Show pride in the jersey
Paul Cassidy on Thursday • Published 16 Feb 2012 09:30
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Sean Johnston shakes hands with Ryan McCluskey after Cavan's defeat to Fermanagh in the 2010 Ulster SFC. Johnston is now seeking a transfer to Kildare.
Loyalty to one's club, county, country is very much in the news these days. The burning debate in GAA circles is the request by Cavan's Seanie Johnston to play his county football with Kildare. Johnson, who has captained his county, was told by Cavan manager, Val Andrews that he was no longer part of the county panel and therefore is now keen to ply his trade elsewhere. Transfers within GAA circles are relatively rare, be it club to club or county to county and this remains one of the organisation's core strengths.
I recall the furore when Kildare lost two major stars back in the early eighties, Larry Tompkins and Shay Fahy moved to play their inter-county football for Cork. They moved to Cork to play their club football and won their first Munster title in 1987. They went on to have illustrious careers with Cork winning back to back All Irelands in 1989 and 1990. The most common reason for a move is where a player is working in a location that is too far from his native county to warrant the commute home for training. Naturally, they will then join a club and set up residence in the new county. The rules stipulate that you if you want to declare for a county other than your native one, you must reside and play with a club in that county, unless you qualify for said county by way of parentage. The difference with the Johnson scenario is the fact that he still works in Cavan town and has said he has no real wish to leave his home club, Cavan Gaels, but does wish to further his county career albeit with Kildare. He has requested a transfer to a junior club, St Kevins, Staplestown but for this to be valid Johnson must live in Staplestown. The affair has the potential to undermine the GAA ethos of club and county loyalty but I'm sure that the Cavan County Board and GAA HQ will not let this ludicrous transfer proceed.
In soccer circles another individual whose transfer dreams have not come through is Carlos Tevez. It seemed inconceivable that Tevez would ever turn out for Manchester City again after his mammoth fall-out with Mancini but 'football is a funny old game'. The fact that City are experiencing the jitters in their quest for the Premiership title may well be the factor that has somehow brokered a truce. Tevez is still trying to scupper the peace after announcing that Mancini "treated him like a dog". Fines and loss of wages has cost him £9.3 million but despite this he says he still loves English football. Well, all but two aspects, playing football over Christmas and New Year and training twice a day. His motivation to return is certainly not motivated by his love for his club or any club loyalty he may feel, but more an ego trip and a chance to prove Mancini wrong. The reaction he will receive from City fans will be really interesting but Mancini has definitely opened the door for his return. His presence could also have an adverse effect on the entire squad and could backfire on Mancini.
Loyalty to ones country of birth has recently been a major talking point in political circles with Sunderland's James McClean opting to play for the Republic rather than Northern Ireland. Fifa sanctioned the player's right to choose despite having played underage football for Northern Ireland. Nigel Dodds, MP, has called for inter-governmental talks to prevent other players following suit and declaring their allegiance to the Republic. As you would expect this will certainly have two very differing camps of thought here and may once again re-open the debate about having one team represent Ireland as happens in rugby. Overall is forcing players to remain where they do not wish to be and turn out for clubs they do wish to play for any advantage to anyone? Whatever your sport is it is always nice to see players displaying a degree of loyalty and showing some pride in their jersey.
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