Tag Archives: soccer

FIFTY-THREE years after its foundation, Shannon Town United officially opened its new clubhouse last weekend. “It’ll cost over €300,000 by the time the furniture and fittings and so on are done, well in excess of €300,000,” said the club’s chairman Ger Kelly. The clubhouse has four changing rooms, a referee’s room, kitchen, two reception rooms upstairs, a public toilet and an office. “We first put in the planning permission about four years ago, but when that planning application went in it was only for two dressing rooms. “Then with the growth of the schoolboy teams and girls teams we knew we needed bigger facilities, so we went from two to four. We also decided to convert the upstairs into a function room and a meeting room,” says Ger. The clubhouse means a major improvement to the facilities. “We’ve had a prefab, we have a steel shed down at our other pitch at Corrib Drive, but for over 50 years we’ve …

Owen Ryan talks to Cratloe native and YouTube star Michael Ramsay who has gone from doing vox pops on the streets of Ennis to posing for selfies with fans at St James Park in Newcastle. HIGH energy, humourous and irreverent, Michael Ramsay’s monologues on soccer run up hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube every week. The 29-year-old Cratloe man goes by the name of the Irish Guy on YouTube, and is the sole contributor to the HITC Sport channel, still being one of its employees despite developing a huge audience for himself, his brand of football humour clearly striking a chord with audiences. Nearly ten years ago while a college student, Michael spent a number of months doing a journalism internship in the Clare Champion, and is surely the only person to have gone from proof reading parish notes to making videos that are viewed all over the world. The videos are all light hearted, as he pokes fun …

FIVE sports clubs in Newmarket-on-Fergus are joining forces in a bid to unite their community and raise funds for charities. Newmarket-on-Fergus GAA, Newmarket Celtic, Newmarket-on-Fergus camogie, Newmarket-on-Fergus ladies’ football and Newmarket-on-Fergus handball have come together and using the slogan ‘Staying apart but coming together’, have launched the Newmarket-on-Fergus 500 Mile Challenge. Over the weekend, individuals will clock up a mile each with the target of hitting 500 miles. Each participant is asked to donate €10 and can do so online through GoFundMe via any of the club’s social media channels. All funds raised are going towards the Newmarket-on-Fergus based South Clare Meals on Wheels, Bunratty Search and Rescue, Newmarket-on-Fergus Men’s Shed, Sláinte an Chláir and Pieta. Mark O’Malley of Newmarket Celtic said, “We’re kind of idle at the moment; all the lads are doing their own training and stuff. With it being so quiet, why not come together and do something for the community? Darren Duggan set up the GoFundMe …

HOLDERS Newmarket Celtic have been drawn at home in the third round of this year’s Clare Cup. Liam Murphy’s side will take on a Lifford outfit, who are currently sitting third in the Premier Division standings. Among the other ties, Avenue United will make the trip to Manus Celtic, while Ennis Town host Sporting Ennistymon. Clare Cup Round 3 Draw Bunratty Cratloe v Newmarket Celtic B; Manus Celtic A v Avenue United A; Ennis Town v Sporting Ennistymon A; Kilkishen Celtic v Shannon Town C; Lifford B v Shannon Olympic; Corofin Harps v Shannon Town A; Kildysart Celtic v Turnpike Rovers; Newmarket Celtic A v Lifford A. The games are to be played on the weekend of February 23.

THREE Travellers who had stopped playing soccer for Sporting Ennistymon following incidences of racist abuse, have now returned to the club. Michael Sherlock, Patrick Sherlock and Martin Mongan all returned last week, as the club’s B side were defeated by Rineanna Rovers. Speaking to The Clare Champion on Wednesday , Michael Sherlock said, “We just said we’d go back. There’s a long winter ahead.” While the matter was featured firstly in The Clare Champion and then in the national newspapers, as well as on national TV and radio, Michael said no-one from the FAI or the Clare District Soccer League had ever made contact with him. “I never heard anything from anybody,” he said. The club’s PRO Matthew Crowe said they are glad to have the players back. “It’s brilliant. It’s a great boost to the club. They’re great players and they’ve been involved since they were 13 or 14.” Michael and Patrick Sherlock are brothers and another brother of …

FOUR travellers, who had been playing soccer for Sporting Ennistymon, have left the sport following numerous incidences of racist abuse. Figures in the club have voiced their upset at the abuse meted out to the young men, which had become increasingly frequent since the beginning of the current season. Secretary of the Clare District Soccer League, Michael Lydon, refused to comment on the issue on Wednesday. Twenty-four-year-old Michael Sherlock had played for the club, along with his brothers, Edward and Patrick, and their cousin, Martin Mongan. He said that, in recent months, opponents had increasingly sought to insult their background.“We go out and play and you have fellas saying into your ear, ‘Go away, you knacker’. When we react, the referee doesn’t do anything to the other party.” Earlier this year he was sent off in a match played at Lees Road after reacting to a person who referred to him as a “knacker”, while the player who dispensed the offensive …

Ennis woman Irene Hehir shares her struggle with depression in the hope of helping others to seek help.  IRENE Hehir describes herself as an “everyday girl living in the town of Ennis”. She has a good life, she has a good job, she has a great family and a great network of friends, but behind it all she was struggling with her mental health. To everyone who knew her, including those closest to her, the now 42 year old, was “Happy go Larry”, “the life and soul of the party”. Her outward life was about being seen to be “having the craic”, “being pure bould, carrying on and having a laugh”. But inside she was in turmoil. Her parents, extended family and friends, who have always been so supportive, didn’t know any of this was going on. In her early teens Irene was systematically bullied, and a physical assault which rendered her unconscious left her in constant fear. Although she …

Clare will enjoy home advantage for the Oscar Traynor inter-league semi-final on this Sunday (kick off 2pm), when Kilkenny will provide the opposition. Champions for the past two seasons, Clare go into the game without team captain Stephen Kelly. He is out with a leg injury he picked up when playing with Newmarket Celtic in the FAI Junior Cup semi-final against Janesboro a few weeks ago. Team boss Donie Garrihy expects to otherwise have a full strength panel to choose his team from, although there appears to be some doubt about the availability of Colin Smyth, who did not line-out with Newmarket Celtic in their Clare Cup semi-final win over Shannon Town at the weekend. “At this time of year in particular, there will always be a few doubts as we come to the end of a long season. We have a few guys who are carrying knocks and we will know more later in the week,” Garrihy told The …