Tramore Athletic back where they belong as a leading Cork soccer club
The Tramore Athletic Over 35 squad have enjoyed a great season so far.
IT has been an exciting few years for everyone associated with Tramore Athletic Football Club.
The Douglas-based club returned to senior football after a period playing junior while they've developed a state-of-the-art floodlit astroturf and brought back an Over 35s team after a decade away. Their underage section is also booming.
Senior player and club PRO Conor McCarthy said they are looking forward to their 75th year anniversary next summer.
“Thankfully the club is in a great place at the moment and it continues to grow from strength to strength. With an extremely young adult side, the decision was made to drop down to junior football a few years ago, to give our lads some much-needed minutes of adult football. With a 10-point lead at the top of the league in 2020, Covid hit."
This turned out to be a blessing in disguise on one level.
“The stoppage led to the decision being made to make an immediate return to the Munster Senior League, under Kieran McCarthy, Stuart McTaggart, Shane Twomey, and Jerry Twomey.
“Since the return, our seniors have been very competitive. A mixture of younger players such as David Horgan, Joe Duggan, and Scott Philpott, combined with the experienced heads of Stephen Dorney, David Collins, and Patrick Horgan, has been ideal.
"The lads secured a huge victory in the Keane Cup over Premier side Ringmahon when the Senior League returned the first time around and pushed Riverstown all the way at the top of the division before local football was halted for a second time.
“This season has been stop-start for our lads, with serious injuries hampering progress. We have been hit with three cruciate ligament injuries, broken bones here and there, as well as ruling players out from time to time.
“With all that said, the future for our senior side looks promising. New signings have been made, as well as some former players returning to the club, and the Youths will be coming up in the next couple of years to add to a very strong group.
“The Youths are currently in a title race and will look to push Springfield all the way. Their success adds to that of a number of our schoolboy sides over the past few seasons, with our U13s also locked in a title race, as well as the league success of our unbeaten U15s last season under the guidance of Terry Delaney and Willie Murphy."
Unfortunately, that U15 side folded in the off-season, but with ever-growing numbers in the club’s academy section, the future of Tramore Athletic Schoolboy football looks bright.
“With the success of our schoolboy section, this past year has also seen two former Tramore Athletic teammates flourishing in professional football. Chiedozie Ogbene became the club’s first Irish senior international since Kieran O’Regan in the early '80s.
"He also became the first African-born player to play and score for the Boys in Green."
Ogbene’s former teammate David Hurley has been excelling in the League of Ireland, proving to be a crucial part of John Caulfield’s Galway United side, after his move from Cobh Ramblers in 2020. This success will undoubtedly provide our current schoolboys with the motivation to work hard for their own success.
"The Over 35s team returned to the Munster Senior League Floodlit League this season and have been extremely competitive with player-manager Steven Heaphy at the helm.
"Steven’s business, The Corner Flag pub in Turner's Cross, has been a huge sponsor for the adult section of the club, sponsoring the kit for the Over 35s, as well as sponsoring the senior team on a number of occasions. This generosity has been repaid on the pitch, with Steven putting in a number of great performances himself alongside some former senior players."
That includes Colm O’Callaghan, Thomas Morgan, and Maurice O’Connell, as well as a strong contingent from next-door neighbours Nemo Rangers, such as Jerry Kerins, Brian Twomey and Willie Morgan.
"They have been a huge addition to the club and we hope to stay ever-present in that grade for years to come.
“All the success on the pitch has been possible thanks to the incredible efforts off the pitch. The floodlit astroturf was completed in late 2020 by JNC Premier Pitches and has given our facilities in Tramore Park a new lease of life. Sponsorship, fundraising, and successful Sports Capital Grant applications have made this our reality and secured excellent facilities for the long-term future of the club.
"Huge thanks go to Brendan Sheehan of BJS Consultants and his team, as well as Minister Michael McGrath, for their assistance with the applications, which have seen the club granted €132,000 over the past two years.
“This off-the-pitch success has been orchestrated by club stalwart Paul O’Connell. Paul has gone from coaching his son’s schoolboy team over a decade ago, to becoming a one-man show behind the scenes in Tramore Park. Footballs, equipment, alarm systems, funding, running the academy; you name it, Paul’s done it.
"We honestly don’t know what position the club would be in without Paul’s monumental work over the past 10 years or so, but we’ll have to find out when Paul takes a well-deserved break at the end of this season.
“No doubt it will be a transitional period for the club, but everyone else at the club will forever be indebted to Paul and he will leave huge shoes to fill for his successors.”
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