THE OLD PITCH at St Patrick’s Park, home of Tempo Maguires, wasn’t without its interesting quirks and oddities.
Built in the mid-50s through back-breaking stone collecting, ploughing and seeding, it was a home, at last, for a club that played in various whin bush-pockmarked venues around the parish. Soft furnishings could be added later.
Visiting teams to the ground would be struck by how nice and tight the pitch was. It was also miles off the square. As you played towards the dressing room down the right flank of the pitch, the angle opened up considerably.
And so it follows that shooting from the left-hand side brought an acute angle.
Even with this knowledge, it still didn’t prevent me from ballooning dozens of shots wide while growing up playing for Tempo.
But time moves on. Nowadays, club pitches and grounds are guarded and protected. Carpet surfaces produced through turf science and a level of investment that would have been unthinkable even a decade ago.
In the 90s, they were just another area where people could roam or juveniles could play, act the maggot, talk or, occasionally, scrap.
I can recall a summer evening spent up at the pitch as a young teenager where a poor soul drank a full three-litre bottle of cider before damn near filling the same bottle up to the brim with his pee soon afterwards.
In 2003, the pitch was redone having acquired some of the surrounding land. A stand was erected. Then the old ‘camogie field’ was revamped into a training ground. A gym was added. And now floodlights have been put up.
To mark the occasion, Fermanagh are going to play Monaghan on 18 January. There will be no cover charge, but people are invited to make donations to the Air Ambulance charity.
Yes indeed, the Tempo Nation have truly arrived to take our place among the great tribes of the world, now that we have floodlights.
You’d wonder what the Ulster Council make of these series of challenge matches, with bumper crowds curious for a gawk at the new rules and interest high enough to livestream games.
What do we think of when we think of the Dr McKenna Cup? Or for that matter the McGrath, O’Byrne, Walsh, Kehoe, Waterford Crystal and whatever else acted as a pre-season competition now that they have been temporarily euthanised?
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The backlash against the GPA – the main drivers of parking these competitions – has been sustained and widespread. Their logic and their terminology in making November a ‘no contact’ month for players, was dubious to start with, laughable in light of practically every county squad being back in heavy training from November, and some in October.
For the Fourth Estate, it’s too tempting to observe these fish getting shot in a barrel. The temptation has overcome many who have also taken up arms, bolstered by a few comments by Ulster Council CEO Brian McAvoy in his annual report that lets you know he hardly needs any more salt for his bag of chips.
“The GPA issued a strong statement highlighting that November should be ‘a zero contact’ month,” McAvoy, well, thundered.
“If even a fraction of the reports of inter-county collective training sessions taking place in November are true… [what] did the GPA say or do during this time to call this out? I’m not sure if they did or said anything. It seems as if they were true to their word and had ‘zero contact’ with their members on the issue during this time.”
Juicy! Spicy!
The pre-season competitions occupied a perfect spot in the calendar.
For the spectators, it was a shortcut to post-Christmas flagellation. Blowing off the cobwebs. The equivalent of mountain-climbing and a monthly gym subscription. Dry January made flesh and bone.
In terms of who it did more benefit for, it’s a toss-up between young hopefuls taking their first steps in the intercounty world, and the GAA media.
The media indulged the pre-season competitions, but there was far more meat to pick off the bones when it came to the Dr McKenna Cup.
And it would all start at pre-Christmas press launch where journalists would hover around the entrances of whatever hotel or venue and practically assail incoming managers and players, harvesting and storing quotes for the winter like the squirrel taking care of nuts.
It was a safe bet that every year we were gifted a controversy to keep the pot boiling. For a few years there was an annual tug-of-war between counties and colleges. The retirement stories. Some bitching about a minor rule change and a black card here and there. New managers, fresh blood, new quotes. Nothing much at stake, good to be back.
What always emerged was the huge appeal of these games among the general public. Everyone cites the 19,631 that turned up to see Armagh and Tyrone in Casement Park (ask your parents) in 2006 in the semi-final.
But there’s been other impressive crowds when a new manager injects adrenalin through a county, such as the crowd in Healy Park in 2012 when Peter Canavan was in charge of Fermanagh, with traffic backed up out of Omagh.
It cannot be denied though, that when it comes to preparing teams, the Dr McKenna Cup has not always been ideal for teams themselves.
The proof of that came when Armagh sent a shadow squad last year to play the opening round against Donegal, while their main team played Dublin in a challenge match.
Finishing as All-Ireland champions automatically decrees that Armagh got that call right.
The early start, often with games in December, meant some teams had no Christmas off, with quite a few training on St Stephen’s Day.
This year, one Ulster county took off the Monday to Friday from training with Christmas Day on the Wednesday.
The way it was left teams having to play three games in a single week. This was a severe strain on teams who were already down players with college commitments, injury and sickness. It led to some sides ‘throwing’ games in the final round rather than suffer morale-damaging defeats in a potential semi-final.
What they are left with is arranged challenge matches one week apart against teams of their own level. That allows for proper training and rest between games.
Still, you can’t help but think that something has been lost with the abolishment of the pre-season tournaments on a trial-year basis. Some consultation with the medical, scientific and welfare committee could surely devise a far better structured competition for all parties.
It’s understood that the chair of the Football Review Committee, Jim Gavin, was flabbergasted at the dropping of the pre-season competitions. Now, more than ever, they were needed to showcase the new rules of Gaelic football to the watching public in a semi-competitive environment before the serious stuff of the National Leagues got underway.
You’d have to imagine they will return in 2026. The arguments against lack credibility.
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The best thing about January needs to return for GAA fans in 2026
THE OLD PITCH at St Patrick’s Park, home of Tempo Maguires, wasn’t without its interesting quirks and oddities.
Built in the mid-50s through back-breaking stone collecting, ploughing and seeding, it was a home, at last, for a club that played in various whin bush-pockmarked venues around the parish. Soft furnishings could be added later.
Visiting teams to the ground would be struck by how nice and tight the pitch was. It was also miles off the square. As you played towards the dressing room down the right flank of the pitch, the angle opened up considerably.
And so it follows that shooting from the left-hand side brought an acute angle.
Even with this knowledge, it still didn’t prevent me from ballooning dozens of shots wide while growing up playing for Tempo.
But time moves on. Nowadays, club pitches and grounds are guarded and protected. Carpet surfaces produced through turf science and a level of investment that would have been unthinkable even a decade ago.
In the 90s, they were just another area where people could roam or juveniles could play, act the maggot, talk or, occasionally, scrap.
I can recall a summer evening spent up at the pitch as a young teenager where a poor soul drank a full three-litre bottle of cider before damn near filling the same bottle up to the brim with his pee soon afterwards.
In 2003, the pitch was redone having acquired some of the surrounding land. A stand was erected. Then the old ‘camogie field’ was revamped into a training ground. A gym was added. And now floodlights have been put up.
To mark the occasion, Fermanagh are going to play Monaghan on 18 January. There will be no cover charge, but people are invited to make donations to the Air Ambulance charity.
You’d wonder what the Ulster Council make of these series of challenge matches, with bumper crowds curious for a gawk at the new rules and interest high enough to livestream games.
What do we think of when we think of the Dr McKenna Cup? Or for that matter the McGrath, O’Byrne, Walsh, Kehoe, Waterford Crystal and whatever else acted as a pre-season competition now that they have been temporarily euthanised?
The backlash against the GPA – the main drivers of parking these competitions – has been sustained and widespread. Their logic and their terminology in making November a ‘no contact’ month for players, was dubious to start with, laughable in light of practically every county squad being back in heavy training from November, and some in October.
For the Fourth Estate, it’s too tempting to observe these fish getting shot in a barrel. The temptation has overcome many who have also taken up arms, bolstered by a few comments by Ulster Council CEO Brian McAvoy in his annual report that lets you know he hardly needs any more salt for his bag of chips.
“The GPA issued a strong statement highlighting that November should be ‘a zero contact’ month,” McAvoy, well, thundered.
“If even a fraction of the reports of inter-county collective training sessions taking place in November are true… [what] did the GPA say or do during this time to call this out? I’m not sure if they did or said anything. It seems as if they were true to their word and had ‘zero contact’ with their members on the issue during this time.”
Juicy! Spicy!
The pre-season competitions occupied a perfect spot in the calendar.
For the spectators, it was a shortcut to post-Christmas flagellation. Blowing off the cobwebs. The equivalent of mountain-climbing and a monthly gym subscription. Dry January made flesh and bone.
In terms of who it did more benefit for, it’s a toss-up between young hopefuls taking their first steps in the intercounty world, and the GAA media.
The media indulged the pre-season competitions, but there was far more meat to pick off the bones when it came to the Dr McKenna Cup.
And it would all start at pre-Christmas press launch where journalists would hover around the entrances of whatever hotel or venue and practically assail incoming managers and players, harvesting and storing quotes for the winter like the squirrel taking care of nuts.
It was a safe bet that every year we were gifted a controversy to keep the pot boiling. For a few years there was an annual tug-of-war between counties and colleges. The retirement stories. Some bitching about a minor rule change and a black card here and there. New managers, fresh blood, new quotes. Nothing much at stake, good to be back.
What always emerged was the huge appeal of these games among the general public. Everyone cites the 19,631 that turned up to see Armagh and Tyrone in Casement Park (ask your parents) in 2006 in the semi-final.
But there’s been other impressive crowds when a new manager injects adrenalin through a county, such as the crowd in Healy Park in 2012 when Peter Canavan was in charge of Fermanagh, with traffic backed up out of Omagh.
It cannot be denied though, that when it comes to preparing teams, the Dr McKenna Cup has not always been ideal for teams themselves.
The proof of that came when Armagh sent a shadow squad last year to play the opening round against Donegal, while their main team played Dublin in a challenge match.
Finishing as All-Ireland champions automatically decrees that Armagh got that call right.
The early start, often with games in December, meant some teams had no Christmas off, with quite a few training on St Stephen’s Day.
This year, one Ulster county took off the Monday to Friday from training with Christmas Day on the Wednesday.
The way it was left teams having to play three games in a single week. This was a severe strain on teams who were already down players with college commitments, injury and sickness. It led to some sides ‘throwing’ games in the final round rather than suffer morale-damaging defeats in a potential semi-final.
What they are left with is arranged challenge matches one week apart against teams of their own level. That allows for proper training and rest between games.
Still, you can’t help but think that something has been lost with the abolishment of the pre-season tournaments on a trial-year basis. Some consultation with the medical, scientific and welfare committee could surely devise a far better structured competition for all parties.
It’s understood that the chair of the Football Review Committee, Jim Gavin, was flabbergasted at the dropping of the pre-season competitions. Now, more than ever, they were needed to showcase the new rules of Gaelic football to the watching public in a semi-competitive environment before the serious stuff of the National Leagues got underway.
You’d have to imagine they will return in 2026. The arguments against lack credibility.
Because people live in the real world.
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GAA Gaelic Football Hurling winter warmers