Connollys relishing first shot at the big time
Dunedin Connollys are based in Edinburgh, and this Sunday they take on Emyvale of Monaghan at Newry for a place in the All-Ireland semi-final. It’s a young club, but they’re looking forward to their day in the (wintry) sunshine.
“We’re on the go since 1988,” says club secretary Alan Ward. “The way we started off was basically as a social outlet, to give Irish lads in the city here a chance to play a bit of ball. But over the years we got more and more organised, and we’ve become more competitive as a result.”
That they have. Connollys edged out John Mitchels of Liverpool last November in the British Junior Championship final to become the first Scottish side to take the title.
“Well, we’d lost two British finals and two semi-finals,” said Ward. “So getting to win the title was a real monkey off our back, that was our goal. Everything else is a bonus, really.”
Ward is realistic about the level of competition they can expect facing Emyvale, but at least Connollys have a handle on the opposition thanks to one of their members.
“We know it’ll be a step up in terms of quality compared to what we play here, but at the same time we beat last year’s British champions, John Mitchels from Liverpool.
“We have a Monaghan lad in the club, so he’s been telling us about Emyvale.”
Edinburgh has been home to plenty of Northern Irish students over the years, but Ward – who’s a native of north Roscommon himself – says the club draws its memberships from all parts of the island. Unlike clubs in London, however, he doesn’t detect any player dividend as a result of the recession just yet in Scotland.
“We have 25 counties represented in the club, so it’s not just northern counties. We have members from Tyrone and Fermanagh but the players come from all over Ireland.
“We haven’t seen a big influx of players with the recession, but then again I suppose the recession has only been biting for the last seven or eight months. This year we might have a few more lads arriving looking for work from Ireland, though as far as I can see most of the people leaving Ireland are heading for Australia and the States.
“I was home over Christmas and as far as I can make out, the recession is as bad in Britain as Ireland, so we mightn’t have the same numbers coming over as workers.”
Still, the Irish student presence has always been a boon to Connollys.
“Yes, there’s a very big Irish student population in Edinburgh, and three of the universities here field Gaelic football teams, so we draw a lot on them for players both while they’re students and when they finish. If some of those students get work in the area when they graduate we’ll try to hang onto them.
“We concentrated for a long time on our senior men’s and women’s teams, but we’re trying to bring on our underage section now as well. We have coaches in the primary schools here and we’re hoping to get parents involved as well.
“Because we’re such a young club everyone pitches in to help, it’s not left to others to do all the work. For instance, our club chairman Peter Dillon is only 35, and I’m nearly the next oldest at 29. But there’s a great spirit here because everyone pitches in.”
The club have also begun a ladies football section, which collected British sevens titles in 2006 and 2007, while there are plans afoot to start a camogie/shinty side.
For now, however, the focus is on Sunday. Emyvale may go in as favourites, but Ward says they’re going out to compete.
“John Mitchels did well last year, and because we beat them I’d presume we won’t be underestimated. Nobody will have much of an idea about us, we’re hoping we’ll be able to use that to our advantage.”
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