A new era dawns for Cloughjordan FC
By Thomas Conway
The history of football infrastructure is so rich and varied that it has generated several books, numerous economic studies, and endless rounds of public debate.
New stadiums, with their shimmering metallic panels and futuristic stands, are often greeted with febrile excitement on the part of fans, and the threat of bankruptcy in the boardroom. Some developments work out brilliantly (e.g.: the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium). Others stoke serious public resentment and serve as a symbol of state aggrandisement - as is often the case when developing countries host a World Cup, and government coffers are emptied on lavish new stadia, despite the presence of widespread poverty.
At grassroots level however, new infrastructure is a necessity. It enhances communities, elevates playing standards, and leads to positive outcomes for all involved. But it doesn’t come easy. Without a driving force, without someone to champion the cause, the funds won’t appear, the fields will stay barren, the fun won’t be had.
Cloughjordan FC is your quintessential rural soccer club. Cloughjordan is a uniquely progressive, perhaps even futuristic enclave of County Tipperary. Complete with its own Eco Village, the community there is knitted together through sport. Hurling dominates - Kilruane MacDonagh’s is almost its own religion, but soccer is very much part of the picture. The enthusiasm has always existed, but the facilities haven’t, as Eoin Killackey explains:
“You often hear the phrase: build it and they will come. But the thing is, we already have everybody. We just don’t have anywhere to put them,” Eoin began.
“As a club we’ve grown to a certain point and we’re bigger than we’ve ever been before - there are a lot of peplaying, we have a lot more coaches, we’ve got the girls’ section with four teams, we’ve started up a little section for four to six-year-olds which has about thirty kids in it.
“We had an Easter Camp with 93 kids at it, and if you think about that, that means there was barely a child in Cloughjordan sitting at home!
“We’re so grateful to our friends in the Eco Village as well. They’ve been generous enough to allow us the use of their green for underage training and matches. The atmosphere on a Saturday morning is always second to none - it’s just so welcoming.”
Ball-playing nomads
Soon enough, when those flocks of kids gear up and head down for training on a Saturday morning, they will be greeted by the sight of a gleaming new playing pitch, an Astro-turf facility, dressing rooms, and a sizeable car park (which will probably be filled with electric vehicles, in keeping with local trends). Generations of kids will benefit, unlike the generations before them, who were forced to migrate from farmer’s field to farmer’s field, like a band of ball-playing nomads.
As the years wore on, the Cloughjordan FC committee saw how other clubs in the surrounding area, such as Ballymackey FC, had satisfied soaring levels of demand with new pitches and new facilities. The game was growing across Tipperary. It still is. The evidence is there each weekend.
“When we get the fixture list every weekend, there could be forty or fifty fixtures on it,” Killackey revealed.
“There are games on right across the district - you can go from Rearcross up to Clodiagh Rangers, down to Ardcroney, across to Borrisokane. There is soccer in every little pocket of the county, north and south.”
Eoin acknowledges that, unlike hurling, soccer doesn’t receive the same support-base in Tipperary, but participation numbers are increasingly healthy. The presence of Treaty United, the latest reimagining of a Limerick-based club, has also helped to energise the regional dynamic. There is now a potential local pathway to the League of Ireland, a route which has already been taken up by former Lough Derg FC goalkeeper Jack Brady, and former Nenagh Celtic midfielder Mark Walsh. Just last Christmas, three members of Cloughjordan’s under-15 squad departed the club for the Treaty academy. It may have weakened the side, but Eoin Killackey admits that there is huge satisfaction in helping to foster that kind of player progression.
In time, these new facilities in Cloughjordan may well enable a select few players to represent their country nationally, but the club has already hit heights which far exceed its petite size and understated status. Some former players could almost certainly have plied their trade at a higher level, but their loyalty to Clough was too fierce, their commitment to the cause too resolute. Several individuals have flown the flag for North Tipp at underage level, featuring on Kennedy Cup squads and Emerging Talent panels. The younger dimension of the club is constantly growing, but it’s also producing, and the product is impressive.
Ceaseless dedication
Building a new ground is never easy. It takes time and ceaseless dedication, particularly when money is short, and resources are limited. Ask the custodians of Brentford FC. The ambition to construct the Brentford Community Stadium was first proposed in 2002, when the club was floating around in League One. In August 2020 the venue was finally opened. Twelve months later, Brentford would make their debut in the Premier League, welcoming the elite of English football into their homely 17,250 capacity stadium in West London.
The context might be different, but it’s likely that Eoin Killackey and his fellow volunteers experienced some of the same frustrations as the individuals in the Brentford boardroom, as they worked to set this new Cloughjordan development in motion.
He admits that the planning process was long and exasperating. He works as a primary school teacher by day, but for a year or so, his evenings were consumed by endless phone-calls, meandering conversations, and inscrutable application forms. Eventually they got the go-ahead, and the relief was liberating.
The parallels with Brentford are evident, but there are also subtle differences. Kevin Kennedy is a recently retired player whose son and daughter are among the many kids zipping around the place with a football each Saturday morning. Like Eoin, he emphasises the importance of the development for Cloughjordan as a community, but he also points out that, even on lopsided pitches with rickety goalposts, Cloughjordan were always handy footballers. While Brentford were grinding it out in the lower tiers of the football league, Clough were playing Premier Division football.
“Obviously it’s great for young kids in the area, and the fact that it’s going to be within walking distance of the village, that’s important,” Kennedy said.
“I can remember, twenty years ago, there was talk of developing a new pitch, but it just didn’t happen. The club has been pushing for it since then, so we really are proud of this project. But I’ve been playing soccer with Clough, and we’ve nearly always been in the Premier Division, so we’ve always been competitive, but now, with a better surface, you’d imagine the standard can only get better.”
Eoin Killackey has never been alone in driving this project. There are others, such as Kevin Kennedy, and former chairman Seán O’Shea, along with a multitude of players, parents, and enthusiasts. All of them share the conviction that this development represents something transformative for Cloughjordan as a whole. It will add to the sporting character of an area already steeped in athletic tradition.
Ultimately though, it’s a gesture for future generations, a piece of infrastructure that will outlast him and his fellow committee members yet continue to deliver the promise of a proper playing surface for scores of children and adults. None of it would have been possible without the contributions of various members, including one of the club’s venerable stalwarts, Liam Tierney, who is a former landlord for the club. Ultimately, Eoin Killackey describes it as far greater than a personal passion project, far more important than just a football pitch. It cuts to the core of what grassroots football is all about - a thriving rural club, with a participation-based philosophy and an implacable long-term vision.
“As a committee, we can take our own little bit of pride from what we’ve achieved to date,” Eoin added.
“Many of us have given years representing the club, but now we have the opportunity to provide our children, the next generation, with the platform we never had. That’s the reason we do it. When we’re long, long gone, this facility is going to be there, and generations of Cloughjordan kids are going to have a home venue where they can be proud to play football.”
Cloughjordan FC is currently fundraising for its new development through a special €50 Lotto Syndicate. Tickets are available from Eoin Killackey and all committee members.