Rebels will rebound after All-Ireland defeat, homecoming crowd hears

The crowd who turned out to welcome home the  senior team. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

The rebel hurlers will rebound and end the county’s two-decade wait for an All-Ireland title, their loyal supporters were told at the team’s homecoming on Monday night.

Manager Pat Ryan praised the fans' support at the Rebels’ homecoming event in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, and said he hopes his team’s performances will inspire a new generation.

“The lads left everything out on the field and represented the jersey the way we wanted them to. I couldn’t fault the lads,” he said.

“Your support made a difference. They’ll head back to the clubs and, in the new year, we will rebound and move on.” 

After all the water-cooler talk on Leeside on Monday about the what ifs and if onlys, about jersey pulls and referee decisions, about 8,000 Rebel supporters turned out to welcome the team home after their one-point defeat to Clare in Sunday’s epic All-Ireland extra-time final.

In a first for the city and Cork GAA, the homecoming was hosted in the stadium where the team fired imaginations and sowed the seeds of an All-Ireland dream in early May with their epic win over Limerick.

Niamh Clarke, originally from Togher, but who has lived in Brooklyn, New York, for the last 24 years, is home for the summer and was there with her children, James and Aideen Glancy, who took part in the St Finbarr’s GAA Cúl Camp a few weeks ago.

“It’s so exciting, and the atmosphere is amazing," she said.

It’s not the result we wanted, but we got to an All-Ireland hurling final. We are really proud of them and we are here to support them

Owen Sheehan, from Blarney, who was at the match in Croke Park with his brother Pat, was at the homecoming with his daughters, Saorla and Grace, and praised the organisers for creating a safe environment.

“Unfortunately, we just came up short. It was important to be here tonight, especially with three Blarney players on the team. I just had to come down to support them,” he said.

“There is a good few young lads coming through, and I’d say there’s a few All-Irelands in this team yet.” 

Members of the team and backroom staff at the homecoming for the Cork Senior Hurling All-Ireland finalists at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Monday night. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Despite controversy about the €4 entry fee to the homecoming event, thousands of fans turned out to support the team and to celebrate the championship.

With RedFM’s KC leading the ceremony — and entertainment from The Frank and Walters, J90, and Myles Gaffney — a massive roar greeted the team, who took the stage around 7.15pm.

Goalkeeper Patrick Collins described the fans as "their 16th man", and said the support drove them on all championship.

The biggest roar was reserved for star forward Patrick 'Hoggie' Horgan, who has become the all-time highest championship scorer.

We could feel your support on the pitch

Cork GAA defended the decision to charge €4 to attend the event, despite Sunday’s fanzone event being free.

City centre roadworks prevented the hosting of a homecoming at the traditional location on the South Mall.

Many supporters flooded social media with complaints, accusing Cork GAA of “money grabbing”. Some insisted the event should have been free, and others insisted children should have free access.

It is understood that the cost of staging the two events would be between €60,000-€90,000, far outweighing what was taken in.

Michéal Martin with Ann and Brian Sheehan, Waterfall, all showed their support at the team's homecoming event. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

A Cork GAA spokesperson said: “The need for the modest charge is to pay for the extra security and additional safety measures that are needed in order to run the event safely.

“The charge is also in place to ensure organisers can manage tickets for the event in a fair way.

It is essential that the event is run in a family-friendly and safe way, which means we need to hire additional security

As Sunday’s fanzone and Monday’s homecoming events were held in the stadium, tickets had to be used for crowd control.

However, despite 15,000 free tickets being released for the fanzone event, only 8,000 people attended.

Organisers said imposing a nominal charge for the homecoming event was the fairest way to ensure people who wanted to go were able to go.

As John Spillane brought the curtain down on the event with a rousing rendition of 'The Banks', Lord Mayor Dan Boyle said everyone is proud of the team's achievements.

“It was a magnificent game of hurling and, in many peoples’ opinion, the greatest game of hurling ever,” he said.

“Those who participated can take great pride in having participated in such a sporting spectacle, but there are reasons to be hopeful.

“It’s a relatively young squad, they play with great skill, and they have shown great capacity to battle in every game they’re in — especially taking on Limerick, who have been monsters of hurling over the last decade, beating them twice — that was the mountain they overcame this year.

“There is a belief that there are All-Irelands in this team.”

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