Club Football 2026

[Tmacmahon]

What a load of b%llix , such a troll. Shamrocks won't make a final, clearly taking the piss sneering .rhode might win a championship but even still wont have enough

Tullamore and ferbane will paly in the senior final again , cop on now !!!

[Tar Man]

What a load of b%llix , such a troll. Shamrocks won't make a final, clearly taking the piss sneering .rhode might win a championship but even still wont have enough

Tullamore and ferbane will paly in the senior final again , cop on now !!!

Unless they get drawn in a semi-final. You'd have to think that Rhode will get at least 5 points (beat Edenderry). Presuming Tullamore beat Ferbane (and that's not a guarantee with the closeness of their games over the years) then it'd be Tullamore & Rhode in the semi-finals. The top two are seeded in the semi-final draw so can't play each other. I still think Tullamore & Ferbane are the best 2 teams but Ferbane's loss at home to Rhode has brought about the possibility of them meeting in a Semi-Final.

[Behindthegoal]

That’s spot on. The table will finish like this

Tullamore 8
Rhode 5
Ferbane 4
Shamrocks 3
Edenderry 0

Ferbane and Shamrocks will beat whatever comes out of the other group in quarter finals. So Tullamore and Rhode v Ferbane and Shamrocks in semis.

Ferbane are the only team that has a hope of beating Tullamore and even at that it’s slim. They lost to rhode last year regularly lose group games but do enough and perform later in year. Hard see past Tullamore it’s ominous for everybody else

[ruletheroost]

The new format is working a treat. The top teams are battling it out in group 1 and an extremely tight, evenly matched group 2. With 4 coming out of the top group, a little bit more jeopardy might have been no harm. Other than that, it's top class. A big well done to the County Board on this format.

No surprises in the scoring stakes either:

Total scores:
Jack Bryant 1-11
Ruairi McNamee 0-14
Peter Cunningham 2-7
Harry Plunkett 2-6
Cormac Delaney 0-11

Scores from play:
Eoghan Geoghegan 2-3
Chris Kenny 1-6
Jack Bryant 1-5
Marcus Dalton 2-2
Ruairi McNamee 0-6
Cian Murphy 0-6
Harry Plunkett 1-3

[Truth as i see it]

Hi guys, i'm sure most people on here won't remember me, i haven't posted in a very long time, my guess is the 8-10 years time frame, the reason why i stopped posting was because no one seemed interested in engaging with my comments so i thought fuck it, why bother, but i have been periodically checking in on the site to gauge the mood of the county.

I will admit to being more of a football head than a hurling one though i do track the hurling teams too but the discussion on the management team of Declan Kelly and Mickey Harte peaked my interest and i was interested to see the various different views on the decision taken by the county board to not extending the tenure of both men.

I was actually quite content to leave it at that until i started watching a film on another sport entirely.

I am one of those fans that likes multiple sports and as a football fan (of the the world verity) i am a Manchester United and i found a documentary on Sir Alex Ferguson on Disney + called never give in and it got me to thinking about the way he was able to keep building multiple teams throughout his career from his time with Aberdeen in Scotland beating the Old firm and beating Real Madrid in the 1983 cup winners cup final to bringing Manchester United their first ever title in 26 years to winning the treble in 1999.

He famously got angry with his Aberdeen players after the won the 1983 Scottish cup final because the performance did not meet his demands and expectations

(Wait for it there is a point here i promise)

All the players interviewed in the documentary told of how he had a ferocious temper and how even though it would be considered bullying today, they would still run through walls for him because that is the standard that he demanded and what he demanded got results.

Gordon Strachan, one of his players at Aberdeen once said in an interview with Jeff Stelling that he scared the team into winning titles but that he wouldn't have changed a thing.

Now i know that Football/Soccer and Gaelic games are different in that one is professional and another is amateur and even players today of either code need to be handled in a different way because of the way that the world has changed but if you look at the dynasties that have been prevalent throughout the last 60 years in GAA {Kerry team of the 80s, Kilkenny teams of the 00s, the Dublin team of the 2010, Limerick teams of the 2020s) one word to me runs through every one of them.

Demands.

Demands made by the managers, demands made by the players, demands made by the county.

The managers of these great teams made the demands that expectations should be met, the players either excepted these demands or they didn't paly on the team, the team as a unit would place demands on the weakest players to step up to the mark or the level required and if they didn't they would get cut adrift.

The county expected a bare minimum of success every season or pressure was put back on the manager and the players and manager would have awkward questions to answer or worse would be relieved of his duties.

The greats in Gaelic games (O' Dwyer, Cody, Gavin ect) would demand that every player understand the expectations from day 1 in and would not lower his standards for anyone regardless of how good they were and the rest of the team would understand where the line was.

So what does this have to do with Offaly GAA and the footballers in particular?

As i said i know that todays players mindset is different to past generations and it is an amateur game but if the goal of any team is to be successful in their campaign the the manager needs to set the demands on the players, the players need to decide whether they are willing to accept those demands and the team needs to understand what they are willing to do in order to meet those demands.

Alex Ferguson never tolerated players questioning his authority in the dressing room (Roy Keane can attest to that) and while i can appreciate that players will have reasons for not committing to the county team for legitimate reasons (work, home life, travelling ect) the players that do commit have to except the sacrifices and demands that are set in order to be successful in the sport, you cant have it both ways

[Plain of the Herbs]

Tullamore stand on the cusp of breaking a record when they face Shamrocks this weekend. Currently they are on a run of 17 straight wins in the Senior football championship. Their win over Edenderry four weeks ago equaled the record held by Rhode between 2016 and 2018.

Still a bit for Tullamore to go to break the record for an unbeaten run (including draws). That is held by Ferbane who went 24 games unbeaten between 1986 and 1990. Rhode did 22 in 2004 – 2007, while Rhode went one better (23) in 2016 – 2018.

Records in the early years are naturally sketchy. But Tullamore’s club history indicates their four in a row between 1896 and 1899 involved ten games (there were walkovers), while I’d guess Geashill’s four in a row (1904-1907) would be something similar given the small number of clubs in operation at that time, and the knockout championships. Very unlikely it’s anything near 17 anyway.

[Exiled in Connacht]

@POTH - when Walsh Island won six in a row in late 70s/early 80s what was their record?

[Old-school]

Shamrocks will beat tullamore this Friday. Ferbane will beat Edenderry but not by much, Edenderry played game Monday evening and have fixed alot of there problems from what I seen at the game. Tullamore and Shamrocks will go straight to semi finals, Ferbane, and Rhode in 1/4. Im backing Shamrocks to win Offaly championship this year. What they did to us and the work that was done with them the over the last couple of years shows they are ones to be very aware off.

[Tmacmahon]

Ferbane will beat edenderry by 15 plus and tullamore will beat shamrocks by 10 plus
Shamrocks are down 4 lads feom the last match and tullamore will expose this,
Edenderry is all over the shop, and in truth, ferbane is the biggest challengers for the dowling cup, shamrocks really have overachieved with them missing so many starters in first 2 games, tullamore dont do sympathy. Ferbane if they are serious wont either!!!!!

[Plain of the Herbs]

1978 – beat Daingean, Na Piarsaigh, Edenderry and Clara in the group, beat Ferbane in the semi-final and Rhode in the final. (six wins)

1979 – beat Ferbane, Gracefield and Clara, then lost to Edenderry in the group. That’s the nine straight wins. Beat Tullamore in the semi-final and Rhode in the Final.

1980 – Beat Ferbane, Na Piarsaigh, Tullamore and Clara in the group. Beat Edenderry in the semi-final and Ferbane in the Final.

1981 – Lost to Tullamore in the first round of the group. Beat St Manchan’s, Rhode, Kilcormac and Gracefield in the group.
Beat St Carthage’s in the semi-final, drew with Clara in the group and won the replay.

1982 – championship switched to straight knockout. Beat Kilcormac in the first round, drew with Ferbane in the quarter-final and won the replay, beat Clonmore Gaels in the semi-final and beat Rhode in the Final.

1983 – had a bye in the first round, drew with Kilcormac in the quarter-final and won the replay, beat Tullamore in the semi-final, drew with Ferbane in the Final and won the replay.

1984 – drew with Edenderry in the first round and lost the replay by a point.

The 18 games unbeaten came between 1981’s round 2 win over St Manchan’s and the draw with Edenderry in 1984.

(Clonmore Gaels in 1982 were Clonbullogue and Bracknagh combined.)

@POTH - when Walsh Island won six in a row in late 70s/early 80s what was their record?

[Exiled in Connacht]

@POTH, thanks for providing those stats, incredible 6 year record overall.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Sure was. Smaller family sizes mean we'll never seen the likes again from a smaller/rural club like that.

@POTH, thanks for providing those stats, incredible 6 year record overall.

[theman]

(Clonmore Gaels in 1982 were Clonbullogue and Bracknagh combined.)

@POTH - when Walsh Island won six in a row in late 70s/early 80s what was their record?

From this part of the county, and did not know about this. Since Clonbullogue have gone senior, when any talk of their previous time at the level was mentioned, it was always 1966 when they were promoted from Junior and 1970 when they were combined with Walsh Island and Bracknagh as Eire Og. Never was Clonmore Gaels mentioned, so thanks for that little bit of history.

I reckon the Clonmore name came from the townland of said name that straddles both sides of the club borders.

POTH, what years was the combination in existence?

[Kevin]

Hi guys, i'm sure most people on here won't remember me, i haven't posted in a very long time, my guess is the 8-10 years time frame, the reason why i stopped posting was because no one seemed interested in engaging with my comments so i thought fuck it, why bother, but i have been periodically checking in on the site to gauge the mood of the county.

I will admit to being more of a football head than a hurling one though i do track the hurling teams too but the discussion on the management team of Declan Kelly and Mickey Harte peaked my interest and i was interested to see the various different views on the decision taken by the county board to not extending the tenure of both men.

I was actually quite content to leave it at that until i started watching a film on another sport entirely.

I am one of those fans that likes multiple sports and as a football fan (of the the world verity) i am a Manchester United and i found a documentary on Sir Alex Ferguson on Disney + called never give in and it got me to thinking about the way he was able to keep building multiple teams throughout his career from his time with Aberdeen in Scotland beating the Old firm and beating Real Madrid in the 1983 cup winners cup final to bringing Manchester United their first ever title in 26 years to winning the treble in 1999.

He famously got angry with his Aberdeen players after the won the 1983 Scottish cup final because the performance did not meet his demands and expectations

(Wait for it there is a point here i promise)

All the players interviewed in the documentary told of how he had a ferocious temper and how even though it would be considered bullying today, they would still run through walls for him because that is the standard that he demanded and what he demanded got results.

Gordon Strachan, one of his players at Aberdeen once said in an interview with Jeff Stelling that he scared the team into winning titles but that he wouldn't have changed a thing.

Now i know that Football/Soccer and Gaelic games are different in that one is professional and another is amateur and even players today of either code need to be handled in a different way because of the way that the world has changed but if you look at the dynasties that have been prevalent throughout the last 60 years in GAA {Kerry team of the 80s, Kilkenny teams of the 00s, the Dublin team of the 2010, Limerick teams of the 2020s) one word to me runs through every one of them.

Demands.

Demands made by the managers, demands made by the players, demands made by the county.

The managers of these great teams made the demands that expectations should be met, the players either excepted these demands or they didn't paly on the team, the team as a unit would place demands on the weakest players to step up to the mark or the level required and if they didn't they would get cut adrift.

The county expected a bare minimum of success every season or pressure was put back on the manager and the players and manager would have awkward questions to answer or worse would be relieved of his duties.

The greats in Gaelic games (O' Dwyer, Cody, Gavin ect) would demand that every player understand the expectations from day 1 in and would not lower his standards for anyone regardless of how good they were and the rest of the team would understand where the line was.

So what does this have to do with Offaly GAA and the footballers in particular?

As i said i know that todays players mindset is different to past generations and it is an amateur game but if the goal of any team is to be successful in their campaign the the manager needs to set the demands on the players, the players need to decide whether they are willing to accept those demands and the team needs to understand what they are willing to do in order to meet those demands.

Alex Ferguson never tolerated players questioning his authority in the dressing room (Roy Keane can attest to that) and while i can appreciate that players will have reasons for not committing to the county team for legitimate reasons (work, home life, travelling ect) the players that do commit have to except the sacrifices and demands that are set in order to be successful in the sport, you cant have it both ways

Hey Truth. This is an interesting post. I think it may be in the wrong thread.

Then again I commented on the Mayo win in an Offaly chat board

[Plain of the Herbs]

Always good to hear from theman.

After four years of a round robin basis, the Senior football championship reverted to a straight knockout in 1982. Bracknagh and Clonbullogue combined at Senior grade as Clonmore Gaels while also fielding separately at Intermediate grade. They received a bye in the first round (14 teams entered), beat St Carthage’s 1-12 to 2-7 in the second round before losing to Walsh Island 2-16 to 1-5 in the semi-final. Matt Connor scored 2-8.

The team that played the semi-final was: Noel Fitzpatrick; Charlie Barron, Michael Connolly, Liam Quinn; Noel Kelly, Ger Higgins, Donal Cocoman; Al McEvoy, Éamonn Brereton; Tom Fitzpatrick, P McEvoy, Liam Shanahan; Michael Shanahan, Martin Fitzpatrick, Pádraig Cocoman. Subs used: Jimmy Storan, Jim Bennett, John Coen.

A losers’ group was introduced for 1983. Clonmore Gaels lost to Tullamore 2-10 to 1-6 in the first round. Through the back door, they beat st Carthage’s 1-12 to 0-4, before losing to St Manchan’s by a point, 1-6 to 1-5.

Bracknagh won the Intermediate football championship in 1983. They were promoted to Senior, and that was the end of the amalgamation. Bracknagh stayed Senior until 1987 when they were regraded to the new Senior B.

From this part of the county, and did not know about this. Since Clonbullogue have gone senior, when any talk of their previous time at the level was mentioned, it was always 1966 when they were promoted from Junior and 1970 when they were combined with Walsh Island and Bracknagh as Eire Og. Never was Clonmore Gaels mentioned, so thanks for that little bit of history.

I reckon the Clonmore name came from the townland of said name that straddles both sides of the club borders.

POTH, what years was the combination in existence?