Editorial from Galway Advertiser
Editorial from this week's Galway Advertiser www.galwayadvertiser.ie
UNITED GOOD AT SUMS
by DECLAN VARLEY
Hang on. There’s something wrong here. A crowd of people from the east coast have decided that somebody in sport in the west is doing something right. But, aren’t we the ones who are always doing things the daft way, like suspending people who talk to the media or having players pushing cars around car parks, while allowing widescale lathering the s...te out of one another to go unpunished. No, there must be some mistake. No wonder there are fellas bursting into the FAI with cans of petrol, threatening to burn the place. Check it again, there for me, will ya. What? It’s right is it. It’s a fact. Galway United are the best run club in the country. What? Even better than the Shelbournes and the Cork Citys and the Derrys. Better than them. (Better than Chelsea too if truth be told) Sure, it’s the job of the east coast boys to tell us what to do. They tried to stymie Connacht rugby a few years ago, and they haven’t succeeded. I think.
But this is a great boost for soccer in the west. Promotion without the injuries and the sweat. Promotion because of what we did off the pitch as much as on it. It’s great isn’t it. It reminds me of the honour I got for woodwork in the Inter Cert. Now, I was to woodwork what Tony Keady was to ballet, but I did a great theory test. I knew all my trees, the grains and the depths, and in the practical I put the chisel through my hand. But the overall average saw me get the honour. And that’s how United did it.
While on the pitch, we have been a bit poor over the past half decade, off the pitch, we were great at the sums. There were focus groups, and management committees to beat the band. There were loads of volunteers and the liaison with Devon and the local leagues and the great ability to never miss an opportunity for publicity through the likes of Nick Leeson and the anti-racism campaign.
Now, we have been given a seat at the top table of Irish football and it’s up to United to make sure we don’t fall back down again, because next time around there won’t be any marks for maths or how well your projections are.
In 1919 Arsenal were dodgily promoted to the old Engish First Division and they haven’t been relegated since, so maybe United will enjoy the same longevity in the top flight. Now the real work needs to be done. It will cost the guts of €1million to keep top flight Irish soccer in Galway. And we deserve it. This region deserves to be supping at the top table of all sports.
And that’s where we come in. How many of you have been to Terryland on a Friday night lately.
I’ve been following United (and Galway Rovers) since the late 70s and like the GPO in 1916, I was one of those there for the famous 4-2 cup game against Finn Harps. Coming from Ballinrobe, a visit to Terryland was for me, akin to a visit to the Nou Camp to watch real soccer players, who swore in English accents even though they came from Bohermore. And then there was the Bovril. It made me the man I am, putting the hair on my chest while taking the lining off my throat.
Terryland on Friday night is the sporting equivalent of the market on a Saturday morning, or Shop Street at any morning before 10. It’s pure Galway. It’s where the air is thick with flat Galway accents and where the crack is mighty. It’s where next April, United will, under Tony Cousins kick off the season, prouder and more confident than it ever has been.
I hope to see you there, but more about that nearer the date. Well done to all at United for what they have done.
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