They Said It ....

July 2005

“It gives me no pleasure to see Offaly losing by that margin at Croke Park or anywhere else. All of us involved in the game love hurling and we’re interested in the game’s welfare. Offaly were All-Ireland champions in 1998, they were in the final in 2000. The respect we have for Offaly is born out of many years of suffering at their hands over the last 30 years."
Kilkenny manager Brian Cody has a degree of sympathy for an Offaly side that suffered a 31-point mauling at the hands of the Cats.

“If you take some of our players from the furthest points of north-west Donegal they were up at 8.00 on Sunday morning to meet the team bus in Letterkenny which then travelled south to Donegal town and on to Clones. I'd say they didn't get back to Gweedore until close to midnight on Sunday night after a swim in Murvagh and a meal in the Abbey Hotel.”
Brian McEniff explains the logistical difficulties for some of his players after their Ulster quarter final against Armagh was moved from Ballybofey to Clones

"There has been a lot of talk, innuendo and newspaper speculation that Ger was approached by us. It is simply not true. As a board we have had no contact with him, and neither has he been in communication with us.”
Limerick County Board Chairman Denis Holmes insists there’s no substance to claims that Ger Loughnane has been approached to manage the Munster County in 2006

I decided two days after we lost to Laois that I wouldn’t be continuing training with Offaly. I work as an electrician, I’m self-employed, and the workload is heavy at this time of year. The fact that I wasn’t in the team for the match against Laois wasn’t a big deal for me, as when I rejoined the panel in January it was on the understanding that I would be content to help out by coming on as a sub in matches.”
Offaly’s Jimmy Grennan explains the reason for his intercounty retirement in June

“We fixed a date for our football final as long ago as last October and a move to July 17 would mean that the losers of our final would have a week left to prepare for the fourth round of the All-Ireland qualifiers. We also found that a change of date could also disappoint many overseas fans.”
Connacht Council Chairman John Prenty is adamant that his provinces football final will not be moved simply because the Ulster final has been brought back by a week

“Fellas like Damien Diver, Brian Roper and Adrian Sweeney, they’ve been playing for ten years and have nothing to show for it. They have played over 100 games for Donegal, given great service, but they don’t even have a McKenna Cup medal in their back pocket.”
Barry Monaghan bemoans the lack of success that the current Donegal squad have enjoyed

"It was my worst nightmare come true. In sport you have to dream. We dreamed we could come here and beat Kilkenny but this was our worst nightmare and we have to deal with it.”
John McIntyre reflects on the hammering his Offaly side suffered against Kilkenny in the Leinster semi-final