Category: Sport

THEY came from near and far. Dubai and Dublin to the east, Cavan to the north, Kilkenny to the south east, but above they came from the south west country of Tuscon in Arizona.

It’s where Pat Kirby is exiled, even if his mind never strays to far away from Tuamgraney and what it gave him. It’s no wonder, because he says “Tuamgraney and handball gave me so much”.

Irish titles, world titles, American, Canadian titles and much more – the reason why the great and the good of Irish handball came out to honour his achievements on Saturday evening as Tuamgraney Handball Club marked its centenary.

“I never thought ever in my lifetime that something like this would occur,” says Kirby. “When the Tulla Pipe Band was marching up from the church, I was shivering. ‘What am I going to say’. There’s no words to describe words like this.

“It’s 70 years since I first put a foot in that alley down there. All up through those years that I can recall there has always been a great tradition of keeping the club moving. On a Sunday morning when I was five, six and seven years of age, I go down to that court after mass.

“Four players would put six pence each in the corner – that was two bob and play for that two bob. The winners could go to a dance in Scariff or Killaloe that night – the losers were broke and could go no where.

“Anytime the ball would go over the wall we could go in and fetch it. We were like the little dogs. It was a wonderful apprenticeship. We watched them and then tried to emulate what they were doing in the evening when we got our chance to get on the court.”

It was Kirby’s success in the AllIreland junior singles in 1957 that ushered in a new era for Tuamgraney and Clare handball – an era that lasts to the present day as club continues to churn out All-Ireland and world champions.

“We have a very dynamic club here,” says Kirby. “Tuamgraney has always been a great club and the memories come back – you start thinking of all the old guys who have gone ahead of you. All the great brothers. Tuamgraney was infested by brothers when I was a kid. You had the Tuohy brothers, the Noonans, the Ryans. There were always five or six brothers in the families.

“When I started playing on the 60 x 30 court it had three walls. The two sides walls, the front wall and that was it. A line at the back designated the length of the court. I remember games in the ‘40s when the ball would bounce inside the endline and go back another 15 feet into the grass and the guys would be hitting from that distance. In 1952 they put the back wall in and made four walls out of it.

“Handball afforded me the oppor- tunity to play all over the world. I saw the whole world because of handball. I played in the Hawain Islands, Anchorage Alaska, Melbourne, Sydney, all of Canada from end to end, all of America from end to end.

“There were great characters along the way. Muhammad Ali. I had breakfast with him – all through handball. I sat on John Wayne’s knee – all through handball. I loved every bit of it. Made great friendships, great fraternities. It’s been great.”

Clare 2-15 – Limerick 2-13 at Cusack Park, Ennis

WINNING Munster finals is a habit that Clare are quickly getting used to after their second historic achievement in only three days. Following the minors retention of their provincial crown, Clare’s second side maintained that form by capturing a first ever Munster intermediate crown in front of a sizeable home support.

It may not have been the swashbuckling display of their underage counterparts in Pairc Uí Chaoimh the previous weekend but Clare were still deserved victors over their neighbours, having led for the majority of the tie and only falling behind once and that for a matter of seconds midway through the opening half.

Essentially, Kevin Kennedy’s side had the better balance on the evening, with the county senior experience of Niall Gilligan, captain Tony Carmody and Declan O’Rourke perfectly complementing the undoubtedly potential of Patrick Kelly, John Fennessy, Andrew Fahey, Kevin Moynihan, Shane Golden, and Daire Keane who would end the day as the side’s top scorer from play with 1-2.

Kelly was outstanding at full-back as was Fennessy outside him while Gilligan provided cool leadership and scorers when the game threatened to turn against them in the second half. That melting pot of talent was just enough to hold off a stubborn Limerick side that had they taken their chances in the second half, could have stole victory.

It was Clare that were the wasteful side in the opening half however with the wind at their backs, hitting nine first half wides that hampered their progress of building on their 1-4 to 0-2 advantage by the 12th minute. Carmody, O’Rourke and Gilligan utilised their experience to good effect in pushing the home side clear but it was 1-1 from Under 21 Daire Keane that really got Clare motoring as he fielded a puck-out to drive at the Limerick defence before billowing the net in the 12th minute.

A rout appeared on the cards at this stage but in the move of the game, Limerick pulled back corner-forward Tommy Quaid as a sweeper which had a two-fold effect. It allowed the Limerick forwards more space up front while also hindering Clare at the other end and it had an almost immediate impact as Michael Ryan thrived on the space to pick off a 18th minute goal.

The Murroe/Boher player followed up with a point to equalise while Tommy Quaid himself put Limerick into the lead for the first time in the 21st minute with an impressive point from the left wing.

With Clare’s defence fragmented, Clare were fortunate to go in level at half-time after a brace of Gilligan frees and they used the break to regroup and re-arm as they came out with all guns blazing for the second half. Gilligan, now on the forty, swapped points with Conor Allis but Clare finally pushed clear once more when Tony Carmody picked out the run of Ronan Keane who took the score of the game when finding the top corner of the net to give his side a 2-7 to 1-7 lead.

That goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Limerick as Gilligan extended Clare’s advantage with a further brace of points by the turn of the final quarter.

However, Clare didn’t kill off the game and it had to take a Patrick Kelly clearance off the line to maintain their cushion. Two points from substitute Padraig Hickey along with another Gilligan point kept Limerick’s recovery at bay with points of their own through Seanie O’Brien (2) and Niall Maher.

Clare’s full-back line were finding themselves increasingly under pressure but through Kelly, Fahey and Fennessy, they managed to hold out. Late points from Ronan Keane, Daire Keane and O’Rourke appeared to have quenched the Limerick flames but the gloss was taken off the victory with a last gasp goal from Niall Maher.

It wasn’t enough to spoil the party but leaves Clare with plenty of room for improvement ahead of their AllIreland semi-final against Galway on August 13.

Clare

Sixmilebridge 4-11 – Kilmaley 2-13 at Gurteen

LAST YEAR’S Junior B champions Sixmilebridge seamlessly made the step up to the next grade when overcoming Kilmaley in windy Gurteen on Saturday.

Kilmaley enjoyed the better of the opening moments scoring 1-1 with the goal coming from Patrick Sexton as the ‘Bridge took a while to settle.

Further scores from Paul Kennedy (2) and Jason Pyne with only a brace of Ronan O’Shea points in reply saw Kilmaley go into a 1-4 to 0-2 lead after the first quarter.

This seemed to ignite Sixmilebridge who were pilling on the pressure and got the reward when they won a 20 metre free that Ronan O’Shea converted to the net to bring his side back into the game.

Two scores in quick succession from Donald Devanney and John Mulready leveled matters before another goal chance came their way.

Again it was O’Shea who saw his powerful shot saved by a combination of Brian O’Loughlin and the crossbar as the ball rebounded into the path of Declan Murphy.

The Kilmaley net minder made a good stop to deny Murphy before unfortunately for O’Loughlin and his side, Eanna Burns was on hand to hit the ball to the net.

This gave the ‘Bridge the lead for the first time in the match and they were to hold a two point lead at the break, 2-6 to 1-7, as both sides traded scores in the last ten minutes of the half.

The seesaw nature of the game continued when immediately on the restart, Danny Cabey shot from 40 yards went all the way to the net. Remarkably on the next attack, the green flag was raised again, this time down the other end of the pitch as Ronan O’Shea’s shot was adjudged to have crossed the line.

Kilmaley inevitably fought back and ‘Bridge goalkeeper Gerry O’Halloran made a couple of outstanding saves to deny the Kilmaley second string during this period.

The games most important score came midway through the second half when O’Shea completed his hattrick with another free to give his side a four point lead.

Kilmaley were given some hope when Paul Kennedy and Danny Cabey sent over points to reduce the gap to three with less than five minutes remaining.

However, Sixmilebridge finished the stronger with two scores from O’Shea as all Kilmaley could muster was a free from Jason Pyne as the Bridge held on for a well deserved four point win.

Sixmilebridge
Gerry O’Halloran; Evan McInerney, Brian O’Loughlin, Jason Murphy; Jonathan Hayes, Barry Deasy, Daniel Collins (Capt); Brian Carey, Donald Devanney (0-1); Shane Devanney (0-1), Declan Murphy, Eanna Burns (1-1); Ronan O’Shea (3-6; 2-2f, 0-1‘65), John Mulready (0-1), Darragh O’Connor (0-1)

Subs
Eoin Hogan for S.Devanney, Mark McInerney for Deasy, Joe O’Halloran for Mulready

Kilmaley
Bryan O’Loughlin; Shane Lynch, BrendanTalty, Stephen Griffey; Gerard Commane (0-1,‘65), Michael Pyne, Enda Finnucane; Kevin McNamara, Danny Cabey (1-1); Cillian McNamara (0-1), Ronan Pyne, Barry Lynch (0-1); Jason Pyne (0-2 1f), Patrick Sexton (1-1), Paul Kennedy (0-6 4f)

Sub
Shane Culligan for B.Lynch.

Man of the Match
Ronan O’Shea (Sixmilebridge) Referee Seanie McMahon (Newmarket-on-Fergus)

Other Junior Hurling
Championship Results Junior A Championship Round 1 Group 1 O’Callaghan’s Mills 3-8 Éíre Óg 0-3 Cratloe 2-18 Corofin 0-09 Group 2 Clooney/Quin 1-11Whitegate 2-06 Newmarket-on-Fergus 1-14 Inagh/Kilnamona 1-07 St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield a bye Junior B Championship Round 1 Group 1 Clonlara 1-18 Smith O’Brien’s 0-06 Broadford 2-11 Ballyea 0-08 Group 2 Crusheen 1-12 Killanena 0-05 Group 3 Kilmaley 0-10 Éire Óg 1-04 Tulla 3-7Tulla 1-4 Group 4 Tubber 3-16 Inagh/Kilnamona 0-07 WolfeTones 2-07 Clooney/Quin 1-10 Junior C Championship Round 1 O’Callaghan’s Mills 2-12 Ogonnelloe 1-06 Feakle 3-8 Parteen 1-7 Banner received a walkover fromClonlara

Clooney/Quin 1-19 – Clarecastle 2-11 at Páirc Uí hAonghusa, Clooney

MEANINGLESS IN terms of advancement or relegation to the home side but it mattered to Clarecastle who may yet be dragged back into the relegation mix if Wolfe Tones win their remaining game on Wednesday. In the end, it was two purple patches that secured victory as they bounced back from an early three point deficit to hit eight points without reply in a nine minute period midway through the half on their way to a 0-11 to 0-04 half-time lead.

And with Tyrone Kearse and Jonathan Clancy leading the comeback rally for the Magpies on the restart, when grabbing five out of the first seven points, a 43rd minute Adrian Fleming opportunistic goal put the skids on the visitors fightback and initiated another scoring spree of four successive points to lead by 11 by the 52nd minute.

Clarecastle did rally with goals from substitute Sean Talty and a Kearse 20 metre free but the damage was already done as Clooney/Quin finished the league on a positive note while the Magpies will have to sweat it out until Wednesday at least.

Clooney/ Quin
Damien O’Halloran, Joe O’Loughlin, Conor Harrison, Shane McNamara, Donnacha Murphy, Cillian Duggan, Enda Harrison, Mike McNamara, Padraig Ward (0-8 6f), Seamus Conroy (0-1), Sean Conheady (0-2), Martin Duggan (0-1), Mike Daffy (0-3),Adrian Fleming (1-0), Daire Hannon (0-3)

Subs

Ruairi McNamara (0-1) for Hannon, Ger Leamy for M. Duggan,Tony McMahon for E. Harrison

Clarecastle
Donnagh Murphy, Seanie Moloney, Patrick Kelly, Garrett Barry, Danny Scanlon, Eric Flynn, Garry Farmer,Tyrone Kearse (1-4 1-3f), Jonathan Clancy (0-4), Derek Quinn (0-1), Kieran O’Dwyer (0-1), Fearghus Ryan, Jamie O’Connor,Alan O’Loughlin, Niall Dunne

Subs
Aaron Considine for Ryan (Inj), David Green for O’Loughlin, Eamon Callinan (0-1) for O’Connor, SeanTalty (1-0) for Dunne,Andrew Page for Farmer

Referee
Ger Hoey (Killanena)

WITH FOUR games down for decision in Division 2A on Tuesday evening, the final placings are yet to be sorted but what is certain is that Clonlara and Cratloe will bounce back to the top tier at the first time of asking.

Both teams are tied on 12 points at the summit, albeit that Clonlara have a game against Corofin in hand to see who will top the table and compete in the latter stages of the competition.

That outstanding tie is just as important at the rear of the table as Corofin simply need the points to have any chance of avoiding the drop. Their relegation rivals will play Clonlara on Tuesday while Scariff, the third side embroiled in the struggle at the bottom can secure their Division 2A status with a victory over Corofin this Friday.

It was tighter than a submarine door in Division 2B of the Clare Cup as Kilmaley, Éire Óg and Ruan fought it out for two promotion spots.

First up was the meeting of Sixmilebridge and Ruan on Thursday night in atrocious conditions in O’Garney Park, with the visitors running out 39 to 1-10 victors. 24 hours later the focus of attention switched to Kilmaley in a derby against Éire Óg.

The home side were already promoted due to their far superior score difference while the Townies knew only a win would seal their promotion and condemn Ruan to another season in the division.

That hunger drove the visitors to a 1-13 to 1-04 half-time advantage including a Thomas Downes goal but it was still far from over as the home side inevitably slashed away at the deficit and by the hour mark, only the bare minimum separated the sides much to the anxiety of both sets of supporters as well as the Ruan following who were hoping for a draw or Kilmaley win to see them advance to the next tier. However, while Kilmaley threw everything at them in additional time, Éire Óg, backboned by the solid half-back line of Kevin Moynihan, Fergus Flynn and Tadgh MacNamara held out for the narrowest of victories and of course promotion on scoring difference.

The race to avoid relegation from Division 2B however is still up in the air as three sides fight to avoid the drop alongside Ogonnelloe. Ennistymon take on Bodyke on Tuesday with the winner guaranteed safety while the loser will hope that Killanena don’t get anything from their final game against Parteen in order to survive as well.

In the intermediate league, it was reported last week in this column that the top two teams in the division would qualify for the final but the league has been altered this year to include semi-finals, with Inagh/Kilnamona, Crusheen and Newmarket safely through ahead of their final game on Monday evening while anyone of Éire Óg, Meelick, Clooney/ Quin or Clarecastle could snatch the

DESPITE NOT winning a championship game under his watch, history will in time reflect very favourably on Ger O’Loughlin’s two year reign as Clare senior hurling manager. The Sparrow resigned on Wednesday following his side’s comprehensive championship exit at the hands of neighbours Galway, their fourth straight championship defeat, with inexperience highlighted as the main source of defeat.

From the outset of his managerial appointment in December 2009, O’Loughlin’s commitment to blooding youth and building for the future was admirable. However, while he may have originally planned to gradually introduce the All-Ireland Under 21 winning panel to top flight hurling, his hand was forced somewhat by the retirements of Niall Gillian, Tony Carmody and Tony Griffin and subsequently Gerry O’Grady to injury later in the year. Those four players along with Jonathan Clancy, Diarmuid McMahon, Brian O’Connell, Pat Vaughan, Brendan Bugler, Patrick Donnellan and Alan Markham would have provided an experienced core for O’Loughlin to build his new side upon, with a sprinkling of younger talent complimenting that experience.

It was not to be however and instead, the Sparrow was forced to concentrate on building a completely new look side around the Under 21’s that would be capable of competing for top honours in a projected timeline of 3-4 years. In his first championship game in charge against Waterford, O’Loughlin entered unprecedented territory by handing debuts to nine players and it almost paid dividends while three more were given their first championship outings in 2011.

However, while the Sparrow’s foresight and courage was to be commended, the short term results didn’t reflect kindly on Clare who failed to achieve their primary goal of emerging from Division 2 of the National League. Had they managed to beat Wexford or Limerick in either final, O’Loughlin might have been heartened sufficiently to maintain his long term rebuilding plan but having to face a third year in the basement of Division 2 was too much.

Small margins derailed Clare’s cause to an extent as had they won either league final, it may have been the big breakthrough this young squad so badly needed in terms of confidence and development. In turn, they would have also boosted Clare’s championship campaigns that in both years saw very encouraging signs for the future in their Munster openers against perennial superpowers Waterford and Tipperary, only to sour the subsequent summers with sub- standard displays against Dublin and Galway in the All-Ireland series.

There is no denying that inexperience was the main issue but O’Loughlin simply had no option but to stick to his convictions and put all his faith in his young charges. In 2010, Clare lost to Waterford by 0-22 to 1-15, using 19 players with a combined total of 165 championship games behind them, averaging nine games experience for each player (including a late cameo for Alan Markham who alone made up over a quarter of those appearances at 45 games). All the more admirable when you consider that nine of those 19 were playing in their first senior championship game while also fac- ing a Waterford side with 520 games experience, an average of 26 games each. A game later, a young Dublin side had almost twice Clare’s experience at 270 games or 14 games for each player.

This year, with no Markham or Brian O’Connell (emigrated), O’Loughlin handed out two more debuts to Cratloe duo Conor McGrath and Cathal McInerney and took on All-Ireland champions Tipperary head on, with only 124 championship games under their belts as compared to the Premier’s 374, with Brendan Cummins and Eoin Kelly having almost as much championship experience as the entire 18 man Clare side that day. Finally Galway went back to their roots and had a combined total of 312 championship games experience that proved too much for Clare.

There is still some naivety and greenness to be knocked off them while the squad seemingly learned very little defensively from their Division 2 campaign. When a team is conceding 2-17 to Westmeath, 1-18 to Kerry and 3-16 to Laois, it is almost impossible to expect them to hold out All-Ireland champions Tipperary who devastatingly put seven goals past Waterford in Sunday’s Munster final, or against Galway who also showed their firepower against Cork on Saturday.

There was a hint of Ger O’Loughlin’s impending resignation immediately after the 17 point defeat to Galway just over a week ago when he reflected on his time as manager but also reckoning that the squad weren’t that far away from making the breakthrough.

“When I went in, after a couple of weeks, I knew that we were starting off from a very low base with regard to experienced players and we have had to start from scratch but I think we have made progress even though the results are poor.

“I think we actually have a nucleus built up to go forward but we need that injection again of five or six, 18, 19 and 20 year olds over the next year or two. But Clare will win something I think in the next three years. It might take three years but I think they’ll win something.”

They may yet prove to be very prophetic words indeed in light of Clare’s second successive Munster minor title victory on Sunday. The ingredients are there, the future is indeed bright and it will be noted that The Sparrow sowed the seeds by blooding the 2009 Under 21 panel. It’s now up to the new manager to nurture those crops further in the hope of reaping a blossoming future harvest.

THERE WAS much to savour for what was a truly historic occasion in Pairc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday as two memorable performances lit up Munster hurling’s flagship day. Tipperary undoubted stole the headlines for their seven goal senior demolition of defending champions Waterford while beforehand, Clare carved out their own piece of history by putting Waterford to the sword for the second successive decider.

In fact, Clare’s display was every bit as commanding as Tipperary’s, only that the Premier had a greater and more ruthless eye for goal. The five point winning margin simply didn’t do justice to the quality, hardworking and mature display of Clare who strolled to a 13 point advantage by the turn of the final quarter with Waterford unable to live with them.

That they didn’t complete the rout and pour even more misery on the Deise support was more down to the fact that Clare tired rather than Waterford sparkled. With the engine room of captain Tony Kelly and Colm Galvin in real danger of missing out on playing in their second successive Munster final, the fact that they started and essentially pulled the strings along with Cathal O’Connell and Jamie Shanahan in the centre for Clare once more, were central to Clare’s success. However, as the central pair inevitably tired, so too did Clare’s dominance around the middle and Waterford punished with a late rally of 2-2 that merely grazed a touch of gloss off Clare’s historic victory.

The real measure of the contest is emphasised by the fact that Clare got 21 scores to Waterford’s 12 and that nine point margin would be a better reflection of the game.

At times, Clare were outstanding and it was refreshing to see a Clare team so comfortable and at ease in the heightened surrounds of Pairc Uí Chaoimh. The serial stars like the quartet already mentioned put in another massive hour, particularly Tots O’Connell who was at the centre of everything good for Clare. However, nearly every player stepped up their game another level from the Tipperary game which is a real sign of a quality side. Goalkeeper Eibhear Quilligan pulled off two super saves in the final quarter; Jack Browne and Seadna Morey were inspired, particularly in a superb opening 20 minute spell; the wing backs were courageous and attack minded while Peter Duggan, Shane O’Donnell, Oisin Hickey and Aaron Cunningham had plenty of ingenuity and endeavour without putting up huge personal totals on the scoreboard.

Now don’t get me wrong, it isn’t all gushing pats on the back as there is plenty for Donal Moloney, Gerry O’Connor and Co to work on for the All-Ireland semi-final in a month’s time. And in that regard, in the greater scheme of things it’s probably no harm that Clare didn’t ruthlessly take all of their many goalscoring chances and win by a cricket score because at least the goals they missed at one end and conceded at the other will give them something to work on in the coming weeks.

Much of the credit though must go to the management team in all it’s various guises as it was abundantly clear even from the warm-up that this was a supremely well drilled squad that possessed a huge work ethic and understanding.

The opening 20 minutes was champagne stuff as Clare built up a 0-12 to 1-03 at their ease, with Cathal O’Connell’s unerring freetaking along with eycatching points from Peter Duggan, Aaron Cunningham, Jarleth Colleran, Jamie Shanahan, Tony Kelly and Colm Galvin.

They also deserved a goal in the 13th minute when Seadna Morey burst out of defence before offloading to Oisin Hickey who outpaced his marker only to see the resulting shot stopped by goalkeeper Paddy Cooke. Even the concession of a goal two minutes later in a rare Waterford attack, through the hard work of 15 year old Stephen Bennett who set up Adam O’Sullivan for the finish, couldn’t derail Clare who simply brushed off that set-back with another five points in a row on their way to a double scores 0-14 to 1-04 halftime advantage.

Within 30 seconds of the restart, Clare should have been further ahead after good work from Duggan and Galvin that got Hickey on the ball but perhaps he should have passed to the unmarked Shane O’Donnell instead of attempting a shot from an acute angle that was pushed away by the goalkeeper. The Meelick man quickly made up for it only two min- utes later however as Jamie Shanahan sent an inch perfect pass over the top for him to chase, gather and bury to the net to finish the game as a contest. With that, the pace eased off some- what, the game opened up and there were chances at either end for goals. Shane O’Donnell had two bites of the cherry denied while down the other end, Quilligan was forced to make a full-length acrobatic stop to deny

WEEK 7 of the ITRA Tag Rugby League resulted in Division 1 being closer than ever with current leaders Tag Her & Try Her being beaten by a renewed team of Lucas’ Legends. Tag Her & Try Her were never really a threat to the Legends and the game finished 7-2 in favour of Lucas’ Legends, a win they badly needed.

In second place on the Divison 1 League Table was Deep Heat who were looking to gain some extra points to catch Tag Her & Try Her. However Scrum N Coke proved stiff competition. The game was tied 0-0 at half time before Deep Heat had a quick succession of tries giving them a lead of 5-1. Mary O’Connor for Scrum N Coke got a majestic try to bring her team within one point and a last minute try saw the teams level at the final whistle with 5 points a piece.

Elsewhere, MurtysMen had too much for The Try Hards and their fast paced game saw them getting 12 tries to The Try Hards 3. The game finished up 12 points to 9 in MurtysMen favour, giving them their first win of this division.

In Division 2 Ennis Randomers finally got their first win of the season defeating DBOCS. The Randomers looked like winners from the off and certainly grew in confidence as the match progressed and the scores increased. The game ended with Ennis Randomers on 14 and DBOCS on 3.

First place, The Shades took on second place, On Wing With Prayer in what was being pipped as the Division 2 decider. On Wing With Prayer fought hard and fast and took the game 18 points to the Shades 9. Meanwhile Munstergroup and TTM Tryers faced off with both teams wanting to build on their wins from last week. TTM were the better team and won the match by a convincing 13 points to 4.

The competition now goes into the final week of the league with all teams eager to give one last push before finals night.

Week 7 Results
Division 1 TheTry Hards 9 – 12 MurtysMen Tag Her &Try Her 2- 7 Lucas’ Legends Deep Heat 5 – 5 ScrumN Coke

Division 2
Munstergroup 4 – 13 TTMTryers Ennis Randomers 14 – 3 DBOCS The Shades 9 – 18 OnWing With Prayer

AN Ennis man who is bringing the stars of world soccer to Ireland at the end of the month says he is proud that Clare is hosting the FAI’s Festival of Football.

Damien O’Brien, who is originally from McNamara Park in the Turnpike area of Ennis, will return home later this week to promote the Dublin Super Cup.

O’Brien’s Iconic company, in association with Endemol Sport has signed a 10 year deal partnership with the FAI to bring world class soccer teams to the Aviva Stadium.

The inaugural event takes place in Dublin on July 30-31 when the stars of Inter Milan, Celtic, an Eirtricity League X1 and Manchester City, clash in a pre-season tournament.

A student from Kilmaley National School will lead out one of the teams on the first day of games. O’Brien explains, “My parents are back living in Inch. Kilmaley national school were doing a fundraiser so we gave a prize that one of the kids could be a mascot for one of the teams. The tournament will be screened to something like 150 territories around the world, everywhere under the sun”.

The tournament represents O’Brien’s latest venture in the world of high level sports promotion. Five years ago he devised the format for Football’s Next Star – a reality TV show that offers young footballers the chance to earn a professional contract with clubs such as Inter Milan and Chelsea. In 2009, Tulla United teenager Sunny Jay qualified for the final 40 of the competition.

O’Brien says the competition has helped young Irish footballers secure professional contracts with clubs in England. He adds, “We’ve had three Irish boys finish in the top four. We’re coming to Ireland next year with it. It’s gone global. We have shows in the US, China, Africa. The kid who won the competition in the first year is now captain of the Chelsea reserves…Its for kids that maybe have slipped though the net”.

Through Iconic, the 38 year old is also involved in sponsoring the FAI’s Emerging Talent Programme.

A former pupil of Ennis National School, O’Brien played schoolboys soccer with Turnpike Rovers. He moved to London after studying at St Flannan’s College and became involved in sports promotion through an association with Chelsea FC. He says he is looking forward to coming to Clare for the Festival of Soccer.

EVENTS WILL take place throughout the week as Clare becomes the soccer capital of Ireland. The FAI road show began yesterday with visits to Connolly Celtic, Corofin Harps, Moher Celtic, Burren Utd and Sporting Ennistymon.

Under the FAI’s grant scheme, 26 Clare clubs will recevie funding as follows: St Pats AFC (€ 3000); Corfin Harps (€ 2000); Connolly Celtic (€ 3000); Tulla United (€ 10,000); Hermitage FC (€ 1000); Bridge Celtic (€ 1000 and training equip ment); Mountshannon Celtic(€ 1000 and training equipment); Bunratty (€ 2500); Lifford AFC (€ 2250); Kilrush Rangers (€ 1250); Burren United (€ 3250); Bridge United (€ 3250); Lough Derg (€ 5000); Rhine Rovers (€ 1000 and training equipment); Newmarket Celtic (€ 3250); Sporting Ennistymon (€ 1000 and goal posts) Avenue United (€ 2250); Park United (€ 1000); Kilmaley Fern Celtic (€ 3250); Coole Park (small side goals); Shannon Olympic (€ 2250); Moher Celtic (€ 1250); Moneypoint (€ 3250); Ennis Town FC (€ 2000 and small sided goals); Shannon Hibernian (€ 3250 and small sided goals). The Clare schoolboys soccer league is to receive 10 sets of small sided goals plus coaching education concessions while the Clare DSoccer League has been granted € 10,000.

AGM.

Mayor of Clare Pay Hayes (FF) said, “This injection of funds will provide a huge boost to the continued development of the game in County Clare.