Our man Frank on how Boyzone (plus one) have acquired a football club across the water; Celebrating a famous victory for Creggs RFC; And why he enjoys the daily (and weekly) newspapers so much….
It’s Sunday evening in the Sportsground in Galway, and there are a couple of minutes to go in the Connacht Junior League final, Creggs leading by a very slender three points.
The Connemara All Blacks are literally pounding our line, and according to the commentator on Galway Bay FM, they go through an extraordinary 38 phases before our lads turn over the ball, kick it off the field, and hear the referee blow the final whistle. I won’t try to explain what a ‘phase’ in rugby is, but normally you would hear of teams going through 10 or 12 – to go through 38 is simply mind-boggling, and to keep them out is even more so. The final whistle brought an end to the most pulsating game of rugby I have ever seen.
The strain on all of our hearts must have been severe – I have no doubt that if I didn’t have the support of five stents and my top of the range (so they told me) pacemaker, I would hardly have survived, such was the level of excitement that the game produced. I have no doubt that there will be a full report on the game itself in the sports pages, but I must just say that in the 50 years since the club was founded, while there have been many fantastic days and many fantastic wins, this one far surpassed them all.
Even the most fervent of our huge crowd of supporters must have felt the game was gone when we twice fell 12 points behind during the second half, in which we played against the wind and against a relentless, powerful All Black side. But we shouldn’t have doubted our lads. From somewhere, they summoned the courage, spirit, and resilience to turn the game on its head, and to ultimately break the hearts of the Connemara men.
As I said, I am not doing an actual report on the game, but it was brilliant to see three club stalwarts finally get a winner’s league medal – all three of them, who have soldiered with Creggs for many years, missed out on last year’s success for various reasons, so to see Tom Callaghan, James Brandon and Maurice Buckley finally get their hands on a league medal was hugely satisfying.
As is customary in Creggs, the team bus was welcomed back (after a pit-stop in Jimmy Screene’s) by a large crowd of well-wishers and numerous hastily-lit bonfires. Afterwards, everyone adjourned to the two local pubs to celebrate the win, and I have to say it was one of the best atmospheres I have ever witnessed in the village.
As I write this on Monday afternoon, there is a possibility that the seconds’ league final against Galwegians might be on this Sunday, and as they are also in the cup competition, hopefully we will have more buses, more bonfires, and more celebrations to come!
On a slightly critical note, I fail to see why the large car park beside the Sportsground couldn’t have been opened. I met some of our supporters who had huge difficulty in getting parked. Thankfully I went early and managed to get parked in the grounds of the Huntsman Inn.
Also, I don’t understand why the main stand in the ground stays closed for these junior finals. As a result, all the followers from both sides are together on the other side.
And finally, having no printed programme on the day was, in my opinion, poor form. I am aware that you could get the teams on your phone, but a lot of us older folk are not great on the Internet, and consequently I didn’t know the names of some members of the opposition. We have met them so often recently that I would know a few of them, but I would still have liked to have something tangible to read off. As well as that, it would be nice to have a souvenir programme, as it’s not every day that a club gets to either a cup or league final.
However, those were only very minor irritations. They didn’t impact on my absolute feeling of delight as the final whistle went, meaning for the second year in a row we were Connacht League champions.
Well done to everyone involved in the team, especially head coach Kolo and captain Brian Diffley. Ye have made an old man (and several more) very happy!
All That They Need: Boyzone (plus one) enter football club ownership game!
A couple of years ago, two well-known actors from America, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (maybe not that well-known, as I never heard of McElhenney) bought a struggling football club in Wales, namely Wrexham. They immediately transformed its fortunes.
By investing in new players, including Ireland’s James McClean, everything about Wrexham has been hugely improved – and because of the profile of its owners, and a documentary series they are doing on Disney+ called, ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, interest in the club has exploded, and attendances have risen dramatically.
This week it emerged that three members of Boyzone, Ronan Keating, Shane Lynch and Keith Duffy – along with former Westlife singer Brian McFadden – have followed suit, and bought a club in Lancashire called Chorley Football Club.
Whereas Wrexham were an established league club with a big following and a great stadium, the Boyzone lads (plus one) have bought a club in the sixth tier of English football, a non-league club with a following of just a couple of thousand.
The boys are hoping to help the club get into the big league, which will definitely take a lot of time. Now, following the example of the American actors, they are filming a documentary about the acquisition. They are also preparing to do a series of live shows, which will be part of their umpteenth reunion since they officially split in 2000. You would wonder which party stands to make most out of the buy-out; Chorley probably need the financial backing that the four lads can provide, but the publicity will hardly damage Boyzone’s planned tour.
It looks like a win-win situation to me, and No Matter What (one of Boyzone’s big hits), I can see both Chorley and Boyzone getting a lot more publicity in the future. What extra benefit will accrue for McFadden I have no idea, but as a season ticket holder at Manchester United, maybe he might find them a player who can actually play!
Why I love the newspapers!
I make no secret of the fact that I love newspapers, and despite all the modern ways of getting news and other content online, I still prefer to get my stories in the traditional way. Most weeks I buy eight daily papers (one every day, two on a Saturday), and pick up a couple of local productions – including, of course, the FREE Roscommon People.
The reason I like the written word so much is the fact that you can see totally diverse stuff on the very same page. The other day on one of the national editions, we had the fantastic news for one family that they had collected their €14.5 million lotto jackpot. Good luck to them – they will now experience a level of financial comfort and security that most of us can only dream about.
However, immediately below that good news story was one that would cause great concern to everyone in this modern day and age – apparently more than 40% of parents (that’s more than 4 in 10, if your maths isn’t great) are skipping meals so their children have enough to eat.
As well as cutting down on food for themselves, they are also cutting back on essentials like clothing, electricity, and heat, in order to ensure there is enough food on the table. Research by Barnardos and Aldi found that the cost of living crisis still lives on, and their Chief Executive, Suzanne Connolly, says the results in the survey reflect what they see on the ground every day.
One-parent families are often struggling; one mother said she has no money left by Monday, and in order to ensure her 14-year-old son gets fed regularly, she herself eats only toast on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday until she gets her social welfare payment on Thursday.
So there you have it – on the same page of a daily paper, one family who will never again have to worry about where anything will come from, and another one who has no idea where the next proper meal will come from. It doesn’t seem fair, but the fact that 85% of the world’s wealth is held by 10% of the population doesn’t either, and despite all the charities and helping organisations out there, the fact remains that that’s the way it is and that’s the way it always will be.
The good news is that as long as we have papers, we will be kept up to date with everything, good or bad, and we will at least know what is going on.
And finally…
There will be a Monster Auction in the school hall in Creggs on this Sunday, March 10th, with many bargains on the day.
You can view stuff from 12 midday and the auction itself will kick off at 1 pm. The whole event is in aid of the local school, and if you wish to donate anything towards the auction, you can contact 090 662 1303. As I’ve said before, Creggs NS is one of the best and most progressive schools in the country, so your support will be greatly appreciated.
