O'Connell aged 70, has the Buzz back for coaching at his beloved Crosshaven club

HE recently turned 70 years young, but he's on the pitch more than ever, whether it's coaching or watching his grandchildren, his love for the game is still very evident.

Crosshaven stalwart Buzz O'Connell has won almost everything in the game as a player and now over five decades after he won his first Munster senior league title, he's back giving his time again as he is joint Manager of Crosshaven junior squad and he is loving life.

"This is my first year with this team - but I’ve been around a while," said O'Connell. 

"Believe it or not I won the Munster Youths Cup twice with Crosshaven back in the early 70s and also the Munster Senior League and numerous Cups back in the 70s with a great Crosshaven side. 

"I'm delighted to be back involved coaching and I am excited for the season ahead."

Buzz has a lot of experience behind him having coached with Chelsea legend Bobby Tambling. 

He coached senior men's and women's teams as well as numerous underage teams, some which involved his two sons Beezer and Dara and daughter Sarah in which he's very proud of their involvement.

"Football has always been in my blood and it’s brilliant to see it continue in my own kids who have a huge love of the game. 

"My son Beezer has had great success playing with clubs such as Crosshaven, Carrigaline and College Corinthians. 

"It’s great to see he has also got involved in coaching and his daughter Faye O'Connell has won numerous underage trophies with Carrigaline and currently plays with the U16s and U18s. 

"All my grandsons are playing sports. Beezers son Ciarán plays with Carrigaline U8s and Sarah’s Son Cian Scanlon plays U12 with College Corinthians, he is also a great Rugby player. 

"Sarah's daughter Caoimhe Scanlon plays with College Corinthians. It's terrific to see the girls having such interest especially with our successful Irish Ladies team to aspire to. 

"My daughter Sarah has also had a successful soccer career and is proving to be a great coach (a bit like myself ). 

"Now if she could only sing like me," laughs Buzz. 

"I must also mention my daughter Martina who didn’t get the sporting bug but has two boys aged 8 and 6 Tadhg and Fionn who definitely have and are playing all sports in particular hurling with the Rockies."

Back coaching giving something back to a club that gave him so much enjoyment has being a breath of fresh air for Buzz and with the squad he has assembled, Buzz is confident they can do well.

"I got a call from Brian Curran who was thinking of starting a second team with Crosshaven and he asked me if I would come on board with him. 

"Brian is a young 23 year old enthusiastic Manager, I even coached his Dad Billy many moons ago - I was intrigued with the panel of players he had in mind - some hadn’t played in a while and I was interested to see how they might do after some intense training. 

"I was also impressed with how many turned up for the first night training and are still turning up since.

"The squad is made up of a mixed bag some had played at high level previously like my own son Dara O'Connell who broke his leg three years ago and is only now coming back. 

"There’s a few young lads that didn’t make the first team with Crosshaven though they would have been part of a great U18 Crosshaven squad like Dylan O'Callaghan, Sean Myers, Conor Deane, Andrew O'Connell and Liam Connolly but they are fitting in grand with the mix of players and learning from the more experienced lads such as Jonathan Mulcahy, Colin Curran and Eric Lordan. 

"The majority would all have played with Crosshaven at some stage over the years. 

"We have a great goalkeeper in James O'Leary who would have played previously with Carrigaline and so we are excited about the season ahead.

"Brian and myself have a brilliant support squad with our Current Team - Dan Aherne who has been a constant with the Club over the years and Seamus Murphy who manages the first team but also lends his support to reporting for our squad.

"The facilities we have are a huge asset to the club. The facilities are a credit to all those that have built them over the years. 

"The likes of Savvy Long (RIP), Gally Fitzgibbon, Willie Meade, Anthony Cogan, Curly O Keeffe, John Kiely, Noel Condon and Seamus Murphy have all contributed immensely to growing the club to the fantastic set up today with a state of the art All Weather pitch that enables night time games and training. 

"It's a brilliant club to be part of and I am delighted to be playing my part in the progress and development of this great club."