Jack Madden: Divided, adored, never ignored


THE year is 1993, and Derry are All-Ireland champions. At the victory banquet, there is a shot of Joe Brolly and Marty Morrissey, each smiling ear to ear. Like Down two years previously, the seismic proportions of victory are beyond the comprehension of delirious men, women, and children alike. A cup of shimmering silver is […]


JOE BROLLY: Pat Convery Memorial Trophy


STEVIE Murtagh from the Watty Grahams club says I am now 1/5 on to win the Pat Convery Clubman of the Year Award. Which would be the first time in its history the prestigious trophy has been presented to an outsider. I would probably have to do what our own Colm McGuigan did when he […]


GERARD O’KANE: Kilmacud should offer a replay


WELL, we are two days out from the start of the National League in 2023 and ideally I should be looking at some of the interesting ties ahead with all of the Ulster countries well placed in their respective divisions to be ultra-competitive but unfortunately that is not the major talking point of the GAA […]


JOE BROLLY: Junior jinks


THIS week’s Policing Board report shows ahow extraordinarily peaceful the North has become. PSNI officers have only discharged a shot five times in the last ten years, the most recent being an unintentional discharge in June 2022. The other four shots were fired into the air outside Omagh police station after Tyrone won Sam in 2021. The […]


JOE BROLLY: The football factory


WELCOME to the football factory, where every Gaelic football team looks the same, sounds the same and plays the same. The All-Ireland Senior Club semi-finals on Sunday were the usual chore. The winners, Kilmacud and Glen, spent most of their time trying not to lose. The crowd spent most of our time chatting amongst ourselves. […]


JOE BROLLY: Collective insanity


SEAN MacCumhaills tweeted the following message on their social media on Christmas Eve. “We invite applications from suitably qualified persons for the position of Reserve Team Manager. To express your interest in this position please send an e mail with your name and contact details to: secretary.seanmcools.donegal@gaa.ie before 6pm on Wednesday 11th of January 2023.” […]


Joe Brolly: Maradona and Clifford


JORGE Valdano, the Argentinian striker who scored the winning goal in the 1986 World cup final (needless to say, from a classic Maradona pass), was interviewed in the Guardian a fortnight ago. The chat turned to the little man. He said “How could you not look at Maradona? When he walks into the dining room everyone […]


JOE BROLLY: I’ll be seeing you


“I’ll be seeing you, in all those old familiar places That this heart of mine embraces All day through… I’ll be seeing you In every lovely summer’s day In everything that’s light and gay I’ll always think of you that way…” WHEN I turned on the radio on Wednesday, Jimmy Durante was singing ‘I’ll be seeing […]


JOE BROLLY: Disneyland


AT the tribute night for Brian Mullins in St Vincents a few weeks ago, Roddy Collins was gobsmacked at the number of his old Derry team that turned up. “In soccer, they wouldn’t be here unless they were being paid.” “Seriously?” “No bleeding way Joe. It’s all about greed in our game.” I haven’t been watching […]


JOE BROLLY: Maradonna and the Bomber


MARADONA would have been 60 this week. The greatest left foot in the history of the world. To commemorate his birthday, The Funny Old Game soccer site broadcast a goal he scored for Napoli against Verona in 1985. The Verona ‘keeper launches a high kick out from his hands, in the manner of a Cavan […]