion or a vote, just like the division 3 split to 3 and 3A.

A few years back there was a proposal for Tyrone to be split into 4 even division of 12 teams. This went to a vote and clubs said no.
Then a year later they implement the division 3 split without any discussion or vote because who cares about junior football.

This year there was a proposal to alter the league points system, this was again discussed and voted down.
Now we have a 13 aside game forced onto junior clubs without discussion or a vote.

It seems that matters that effect Division 1 and 2 clubs are discussed and voted on, but matters which only effect junior clubs? Who cares, just change it and they can just accept it.


A chara

It has been made known to the CCC that at least one Club in Division 3A, due to low player numbers, may, going forward, find themselves in  a position  where they can only field at 13-a-side.

In order to facilitate the players available and to sustain the future of this Club, we ask that you all comply with the situation on match days and therefore also field at 13-a-side if the situation arises.

We will be making our Referees aware of the situation meaning everyone will be informed and there will be no objections accepted.

We appreciate your cooperation on this as it is important that we all do what we can for the better of all our Clubs going forward.

Is mise le meas

Mícheáilín Nic an Choiligh

Response from Tattyreagh club to said email.


A Chara
 
We refer to your email sent by the CCC to our club secretary last night  Wednesday 3rd June at 21.31pm, to advise us that an unnamed club in division 3A may only be able to field 13 players in future senior games and that you have without consultation to any other club in that league agreed that this is ok and must be accepted with a pre warning that no objections will be considered.
 
We reject this advice and register an immediate objection to challenge it and demand a hearing and response before any of this Friday nights planned fixtures take place. We also challenge the short notice provided in this matter i.e. less than 48 hours before the next official fixture.
 
We now have a panel of 30 plus players and a management team preparing for a double fixture weekend of games not knowing if it will be against a team fielding either 13 or 15 players. To our knowledge to date no senior adult team across any of the Tyrone leagues has ever been forced to agree to play a 13 aside game at senior level. Your email basically gives 48 hours' notice of this change and as any reasonable person would expect our coaches and players have not had the opportunity to prepare for this unprecedented scenario in even one training session. Your new dictate is both unfair and disrespectful to the players and managers of the teams that will be directly affected by it.
 
We also question the rules that will govern a 13-sided game e.g. will the normal 4 players back rule stand or given that there will be 4 less players on the pitch will this be changed, again our players and coaches have not been afforded any time to prepare for this new scenario.  We have asked our club referees, and they confirm that their pre-season training and courses did not cover any such scenario.
 
You are already aware that our club has been very critical of the changes forced upon us by splitting the old division 3 league into an 8-team division 3 and an 11-team division 3A. The 3A league has been set up to pander to the larger clubs and allow them to have a 3rd team with no requirement to enter a reserve team, none of the junior clubs were consulted properly about these changes and with the 2nd year underway it is clear that the new format is not working and needs to be revisited with all the junior clubs properly involved and consulted about what happens going forward.
 
This latest dictate around 13-sided games is the final straw and alongside virtually no reserve football is going to cause long term damage to small but viable clubs like our own. We have a panel of 30-37 senior players and good numbers of youth players filtering into this panel in the years ahead. It is our county boards responsibility to make sure that these young gaels are included in a format and league that will provide them with the opportunity to play football regularly throughout the season just like the players in Division 1,2&3.
 
It is worth pointing out to the CCC the reality of the situation on the ground, 37 different players played some part in our reserve and senior games last weekend against Castlederg however if we happen to be playing this unnamed club this Friday night only 13 of those players will start that game with only another 3 or 4 playing a role as used substitutes with at least 20 to 21 players getting no football. In addition to this our next 3 games are against teams that do not have a reserve team resulting in those 20 to 21 players not playing any part in any of 4 consecutive games. This is a bigger threat to our club's sustainability than any demographic issues and it is an issue man made by the Tyrone CCC and the changes they have forced on clubs by splitting the league to accommodate the minority.
 
We pay at least the same level of fees if indeed not more as clubs like Errigal Ciaran, Donaghmore, Cookstown and Omagh but we seem to be at the back of the queue when it comes to fair and equitable treatment and value for money. We have been in discussions with 4 other division 3A clubs as recently as last night and they are equally as unhappy with the current situation and we would ask that rather than just try and enforce this on clubs to their long term detriment a proper discussion involving all the junior clubs is initiated and a long term acceptable solution is found.
 
We hope that some line in some regulation that isn't quite clear is not used in any "dear john" response to ignore our genuine concerns because we are now at the stage that this matter needs a proper solution and the TCB challenged if they continue to ignore our justifiable concerns. If the status quo is maintained against our will, we must challenge the decision makers to both the Ulster Council and Croke Park and the wider GAA community using whatever other outlets are available to us, as your decisions to protect the minority are now directly harming other clubs long term future .
 
We are now in a situation where our young club gaels are clearly being discriminated against versus players in other clubs and going for multiple weeks without the opportunity to play games and this may result in them being lost to the GAA forever if a solution or change is not made. This format is a race to the bottom and must be reviewed again, with the clubs being affected by your decisions involved properly in a finding a workable and sustainable solution not just dictated to by a small internal county committee which includes some vested interests. We want answers about who is driving this agenda to understand if there are alternative objectives at play which may benefit bigger clubs in the long term. We are weary of being dictated to by committees led by people with little knowledge of how small clubs operate, the challenges they face and how important a role they play in their communities.
 
We provided the county with a chairman for 5 years who showed leadership and put all clubs not just the larger ones at the centre of the Tyrone GAA during his term. We now expect this current board to do the same and you will probably ascertain from this email that we have decided to coin a phrase "enough is enough"  and we are going to allocate some considerable time and effort highlighting these issues to all gaels both in Tyrone and outside Tyrone including penning a detailed letter to Jarlath Burns requesting a hearing with him to advise and discuss with him our issues and seek help from him on how we should go about trying to find a solution.
 
We are also exploring the idea of association with leagues in other counties in an attempt to get football for all our players, as at present the Tyrone county board is not meeting this need. We believe that this issue will gain considerable interest and momentum among the wider community both inside and outside our county and it needs to be highlighted if it is ignored anymore.
 
We have suggestions and solutions to all the above problems, but we need a forum organised by yourselves alongside a willingness to listen to bring these forward for consensus, agreement, and action.
 
We would appreciate a response before Friday night's game.
 
 
Regards
 
 
Secretary and Committee – Tattyreagh St Patrick Mens and Ladies football and camogie club.

[A chara]

Email from the CCC on 3rd June. Clann na nGael senior team fielding 13 a side, and clubs just expected to go with it. Just another change to the league that has been forced on junior clubs without discussion or a vote, just like the division 3 split to 3 and 3A.

A few years back there was a proposal for Tyrone to be split into 4 even division of 12 teams. This went to a vote and clubs said no.
Then a year later they implement the division 3 split without any discussion or vote because who cares about junior football.

This year there was a proposal to alter the league points system, this was again discussed and voted down.
Now we have a 13 aside game forced onto junior clubs without discussion or a vote.

It seems that matters that effect Division 1 and 2 clubs are discussed and voted on, but matters which only effect junior clubs? Who cares, just change it and they can just accept it.


A chara

It has been made known to the CCC that at least one Club in Division 3A, due to low player numbers, may, going forward, find themselves in  a position  where they can only field at 13-a-side.

In order to facilitate the players available and to sustain the future of this Club, we ask that you all comply with the situation on match days and therefore also field at 13-a-side if the situation arises.

We will be making our Referees aware of the situation meaning everyone will be informed and there will be no objections accepted.

We appreciate your cooperation on this as it is important that we all do what we can for the better of all our Clubs going forward.

Is mise le meas

Mícheáilín Nic an Choiligh

this has to be the worst start to the league ever. I've never seen such a farce. Thank f**k I'm no longer playing football. To my knowledge we are the only county in Ireland who haven't started their adult leagues

Division 1 - No Start date confirmed. Reserves Started.
Division 2 - No start date confirmed. Reserves Started.
Division 3 - Email the other night, with a week and a half notice before start of league. Reserves Started.
All three division strung along for weeks not know what was happening.

Division 3A - Started 17th April, 3rd round tomorrow. Fixtures sent out on the Sunday/Monday for the Friday. No clear fixture list with dates for the year ahead communicated with clubs. Are they all just going to run week after week in the order they are listed, or is there a few double rounds going to be thrown in. Who knows. (Clubs will probably find out on a Sunday/Monday email that they have a double round that week).
Reserves - F**k knows what's happening there. Don't think the CCC even know. Rumour that only 5 or 6 clubs have entered reserve teams. CCC not to bothered, haven't even had the manners to communicate with clubs.

I know in my own club I have never seen as many CONs as this year, at a time you would get full reserve seasons every year, now its maybe 50%. Is it the commitment required? Reserves is no longer for aul lads in their late 30s looking for a kickabout. It's 18-21 year olds and they are flying fit.

I don't think the current reserve time slot works

Your problem is you're thinking Jerome 

100% the biggest issue across reserve games at the moment. Panels are larger than they ever have been but getting to Aghyaran or Derrylaughan depending on which side of the county you come from is not easy for 6pm on a friday evening..

Reserve football needs to run independently from seniors. 1 league winner in each division with no relegation means after a few games most teams are out of the running to win it. Independent promotion and relegation will result in more competitive reserve football.

Start it a month or so earlier than seniors to have it wrapped up before reserve championship starts in July.


There's always going to be the traditionalist who want to keep it as it is, but what good is it doing in the current format?

My club bought a VEO camera at the tail end of 2024. But the GAA and LGFA are now both saying that adult games can't even be recorded if any U18's in playing as part of the team.

Anyone have any insight into this?

I would have thought the Friday night fixtures appeased 95% of players, supporters etc.

Would think reverting back to Sundays would be terrible decision.

Sighting referee shortage as the reasoning. It was originally sold that each division would take turn on playing a Sunday round, but unsure of what way they have planned out the schedule as Intermediate are Sundays for the first three rounds.

If it's due to referee shortages then the teams not supplying referees should be the teams that play their games on Sundays.
Going by the County Convention booklet you have Brackaville, Derrylaughan, Edendork and Rock all with no referees in the mens game, those teams should have all their games moved to Sundays regardless of who they are playing and how many referees the other team have.

After that there are 21 clubs who only supply 1 referee, games involving two teams with only one referee each should also be moved to a Sunday.

It will take a bit of work to sort out at the start of the year. But will soon give the clubs who don't promote refereeing within their club a kick up the hole.

Dear members,

We regret to inform you that Glenelly GAC have decided to withdraw from the current amalgamation agreement following a meeting tonight Thursday 13/02/2025.

Our committee met on Tuesday 11/02/2025 and at that meeting we had a unanimous decision to continue to honour the current amalgamation agreement.
The reason for this decision was based on the committee wanting to have consultation with our members before making any significant decisions.

Following this, we engaged with Glenelly to indicate that we were keen to continue the amalgamation agreement for all age groups, both boys and girls.
 
A meeting was held tonight Thursday 13/02/2025 with both committees represented. At this meeting we reiterated our intentions clearly from the outset that we were willing to uphold the current agreement.  On conclusion of the meeting, Glenelly informed us that they were not in a position to amalgamate at any age group.
On departing the meeting, we wished them all the best for the year ahead.

We understand that this may raise questions, therefore we will host a discussion on Saturday 15/02/2025  at 10am at the club rooms for anyone who has any queries.

We are a newly formed committee and we will be preparing and regrouping for the future.

We thank you for your patience and your understanding as we navigate the new footballing year ahead.


Above is a message to the Gortin members from the new committee.

Did the previous committee not step down due to the pressure from a group of parents about not wanting to amalgamate at minor level? Now they get into positions in a new committee, and make the exact same decision they were against that started the whole issue. Only for Glenelly to tell them to clear to f**k!
You couldn't make that sh*t up!

[they want their children to play for gortin only]

All not well in Gortin. Full Committee stepped away!

They terminated the link with Glenelly against previous agreements between the two clubs. Didn't sit well with a lot within Gortin.

From what I hear it's the opposite. A group of parents totally against the link with glenelly and have forced the committee out because of it

they want their children to play for gortin only

Where they playing for Glenelly sides at underage level?

Gortin & Glenelly combined are Both Domhnaigh
none of those teams are in the latest minor gradings but the gradings appear strange - a lot of teams in Grade 2 and only 3 teams in Grade 4.

Mondays crisis meeting was a low point for our club. Some low blow comments made on the night. In the end up Thatcher Keenan and the rest of the committee walked. I hope more KC / Omagh lads join us to allow us to field on our own going forward.

A club who got promoted to Senior Football for the first time since the early 00's should be riding the crest of the wave and seeing where the momentum will take them. Sad to see it working out this way.
Any word on who has taken up positions on the new committee? A lot of long standing club people who done a lot of work are now gone presumably.
Is the amalgamation with Glenelly now completely done away with?

All not well in Gortin. Full Committee stepped away!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p03lUAzzG4
Thought this method for the goalmouths was very interesting when I seen Ardboe doing it last year, but haven't gotten up to Ardboe pitch recently to see it.
Anyone from the area any feedback on how it has went? Worth looking into?

Aghaloo a good win today as expected with pressure off. Question is which of Glenelly or Cookstown will they end up bottling it again.
Clearly a good team but lacking in the stones department.

Could see Glenelly turn them over, especially with McGlone suspended after getting sent off for striking yesterday.

[hearing Joe lynch and Neely mc Aleer in way Beragh]

championship season coming to close, been poor enough standard the year i thought. in other news managerial merry go-round has started im hearing. E bradley and Sean teague in way Eglish - good appointment where to take omagh the year i believe was quoted. hearing Joe lynch and Neely mc Aleer in way Beragh. anyone hear any other clubs appointing anyone?

Are Gormley and Leonard gone after only one season?