So the Antrim County Board dont have the resources/money to fund his 5 year plan.

I would be curious to know what sort of resources were required and what was involved in his revamping of coaching structures.

Whilst not every club requires a possible revamp/restructuring im sure there are quite a few who could do with it.

It looks again like it'll be the safe and cheaper option of Fitzy.

I have to say I am becoming more depressed and disillusioned each year with the running of my county. Theyre even managing to screw up two of the biggest projects the county has ever seen, casement rebuild and dunsilly.

Im afraid in my opinion all we do as a county is exist, no ambition, no drive, no foresight or even hindsight at times!!

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 10/09/2014 10:45:03    1650450

not being a smart a*se here bumpernut but I see people on these forums all the time complaining about the county board...could you not get on your club committee and try and get elected onto the county board? I dunno how it works and would be interested to see how people get on the County board in the first place. I know of 1 (maybe 2) members from my club who are on the County board and I assume they got on as a representative of the club. Baffles me too, in fairness there are some eejits on the County board with their own agenda....try being a hurling man in Down where your County board class you as a second class citizen to the big ball stuff. I suppose its the same for the footballers in Antrim...politics politics politics. I would be interested in hearing peoples views on how to get onto the County board and what they actually do? meetings about meetings about meetings I assume and a good feed of tae and tuna and onion sandwiches.

grandagrokepoke (Down) - Posts: 347 - 10/09/2014 10:59:50    1650455

Was acutally thinking why are antrim not better at football- there must be a huge playing population and access to great university faciities if only ye were organised?

lowballplease (Galway) - Posts: 935 - 10/09/2014 11:05:24    1650464

Cheers bumpernut - I was in a good mood today then I read this post and now I am depressed again thinking about our County setup. Not saying anything you said is wrong or saying you are responsible for this sudden bout of depression - its just the reality of it all. I understand the arguement grandagrokepoke puts forward about get involved with the board and make the change instead of complaining but we all know that the principle of this notion and the reality are two completely different things thanks to the politics of it all.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 10/09/2014 11:40:22    1650490

With the amount of money Croke Park will make from replays etc. this year it really angers me to see that Antrim didnt have the resources to get the best candidate for the job, some people in bigger counties moan that the smaller counties arnt working hard enough etc. but how are Antrim meant to compete with monaghan, Donegal and Tyrone when they dont have the money to maximise their potential. It's the same for most counties in Leinster yet some people were blaming us for Dublin not bei ng ready for Donegal?Give us the finincial backing to equal the money the big counties are getting from sponsers and in 5 years time would have a much more competitve championship

Victorious87 (Wicklow) - Posts: 597 - 10/09/2014 12:36:36    1650529

O'Rourke's 2 year plan didn't work too well in Louth so I don't know how he now can justify creating a 5 year one....., Antrim have potential and I don't see it being realised by a man who effectively was ran out of Louth after their heavy defeats in Leinster and the qualifiers.

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3734 - 10/09/2014 12:53:23    1650538

Sorry offside but im fed up with the same old excuses time after time after time with the same outcomes.

I have heard that while the county board twiddled their thumbs recently that they lost the chance of receiving £500k for Dunsilly.

How incompetetent as a county are we that we elect the same people year after year.

And coming to granda's point, i was on a club committee for 4/5 years there as assistant treasurer and briefly as treasurer so im well aware of the work that goes on behind the scenes at committee levels. However, as im sure offside will agree its a merry go round with the antrim county board positions. Any younger members that way inclined tend to stick with their club committees so its same old faces year in year out

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 10/09/2014 13:03:48    1650541

Fair enough point richie but at least he brought something different to the table by the fact that he wanted to address coaching structures within the county which for me is the best place to start as it is we'll just carry on existing!

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 10/09/2014 13:06:14    1650544

The attitude of the Antrim County Board may go some way to explaining why Antrim do not compete at a higher level considering their resources.

Byanthon (Tyrone) - Posts: 1780 - 10/09/2014 13:06:42    1650545

Here you go offside another surprise appointment!!



Coiste Aontroim are delighted to announce that Frank Fitzsimons has been appointed Antrim Senior Football Manager.
Frank has accepted the position, and is looking forward to the new season in charge.

I would like to thank Liam Bradley for his year in charge and wish Liam , Patrick and Declan all the best for the future.
Liam had advised County Chairman Jim Murray on the 3rd September that he felt he had taken Antrim as far as he could and requested that his name was withdrawn from the process. This was reluctantly accepted by County Chairman Jim Murray.

We have been working tirelessly to appoint a successor and are delighted that Frank has accepted the position.

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 10/09/2014 15:11:16    1650636

The 5 year plan didnt last more than a few hours.

joncarter (Galway) - Posts: 2692 - 10/09/2014 17:15:14    1650686

grandagrokepoke
Clubs appoint delegates to the County Boards at their annual AGM's. Delegates attend monthly County Board meetings where they might raise issues concerning their own clubs, take part in general debates with the officers of the County board, discuss such issues as club registeration,disclipinary matters fixtures, transfers, insurance, fundraising,regrading of teams and players, general administration etc, vote on certain issues such as for example reoorganising a league competition etc.
The County Board through the Secretary or the chairman will inform the delegates of new rules or communications coming from Croke Park or the Provincial Council. The County board will also inform delegates of any upcoming seminars for club officers to attend. Delegates will also be informed of updates in relation to County Teams. A week or so after the meeting the club delegate will either attend a club executive meeting and inform them of what ensued at the County Board meeting or he will inform the Club Chairman who will inform the executive.
At the annual county convention delegates along with club Chairmen, Secretary's and PRO's get to vote on the composition of the County Board for the coming year. Delegates and other club officers may run for County Board office at the annual convention if they get nominated by a number of other clubs. If they are successful on the night i.e in the voting they will be appointed as an officer of the Board in the position to which they were nominated. If a club delegate gets appointed to a position on the County Board he or she will relinquish their position as delegate and will be replaced as delegate by somenone else from their club.

lilywhite1 (Kildare) - Posts: 2989 - 10/09/2014 19:30:55    1650730

Aye bumpernut it is a bit of a surprise alright on a few fronts. The timing for one thing given the very recent tragedy was the first thing that struck me but from a footballing perspective it leaves me scratching my head as to what exactly are the long term ambitions of our County (or the present incumbents on the Board). This is in no way intended as any slur on Fitzy as I like him as a person and also the way he goes about his business with regards to football. I also believe he will bring passion with him in bucket loads and who knows, may have the tonic that is needed to get our best footballers representing our county on a regular basis and with belief.

I am sure there are top managers out there who see the ability and potential is there in the County and would maybe relish the challenge of making it happen but we seem to not want to or maybe be in a position (financially) to and end up going for them and its this I struggle with. Surely the priority should be to get the best set up around your teams first and foremost to make sure you are realising your potentials and then the other financial burdens should fall in line after - money permitting of course. Not the way we seem to be doing it now where we look to see what change we have left in the purse after other ventures then throw this in to getting you a management team.

However, as I said, this isn't intended as any slur on Fitzy and I wish him all the best and will be behind him 100%.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 11/09/2014 12:25:04    1650903

There are too many egos, bigheads and jealousies in Antrim for the county to make any serious progress. If a fella like O'Rourke had come in and started to change things very soon the backstabbing and badmouthing behind his back would have started. There are people within Antrim GAA circles who are so parochial, insular and jealous that they would be quite happy to undermine anyone who makes progress especially an outsider. I despair for my county and walked away from the club scene a few years back so disillusioned was I. There are players in both hurling and football who are good enough to play senior county but who don't get a sniff because they don't play for the 'right' clubs or are outside the top division. Antrim is a lost cause.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9697 - 11/09/2014 21:43:43    1651186