Colman Corrigan: Macroom footballers in a better place heading into next season

Macroom ended the 2024 campaign with a Tom Creedon Cup success.

It was the first time Macroom had won the competition, which is named after one of the all-time greats ever to play for the club, in 27 years.

In the final against Boherbue at the Castle Grounds, there was a strong local turnout for what turned out to be a proud night for the Muskerry side.

One man who knows the significance of the Tom Creedon Cup to the town of Macroom is club legend Colman Corrigan, a former All Ireland SFC winner with Cork himself in 1989 and 1990.

Speaking to The Echo, Corrigan reflects on the 2024 season for Macroom, with whom he was part of Aidan O’Mahony’s management team.

“Winning the Tom Creedon Cup was great for the club and great for the young lads. Not having won it for 27 years, it being the trophy that it is and being the clubman that Tom Creedon was, it was a nice one to finish off the season.

“Our ambition was to try to get out of the group in the Cork Premier Intermediate Football Championship. We haven’t done it for a couple of years.

“That was disappointing because we had a tough enough group and we were beaten in all three games.

“Fighting a relegation battle was not where we wanted to be and not where the club wanted to be. Unfortunately that is where we found ourselves this year and we found ourselves in it last year.

While it was nice to win the Tom Creedon Cup, we have to be real as well and know that there is a hell of a lot of work to be done if we are going to be back chasing trophies at Intermediate and other levels.”

It was also a positive conclusion to the year for O’Mahony in his maiden year in charge.

When asked how he found working alongside the five-time All-Ireland winner Corrigan said: “There was a hell of a lot of talk around the club and outside the club about Aidan coming in. Obviously because he was a high profile inter-county footballer and he has applied his trade into training and coaching teams as well.

There was a hell of a lot of pressure on him as well because he basically had to deliver something.

“The one thing you got from Aidan and is probably significant from his playing career is that he is mentally tough. He is absolutely determined and totally absolutely dedicated. He poured his heart and soul into the training.

“I have been around Macroom teams for quite a while and I don’t think a panel of players trained as hard as this panel of players.

“They started in the gym in January and on the field on terrible wet nights. It was just the actual level of organisation by him, it was incredible actually to be honest about it.

“But I would say the one trait that he has is that he is totally and absolutely dedicated, totally determined and very organised.

“I think the players bought into it and think the players enjoyed it. While it was very tough going at t

imes, I think the majority of the players enjoyed the year.”

This year also saw Macroom preserve their status at Premier Intermediate level following a relegation play-off win over Ilen Rovers.

Looking ahead to 2025 with Macroom and what can be possible, Corrigan said: “We have a long way to go to get back to where we should be as a proud GAA club. We have good young fellas coming up. We are in a minor county final.

PATIENCE

“Young lads will take time to bed in and figure it out. It is not going to happen overnight.

“But certainly in my opinion, and this is only my opinion, we are in a better place than we were a couple of years ago because the juvenile section seems to be going very well. There is a hell of a lot of work being put in there by a lot of fellas.

“We can’t just think that a light switch is going to go off and suddenly everything will be alright, because it won’t.

“Winning the Tom Creedon Cup while it was nice, there is a long road ahead of us yet.”