Momentous year for Tipperary – Devane

 

By Shane Brophy

 

Tipperary County Board Chairman John Devane described 2019 as been a “momentous year for Tipperary GAA” in his address to County Convention on Monday night.

“Bringing back the Liam McCarthy cup and retaining the James Nowlan cup, this time as an U20 competition, has lifted the spirits of Tipperary people everywhere,” he began

He paid tribute to managers Liam Sheedy and Liam Cahill for leading the Tipperary seniors and under 20’s to All Ireland glory and looking ahead to 2020, he urged them to take it one game at a time in their quest to retain the All Ireland title for the first time since 1964-1965.

“There is already talk about two-in-a-row and "back to back". It’s all nonsense. 2019 was glorious but we all start at the same stage for 2020. I have no doubt Liam and the players will be fully focussed on the task ahead.”

On the club front, the Boherlahan-Dualla clubman said no one has the right answer to finding a greater balance between inter-county and club time. He pointed to the fact that despite there being no club championship games in May, June & July this year, it was still a busy summer with “more than 550 games organised by Co. CCC this year, never mind what Divisions organised. That is a huge amount.”

He added: “Sometimes people hark back to the good old days when we played during the summer. Anyone who cares to check any Co, Divisional or club history will see that many clubs played earlier alright but were also finished much earlier, in many years by end of June. Sometimes be careful what you wish for."

 

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