Like many another former top senior club which has fallen on hard times in recent years, Arva has ambitions to reclaim its erstwhile premier spot in Cavan's premier football competitions. If Eamonn Gray's optimism is anything to go by the club's resurgence may occur sooner rather than later. Eamonn Gray was Arva's team-manager when the club won the blue riband junior championship in 1993. Nearly ten years later, he's carving out a name for himself, not as an award-winning mentor, but as an able and astute GAA administrator. The outgoing chairman of the famed blues, Eamonn has just finished his first year in the hot-seat. It appears the experience hasn't obliterate his sense of enthusiasm or gra for matters football: "I enjoyed my year in the job; probably even more, in fact, than I thought I would when I first took up the position. "No matter what job you take up though, there's always a settling-in period and 2001 was just that for me. I was more or less finding my feet and acting mostly in an observational role. "I was lucky though in that I could count on a lot of people on the committee who have a tremendous amount of administrative experience and who are very au fait with county board rules and directives and so on. "There was also a tremendous level of goodwill shown to me by both members of the executive, players and supporters and I appreciated that. "Arva is a very strong club with a great tradition and spirit. It's great to be part of the club even when there's no silverware about," Eamonn enthuses. The former team-manager turned club chairman is non-committal when invited to finger his preferred GAA role but he does admit there is a big difference between "managing a football team and helping to manage a club." "In sporting terms, both are relatively difficult, time-consuming tasks. He suggests that on balance, of the two roles, he'd probably be away from house and home that bit more while wearing the team-manager's hat, but only just, he cautions. Either way, it seems that Eamonn's involvement at whatever level and in whatever capacity with Arva GFC is of the proverbial labour of love variety. Very commendable considering that he's a 'blow-in' from Dromard in nearby Longford! It's not today or yesterday that Eamonn took up a position at the coalface of football affairs in Arva. A former player with the club many moons ago, he played a significant role in pulling the club up by its boot laces back in the early nineties after it had nose-dived dramatically from the top echelon of Cavan football. "The club was at a low ebb as the nineties came around as the seniors went from senior championship material to junior ranks. The days of us having five players on the county panel fast became a fading memory. "But we managed to coax a few of the more experienced players to come back and give it another go and the result of that was a junior championship title in '93. "Things continued to go well for a while after that when we reached the intermediate final in '94 and gained promotion into division two. A few players then retired and those teams gradually broke up. It was hard to replace that sort of experience." Certainly with the likes of Conal Conneely, Mel Bouchier, Sean Kiernan and Cyril Sheridan on the scene, Arva were a potent force but their subsequent retirement left Arva with serious re-grouping to do. "The club has worked tremendously hard in the intervening years at underage level to bring some good talent through and the fruits of that labour is bound to show in the next couple of years. "2001 was a year in which the progress that the seniors have been making over recent years was maintained and for the coming year I would be hopeful that we can be challenging for league and championship honours. "The current bunch of senior players has shown great commitment over the past year with an average of 25 turning out for training on a regular basis. "Ciaran O'Reilly had the players well prepared during the year and although things didn't go as well as we had hoped in the championship, I though the team showed a lot of potential and ability over the course of the league campaign. "The team had its injury problems during the year with players like Sean Donnelly, Patrick Mulligan, Tommy Brady and Niall Brady all missing a few games apiece which didn't help matters. "We were pleased to see the adult reserve team doing so well though. The team ended up just a point away from making the semi-final. "The players can't be faulted for their efforts over the past year and I firmly believe that the coming year will see the team continue to improve and with the continued goodwill and generosity shown by our various sponsors and with all the structures in place, I see no reason why the club as a whole cannot continue to move forward." With local school principal Fintan Mulvey making his presence felt on the underage coaching scene and the Ciaran O'Reilly school of coaching expected to reap dividends sooner rather than later at adult level, Eamonn feels that success on the field of play in the coming years is very much a realistic proposition. Certainly with experienced players such as John Hamilton, Tommy Brady, Niall Brady, Damian Maguire, Jim Gaffney, Oliver Miney and Sean Donnelly, among others, set to add the weight of their experience to Arva's bid for junior league and championship silverware in the coming year, 2001 looks like being a most interesting year for the Blues. Yes indeed, 2002 could reveal a lot about Arva's potential. But what does Eamonn believe is the missing piece(s) in the jigsaw as things stand with regard to the club's senior footballers? "Not a lot. Perhaps a bit of self-belief and the confidence that goes with that. It's a very even standard at junior championship and division three levels and it's important that a team has the necessary experience to make an impact. "I feel the current Arva panel has just about got the right balance between experience and youth now and so we'll be disappointed if the team doesn't make the latter stages of both the league and the championship in the coming year." Meanwhile, development work off the field is continuing pace as Arva seek to enhance its facilities at its well-appointed home ground. "We plan to put in place better accommodation for players and supporters. Public toilets will be constructed plus a referees' dressing-room and we'll also be upgrading the players' dressing-rooms. "With our 133-strong members lotto going well, we should be okay on the financial front to carry out the work we have in mind. "The club did experience some low points at the end of the eighties and the mid-nineties but I believe that we can go from strength to strength from here on. The willingness is there among the players and everyone connected with the club and I'm looking forward to 2002 with a lot of optimism." Tweet

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