Putting life back into Cavan football
But those times have long passed. A senior Ulster title in 1997 represents their only silverware at that level in 43 years. So for a county with as many Anglo Celt Cups as Armagh, Tyrone and Down put together, the barren spell has been tough.
With Ulster’s rise, Cavan fell further down the pecking order.
“We were bottom of pile in Ulster,” said county chairman Tom O’Reilly.
A radical approach was called for; a practical one was applied. When O’Reilly was appointed in 2010 he sat down with current senior manager Terry Hyland and looked at the problems within Cavan football.
Their results up to minor looked respectable and just needed tweaking. At senior and U21 level it was a different story. Tradition dictated the seniors and U21s train together but the fall off in players aged between 18 and 21 was staggering. By the time a good minor team’s year to play U21 had arrived, the players were no longer around or interested. So they extended their panels, sometimes up to 40 players.
“There had always been fights between the senior and U21 manager, which goes on everywhere. So I decided there would be no crossover when U21s are playing,” O’Reilly said.
“Now we were in a situation this year where the last two league matches had to be played without our U21s and it had a bearing on our promotion prospects. But we stuck with it because we believed in it.
“Initially we found it didn’t cost a fortune and in the second year we saw the players coming through because we had 20 players ready to go straight away.”
By isolating their players, they were also able to target them based on age. The formula was repeated further down the line with retention as their motto. They entered the Leinster JFC to give players who weren’t up to U21 level yet, but had potential, games. In 2010 and 2011, they lost the finals. In 2012 they claimed a first Leinster title and were beaten by Kerry in the semi-final. Those players filtered into the U21 set up this year and a seamless progression was crowned with a third Ulster U21 in as many years.
In beating a Paddy McBrearty-inspired Donegal in the final, they found their emphasis on squad development outweighed individual talent. While Donegal had stars, they had 20 players they could rely on.
“Organising something well... you can see the benefit of it in a year or two,” said Tom. “[It cost] €60-70,000 a year outside the norm of school coaching. But you see the strength in it when you it comes to sit down and pick an U21 panel. We know 20 straight away. In club football for the first time you can pick a county player on the field in the last 20 minutes. you could never do that before.
“Keeping lads interested in wearing the county jersey, we want that. Our mindset has changed. Three or four years ago lads were saying college football was more important than senior. The next step is to galvanise these lads into a senior set-up. There is a four-year plan in place by Terry Hyland and his selectors and we have to keep expectations at a level they are at. It will take a while. They’re a very proud people in Cavan and when they see the county slipping down in Ulster they did the hard work to get there. But our biggest enemy in Cavan was our attitude. There can be no more excitement about a good team coming through. We are where we are and will take six years to make an impact at senior level. People needed to realise this. They will buy into it.”
Last year they brought in the National Athlete Development Academy (NADA) to show the U21s what was required to make it as a senior players (“Our senior team’s average age is 22 so they needed that awareness”). This year that role is occupied internally.
Two-time senior All-Ireland winner Peter Donnelly together with Finbar O’Reilly, Andy McGovern and former Fermanagh footballer Sean Doherty had completed strength and conditioning courses. Donnelly was appointed to a full-time role for the senior, U21, minor and development squads. But his main role is to coach the coaches.
Together with games development officer and former All Star Dermot McCabe they are creating a new template for the next Cavan production line. After the past 40 years, Tom knows the county can’t rest on laurels. “We are revamping all underage panels now and it’s in the early stages of that,” he said.
“When [Dermot] took over the minor team [Ulster champions in 2011] we went for a different profile of players. We used to look for the skilful players but now we’re looking for taller and stronger players. It’s the same at U21 level. They developed lads whose skills were not as good.
“This Sunday against Cork you will have a team of 20 fellas but no stars. Before lads felt it was good enough to just wear the jersey. These U21s are different. It’s lovely to be associated with them.”
