Tag Archives: Colm Collins

They’ve been there from the very start of the Cratloe revolution but brothers Sean and Podge Collins are determined to cap off a memorable decade and a half at the top table of Clare GAA by lifting the Jack Daly Cup for a third time on Sunday. It has been a real family affair for the Collins as having shared in the club’s greatest achievement of a first-ever senior hurling and football championship double in 2014 alongside youngest brother David and father Colm, Sean and Podge have also had the rare honour of winning national senior honours together for their county in both codes as well. A breakthrough 2013 All-Ireland Senior Hurling crown was followed by a 2016 National Football League Division 3 title back in Croke Park but while it all has been quite a whirlwind experience, it’s only recently that Podge has begun to fully appreciate the privilege of being able to play alongside his siblings. “To be …

‘You gave us hope. You made us dream. You filled us with confidence. The ultimate players’ manager. Thank you for everything Colm, you are a special man. As the old saying goes, we were never playing for Clare, we were playing for Colm Collins.’ Success is measured in many different ways and by many different metrics, depending on the county and on the code. So it is that we view the Clare football team through a very different prism than we do the hurlers, never mind comparing the Banner County with rivals from across the county boundary. For the hurlers a championship title is what they’re measured by – be it Munster or All-Ireland. Put simply, one of them is demanded and expected because of what the 1995-98 era gave us and what the bolt from the blue in ‘13 provided this generation and onto the next. It’s different for the footballers, even allowing for the fact that the big …

After an enjoyable chat with Colm Collins, his final words sums up the man’s continued desire to do what’s best for Clare football. As he prepares to go about the rest of his day, Collins has one request before he hangs up the phone: “Could you mention somewhere in the paper that we have a golf classic for Clare football coming up this Thursday and Friday (at Woodstock Golf Club)? A team of four golfers is €300 while to sponsor a hole it’s €200.” It’s a fitting note to end on for a man who continuously fought to improve the standards of Clare football. When someone has made the profuse impact that Collins has on a county, the tributes will inevitably flow. However, the Cratloe club man admits the volume of well wishes that have been paid to him has been a surprise with people from across the county paying tribute to a football man. “It’s a bit surreal to …

Not only is Colm Collins remarkably embarking on his tenth consecutive National Football League campaign but it’s Clare’s consistency in that period that makes the county’s longest serving manager also the most highly regarded. From Division 4 to 2 took only three years and now the Banner, despite being largely written off nationally as relegation fodder each year, are commencing a seventh successive Division 2 campaign. Considering that in the previous decade, Clare had six different managers (John Kennedy, Donie Buckley and Michael Brennan, Paidi Ó Sé, Frank Doherty, Micheál McDermott and Mick O’Dwyer), all of whom were not native to the county, it’s a testament to Collins’ longevity that the Kilmihil man remains steadfast in his clear desire to developing Clare football. So what is it that keeps him coming back for more each year? “The fantastic bunch of players we have is the main thing. They have been a pleasure to deal with and the day that wouldn’t …

Colm Collins has been ratified for a tenth year as manager of the Clare senior footballers. The Kilmihil native is the longest serving manager of any one team in gaelic football with Mickey Harte working with the Tyrone footballers from 2003 until the culmination of the 2020 season before being appointed manager of Louth. At Tuesday night’s meeting of Clare GAA in Caherlohan, it was confirmed that Collins will be continuing as manager of the team. Clare reached the quarter-final stage of the All-Ireland series, losing out to Derry after a memorable come-from-behind win over Roscommon at GAA HQ. Although Clare fell to a heavy defeat to the Oak Leaf County, it was a positive year for Collins’ men as they qualified for the quarter-final stage for the second time in seven years. Under the Cratloe clubman Clare have risen from Division Four to Division Two, where they have competed since 2017. After losing a Munster Senior Football Championship quarter …

Clare certainly like to give their supporters value for money. I mean it would have been very boring had the Banner only built upon their seven point first half cushion and running out comprehensive winners with the wind at their backs for the second period. Manager Colm Collins could see also see the humorous side to getting over the line for what was their first ever championship victory over Meath. “We’ve had a bad time with them haven’t we?” quipped the Cratloe clubman immediately afterwards. “I think we played them five times since I’ve got involved and hadn’t won but the last day we played them here in Cusack Park during the league I thought we were a lot closer. So I was optimistic today but by God did we make hard work of it. “Listen, the bottom line is that it’s great to be in the hat on Monday, that’s the most important thing but overall I don’t think …

While the Clare senior hurlers have been riding on the crest of a wave of momentum so far, their footballing equivalents have contrastingly had to rebuild from the ground up once more over the past five weeks following a period of introspection. Limerick’s historic penalty shoot-out victory over Colm Collins’ side may have provided unprecedented entertainment but such an agonising exit from the Munster Championship was a difficult pill to swallow as the Cratloe clubman admitted this week. “Initially it was a frustrating experience to lose a game in that manner but after we spent the requisite amount of time mourning, I think we woke up to the fact that we were still in the championship and that there was a fantastic opportunity ahead and we had to embrace it. “So I think once lads got that into their heads, things picked up again and have been very positive over the last few weeks so I think they’re in a …

Eoin Brennan looks ahead to this evening’s vital national league encounter with Cork National League Division 2 Round 2 Cork v Clare at Páirc Uí Chaoimh Cork, Saturday 7pm (Maurice Deegan, Laois) As significant as securing an opening victory over Offaly was in what is a perpetually cut-throat Division 2, the real acid test arrives this Saturday evening as Colm Collins’ side face Cork as part of a rare National League double header between the counties in Páirc Uí Chaomh. Clare have a healthy league record against the Rebels, with three victories in the last four meetings and even last year’s loss proving sufficient for the Banner to advance to the Division 2 Semi-Finals at the expense of Cork. However, it’s 11 years since Clare last played in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, not to mind its state-of-the-art upgrade. Indeed, that 2011 clash was a forgettable 15 point reverse in the Munster Senior Quarter-Final (1-23 to 0-11), with only four of the …