The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
Derrick Lynch
The Clare Ladies footballers will have a new captain for the 2020 season.
Kilmihil’s Ellie O’Gorman has been chosen by manager James Murrihy to take over the role from Banner Ladies clubwoman Laurie Ryan.
Ryan will be missing for the early part of the season due to academic commitments while she is also recently returned from a serious concussion issue.
O’Gorman is no stranger to the role, as she captained her club to a first ever senior title last year. Her vice-captain will be Banner Ladies clubwoman Gráinne Nolan.
Murrihy has also enlisted the services of an experienced coach, with former Clare senior football selector Ger Keane joining the setup for 2020. He takes over in that position from DJ Collins, while selector Enda O’Halloran remains involved for another term.
Murrihy says O’Gorman was an ideal candidate for the captaincy.
“With Laurie taking a break for the early part of the year, we had to find a new captain as she wouldn’t be around and no better person that Ellie to step in. She played a great role in captaining Kilmihil to that county title and it was a really big thing for them to break the stranglehold that the Banner had on the title. They needed leaders on the pitch and Ellie was a major one for them. Over the last few years, she has been a silent leader for us too and I have no doubt she will continue being that influence in 2020. She doesn’t say much at times but when she does, it really carries weight across the whole squad. That is something we will be looking for but we also have a leadership group within the panel so this is another extension of that. A captain is your captain but what you want to have is 30 leaders across the panel and 15 leaders on the field and we are hoping to develop that as we go through the league and into the championship” he noted.
Meanwhile a novel fundraising venture is underway in the search for a new jersey sponsor for the flagship team.
Businesses that are interested in the opportunity to have their company name and logo on the front of the Clare ladies jersey for the coming year are being invited to enter a draw at a cost of €500. One name will be drawn out to be the official sponsor, but all those who enter will receive exclusive invites to championship player meet and greet events, ten tickets to all home National League games, acknowledgement on social media plus the use of players for promotional events.
All monies raised will go toward preparing the team for the upcoming campaign, which gets underway on January 26 when Armagh make the trip to Doonbeg for the opening round of the National League.
