Shedding some light on the characters within the Athlone GAA dressing room.
The Westmeath club captured this year’s intermediate county title, before going onto defeat Ballymanus of Wicklow and O’Hanrahans of Carlow in the Leinster series. They now face Glynn Barntown in the Leinster Intermediate Club Championship semi-final.
In the lead-up to that game we caught up with veteran corner-back Fergal Murray. The former Westmeath player gave us some background on the club and the characters that make it what it is.
Club name: Athlone GAA
Club colours: Sky Blue and white
Year established: 1885
Estimated size of population covered by parish: 20,000
Proudest moment in the club’s history? Rory O’Connell becoming Westmeath’s first football All Star in 2001.
Most loyal/fanatical supporter? Joe Browne/Liam Finnegan/Seamus Downes/Tony Heavin/Aidan St. John.
Best nickname: Bushy Bannon… the proud owner of a monobrow which keeps the wind out of his hair!
Most likely player to be found on Tinder? Skip Maher… nobody knows why he hasn’t been snapped up by now. Skip is lovely.
Most likely player to break a beer ban? We have a few lads who like a drink but I’d have to say our goalkeeper, Darren Costello. He has gone missing once or twice. Our manager once had to step in and take the kick-outs himself.
Dodgiest championship haircut: A few contenders for this one, but Charlie McMickan gets the vote. It must take the barber a full day to get the whole way around his head.
Who’s the last guy off the pitch at training? Depends if its hunting season (lads looking for the captaincy) or not but usually it’s our free takers, Noel ‘Hulk’ Mulligan, Ray ‘Tensey’ Connellan or the Late Great Joe Fallon.
The team-mate you’d least like to take a hefty shoulder from: Damo Kelly…….tough tackling full back who loves to mix it. Just don’t ask him to solo the ball.
The team-mate the opposition would most like to give a hefty shoulder to: Jordan Marshment… blonde hair, white boots, a natural tan (*ahem*)… self-explanatory really.
Oldest player to ever have played for the club: Amby Fogarty… Played into his 50s and still available for selection should the call come.
Player with the longest distance to travel to training: We have a few lads coming from different solar systems but the students in college in Dublin and Galway get the nod.
Last guy you’d want to take a penalty in the last minute of a county final: John Egan is not our most free-scoring forward and has recently been struggling with a bit of holiday weight.
Player you’re most likely to mute in the club WhatsApp group: Mickey ‘CHAD’ Greene… not our sharpest tool in the box. He loves sending in pictures of his dodgy cooking and pictures of himself.
Best ‘Junior B story’ involving your club: After losing badly in a league game, our fairly stern and strict manager was trying to sort out a time for our next training session as Championship was only a week away.
We had all agreed for Sunday at 9am when Benji Bannon ‘gingerly’ put up his hand and said ‘I have a fishing competition and I have it planned for ages and can’t make it’.
We all burst out laughing but needless to say our manger failed to see the funny side of it and proceeded to lecture us about commitment for the next half hour. Sunday morning training wasn’t pretty either… Thanks Benji.
