WHEN THERE WERE worries and there were problems – and there were always worries and always problems – Tommie Gorman knew where to start on the path to finding a solution for Sligo Rovers.
“C’mon, let’s get out and go for a walk.”
Sligo Rovers chairman Tommy Higgins heard those words enough times over the course of more than 40 years of friendship.
Never more than the last few as the club’s redevelopment plan for The Showgrounds really gathered pace.
Gorman was one of the driving forces, to the forefront of safeguarding Sligo’s future yet still somehow in the background.
These friends have needed plenty of walks in recent times.
Knocknarea was a favourite destination, so too Lissadell and over to Benbulbin.
But the beach at Rosses Point was the go-to. “Somewhere to clear the head and to think,” Higgins says.
Even the morning after Gorman married his beloved wife, Ceara, it was on the beach at Rosses Point that he gathered some of his closest friends for a game of football, as was remembered by Jim Gray in one of numerous tributes to the former RTÉ broadcaster who passed away at the age of 68 earlier this week.
He came to prominence on our screens after moving to Brussels to become Europe Editor in 1989.
When he was made Northern Editor in 2001, it was a position he held for 20 years before retiring.
“Credibility is the word for Tommie,” Higgins says. “Everyone knew him in this community but the credibility he had as a person all over Ireland and the credibility of his word meant he was able to open so many doors.
“Tommie had no ego and was engrossed in the club. He has been so vital for everyone in driving the stadium plans.”
Relentless, passionate, and determined.
They are the traits that define a love affair with Sligo Rovers that started as a child and will live on because of the work he did right up until his death.
Last Wednesday, for example, Gorman and Higgins paid a visit to the bank in the town to go over some figures for their application to the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund.
The €17 million redvelopment of The Showgrounds recieved planning permission from the countil council last year and this Monday will be another momentous day as they make their final submission.
Everything has been geared towards making sure it is a flawless presentation.
“We went for a sandwich together after the bank,” Higgins says. “Tommie, myself, and Tom Kelly co-ordinating the paperwork. Tommie was the one giving us all the instructions. Do this, do that, get this, get that. He was the life and soul of it. He was going to the hospital the next day but he was still texting everybody that day asking how we were doing.
“Tommie always made sure things were done right, having everything in place to leave the club in a better place 50 years from now. He was the one who said about getting the stadium sorted because if we don’t the club would slide back the way, we had to do this for the good of the club. It was always about the good of the club for Tommie.
“And we’re now twice as motivated than ever with this submission on Monday to get the stadium done for Tommie. He was so intrumental in getting us to this stage.
“It’s just been devastating since we got the news because nobody expected this to happen. It’s heartbreaking for us all and absolutely heartbreaking for his family.”
Gorman’s funeral is today and he will pass The Showgrounds on his final journey. When details were released earlier in the week a line caught the eye of many. “Family flowers only. Donations in lieu, if desired, to the Sligo Rovers Stadium Development Fund.”
Some also noted how it was fitting that last night’s home game with Shamrock Rovers was not on the usual Saturday night in Sligo.
The Bit O’Red won 2-0.
“Tommie would have been shouting and jumping like the rest of us,” Higgins says.
In a first-person piece with The Irish Times during the Covid-19 pandemic, he wrote poignantly under the headline, My Sporting Passion: Tommie Gorman on his enduring love for Sligo Rovers
“I can’t remember my first time in the Showgrounds in much the same way that I can’t remember my first time in our kitchen or living room. It feels as if the place has always been part of who I am. Life begins and ends with the Rovers.
“Why does Sligo Rovers matter so much to me? It is deeper than logic. Even now, when I drive into Sligo and see those floodlights an hour before the match starts: it is like catching sight of your spiritual life.
“It’s the closest thing to seeing the soul of the town. Rovers are a perfect fit for Sligo because of the flaws. We are never the finished article.”
Gorman’s dedication will ensure they will go some way to getting there.
