Glen chairman Liam Martin hoping to bow out of the role with the club senior county champions again

When you are at the end of your six-year term in one of Cork’s famous GAA clubs and you are on verge of witnessing them trying to win their 28th Cork Senior hurling championship title against their city rivals St Finbarr’s there is bound to be pride and excitement.

Liam Martin is presently the Glen Rovers man in the hotseat, and he looked back on his time with satisfaction and honour.

“The progress we have made doesn’t come easy as there has been a huge contribution from the players and management, but I have always been a huge admirer of our players because there is so much commitments they give when playing at the top tier,” said Liam.

The contribution of manager Tomas Mulcahy also came in for special mention from his chairman.

“Tomas demands a lot with the people he appointed and when the players buy into your ideas you end up with a very happy dressing room that we presently have,” added Martin.

The championship to date has been one of progression for the Blackpool outfit as Liam reflected on the campaign to date.

“We slipped up in our opening game against Blackrock but we did feel it was a game we left behind us and we have progressively improved.

“To be honest, we were up against it in our next game against Kanturk, who have rightfully become the story of the championship and luckily we were ready for the test they gave us at Castletownroche.” 

Losing against Kanturk wasn’t an option for the Glen and they showed enough quality coming down the stretch to grind out a famous win.

“We knew after getting this win we were building something and you could see in the training sessions the following week the buzz and confidence was right up there.

“That is beauty of this championship every game is crucial and our final game against Fr O’Neill’s was also meaningful to both clubs so credit to the Cork GAA the format of the championships is spot on.” 

It has been a tough year for Glen Rovers losing stalwarts Denis Coughlan and Jimmy Lynam and in recent week’s Vincent Fitzgibbon also passed as Martin praised all three men.

“I think our club is unique in the fact when you get involved with us and all these men gave their lives to us and lets hope they are looking down with pride for our final against the Barrs.

“There is a certain mindset when you play with Glen Rovers as you have the honour the jersey and we pride ourselves on our history and our contribution to Cork GAA and hopefully that will continue for generations to come.” 

There is a lot of challenges for all clubs going forward and Liam believes clubs will have to ready to meet them.

“The work that goes on in all GAA club whether it be Junior, or Senior is off the charts and society has changed with players needing to be minded and given the right direction and that’s a huge challenge for all of us.” 

In 2023, the Glen suffered relegation from the top tier and Martin believes they had to meet that challenge head on.

“It was one of the saddest days in our clubs history but I remember having a conversation with people coming home from that dreaded evening at Fermoy when a loss to Kanturk put us down.

“My sentiment was simple we can feel sorry for ourselves or treat as an opportunity for the whole club to reset and after serious consultation within the club our approach was to make the necessary changes.

“Going back to our manager Tomas Mulcahy who openly admitted it was the saddest day of his sporting life but there was no way he was walking away, and we took the opportunity to get back up from Senior A.” 

Going into Sunday’s final many shrewd pundits believe it’s too close to call and Martin doesn’t disagree with the sentiment.

“There are no two clubs have the respect for one another than us and the Barrs and the stories going back to the finals in the seventies and eighties are still recalled by both clubs where you had a number of intercounty players involved.

“The tradition we have with the Barrs is special as it attracts massive crowds and- on the day both teams will be going for the jugular but after the game win, lose or draw we will still hold one another with the same respect.” 

So what holds now for Liam Martin after overseeing a very successful period for the Blackpool club?

“We have some quality people in our club that will continue to keep us motoring but for me my commitment to the club will always be there and I am sure I will be doing some job if I get the call.”