Club football 2025

[Anonymous1]

Tullamore GAA charge Offaly GAA rent for O’Connor Park.

Offaly GAA levy the clubs to heavily subsidise this rent.

Tullamore GAA hire Stephen Rochford as their coach.

Not to mention Tullamore being allowed to play “home” games in OCP…

[SizeFive2024]

Tullamore GAA charge Offaly GAA rent for O’Connor Park.

Offaly GAA levy the clubs to heavily subsidise this rent.

Tullamore GAA hire Stephen Rochford as their coach.

Should they not charge rent for their property?

[Tar Man]

The issue is the deal that was signed in the first place - it was a crazy deal from an Offaly County Board point of view. If they wanted O'Connor Park they should have purchased it outright and then developed it. The deal that was done was crazy - pay high rent for a piece of ground - spend millions then developing it whilst not owning it. You all might remember the issue with the Children's hospital and the land it was being built on. The annoying thing is the club that the main person doing the deal from an Offaly County Board point of view was affiliated with. I'll leave it at that. You can all go back and join the dots.

In fairness the last administration (Michael Duignan as Chairman) tried to fix the mess somewhat and whilst they got some concessions their hands were tied due to legal agreements signed. It's very important that you're clubs send clued in people in to county board meetings and ask questions or you end up with issues down the road.

[del]

How do people know what this coach is getting paid and who is paying it . I doubt the club are as they are known for not paying much . I’d imagine a business or 2 in town are funding this for the next few months . Which is very common these days.
As for the OCP lease that ship has sailed lads clubs agreed to it even agreed to the new updated. Terms which Tullamore lost significantly on the original terms .
Other clubs in Offaly have brought in coaches and managers from outside and paid significant sums of money and there hasn’t been much said now id agree this appointment is fairly high profile. It could all end in tears too if they don’t win a championship ye can all rejoice together then if that happens .

[Behindthegoal]

Del please stop trying to play this down. Ferbane Rhode and Edenderry the only three teams who have any hope of beating Tullamore all have internal people over their teams and I’d suggest are getting paid peanuts. Rochford is a county manager and one of the best coaches in the country for him to be driving 5 hours to coach a club in Offaly is absolutely insane. I think it’s wrong and Tullamore are selling their soul a bit, see what Niall stack done with a team of his own people he built that team up from a low base, McConway has been handed a ready made machine with the best players in the county and clear favourites for a championship and he has to bring in someone like Rochford? Wouldn’t it mean an awful lot more to everyone in the club if they could win it themselves with Tullamore men over it because the reality is deep down Rochford couldn’t give a monkeys about Tullamore. What’s the Ceiling for Tullamore this year? Leinster draw means Lomans away Dublin champions and Naas to win a Leinster get Jim Gavin down and that’s not happening. Rochford isn’t driving from mayo and getting paid a small fortune to win them a county title, if somehow they lose a semi or final in Offaly this could be looked back on as an absolute shit show.

[del]

I seem to have touched a nerve here . Don’t be worrying about Tullamore losing its soul and how Tullamore people feel about it
It’s been seen as a very positive appointment. Rhode and Edenderry have had plenty of outside coaches and managers down thru the years and some worked some didn’t. And Ferbanes manager isn’t an internal appointment he’s a proud Rynaghs man . You will be a happy man if Tullamore do lose a semi final or final and Tullamore will have egg on there face until then enjoy the championship and don’t be getting too worked up over it’s only football

[Behindthegoal]

Sorry yeah I’ll look up the distance between Cloghan and Ferbane see it it’s similar to Crossmolina and Tullamore I’d suggest Rochfords diesel money for one trip is more than rafferty is taking in a month

[del]

Well Ger couldn’t get any nearer to the Ferbane parish it’s the next field away . So yes you are 100 % right the distance to travel isn’t the same well done on that observation.

[SearingDrive]

Del please stop trying to play this down. Ferbane Rhode and Edenderry the only three teams who have any hope of beating Tullamore all have internal people over their teams and I’d suggest are getting paid peanuts. Rochford is a county manager and one of the best coaches in the country for him to be driving 5 hours to coach a club in Offaly is absolutely insane. I think it’s wrong and Tullamore are selling their soul a bit, see what Niall stack done with a team of his own people he built that team up from a low base, McConway has been handed a ready made machine with the best players in the county and clear favourites for a championship and he has to bring in someone like Rochford? Wouldn’t it mean an awful lot more to everyone in the club if they could win it themselves with Tullamore men over it because the reality is deep down Rochford couldn’t give a monkeys about Tullamore. What’s the Ceiling for Tullamore this year? Leinster draw means Lomans away Dublin champions and Naas to win a Leinster get Jim Gavin down and that’s not happening. Rochford isn’t driving from mayo and getting paid a small fortune to win them a county title, if somehow they lose a semi or final in Offaly this could be looked back on as an absolute shit show.

Rochford is a coach, assisting Paul McConway. A long journey just to be a coach. What are the other selectors doing?

[SizeFive2024]

Sorry yeah I’ll look up the distance between Cloghan and Ferbane see it it’s similar to Crossmolina and Tullamore I’d suggest Rochfords diesel money for one trip is more than rafferty is taking in a month

Wouldn’t it mean an awful lot more to everyone in the club if they could win it themselves with Ferbane men over it

[Behindthegoal]

Would mean better for their bank balance anyway instead of forking out thousands for big names

[SizeFive2024]

Would mean better for their bank balance anyway instead of forking out thousands for big names

Well run club , with significant assets and money in the bank, elect to spend some money on strengthening themselves in order to progress. Don't see an issue with that.

[Tar Man]

This appointment can be looked at 2 ways from an Offaly point of view:

- Rochford comes in and adds considerably to the team. They win Offaly (which they were overwhelming favourites for before the appointment) and go on to win Leinster (which they weren't a million miles away from last year). The Players are improved and go back into Offaly and bring the county on another notch. Tullamore have the money so this appointment is not going to break the bank;

- The money would be better spent on improving facilities and making a real effort to cater for more underage players. I stated before on another thread about the nos. that are lost to GAA forever in the Tullamore area (which was disputed). Offaly GAA is in crisis from an underage point of view with regards to participation - there has been a huge demographics change in the county that is more pronounced than other counties with the move from Rural to Urban and a lot of our Rural Clubs are struggling with numbers. Then again is this Tullamore's problem.

No easy answers here. If a Leinster title is won then it was a great appointment and if they lose in Offaly it's a disaster. If they finish somewhere in between then it's up for debate.

[Anonymous1]

Who gets the final say on decisions? Is it the coach brought in for big money or is it the club stalwart manager?

This feels a bit like Mickey Harte being brought in because the CB didn’t have faith in the manager but hadn’t the guts to sack him either.

[Offaly Hero]

Some interesting results tonight in the football.

Eye catching for me was the heavy defeat suffered by Gracefield.
For an urban/semi urban area, their ongoing underperformance really is an issue for Offaly football. Can anybody with more insight shed any light on this, why it is the case?