This article is from page 71 of the 2011-07-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 71 JPG
THE Clare District Soccer League will mark its 50th anniversary next year by holding an end of season awards night.
Honours for the best player, best team and manager of the season could be up for grabs at the event, which was announced yesterday by CDSL secretary Oliver Fitzpatrick. The announcement coincides with a call by Shannon Olympic football club for an end of season awards ceremony.
In a motion submitted to last night’s league AGM, the Premier league side stated, “at the end of each season the League holds a social event to celebrate the season just past and present awards for outstanding achievement of various forms such as; player of the year for each league, manager of the year for each league, team of the year, top scorers in each league etc”
Depending on the success of next year’s awards, Fitzpatrick explained, the ceremony might become an annual event.
The announcement forms part of Fitzpatrick’s end of year report, which also outlines the league’s priorities for next season. This includes the further development of the County Grounds in Doora.
Fitzpatrick explains, “As mentioned at previous meetings we have planning permission for lights at the County Grounds and its one of my priorities for next season to ensure that we press ahead with this project”.
The report continues, “However we will need to get a loan for this project and as most people are aware its harder and harder these days to get money off the banks so the League cannot afford any drop in our income for the next few years or we will not be able to complete this work or any other further development work at our County Grounds.
“Our aim is to have our grounds up to League of Ireland standard in the future but this will require continuous investment to complete”.
Fitzpatrick also highlighted Clare’s success in reaching the semi-final of the Inter League Youths Cup for the first time since 1971.
The report states, “A management team of Mike Moloney, Gary Seery and Eoin McNulty were put in place at the start of the season and they set about putting together our best squad of players for many years. In the semi-final we were drawn away to Kilkenny and despite a great comeback from being 2 goals down to level the match we lost out on a 3-2 score line. On behalf of the League again I thank the players and management for their efforts throughout the season”.
Fitzpatrick also paid tribute to league officials including outgoing Chairman Paul Tuohy, coaches, FAI development officer Denis Hynes and all clubs who contributed to the success of the recent FAI festival of football.