Glen Emmets Chairman Mannix Carolan remains optimistic about the club's future but feels that structures in the county discriminate against junior clubs. Speaking to Gerry Robinson, he calls for a major re-think at County Board level. Since winning the 1997 junior championship, things have not been going quite according to plan for Glen Emmets. The Tullyallen men returned to a junior decider in 2000 but the disappointment of losing that game (to Annaghminnon Rovers) seems to have got to them in a big way if their '01 showing is anything to judge by. Simply put, Glen Emmets' form over the course of the season just ended was disappointing and, frankly, surprising. They struggled badly but Chairman Mannix Carolan insists it was more of a 'one-off' rather than a reflection of how things are going to be henceforth. "We still feel we have a good enough team to move up and hold our own in intermediate ranks. We're hoping that 2001 was just a 'Time Out' And that we'll have better luck next year. "Okay, we had a terrible year but it's not the end of the world and we can bounce back. We were very disappointed after losing the junior final the previous year and that definitely set us back. We had further setbacks when our long-serving player Leo Ryan retired and both Kevin Leddy and Jack Carolan [Mannix's brother] were ruled out with injuries. That was three strong players gone straight away which was a big problem. "We are concerned about how things worked out, but not overly concerned. Sometimes everything just goes wrong at once. We hope to have all our players back next year and it should be a different story. "We just always seemed to be struggling for players in 2001 and when the lads got injured it just added to the problem. But there were still a lot of players who gave great commitment to the club during the year and they deserve to be recognised for their efforts. The developments going on within the club should give us all a lift." And so to those "developments". What have the Emmets got up their sleeves? Few will be shocked to learn that the levelling of one of the county's most (in)famous pitches is a priority: "We have a good strong committee here and we started a fund-raising lotto which is proving successful and is providing us with the money we need to get things done. "We have put in a planning application to level the field and include two pitches. That's the first phase and we hope to get started on that next June. It's a terrible pitch at the moment with a serious slope but we're going to re-align and relocate it so we have both a playing pitch and a training pitch. The idea is to create natural viewing banks for spectators as well. We want to have a proper pitch both to play on and watch . . . at the moment it's impossible to do either." It's something Glen Emmets are determined to do properly, so they've engaged professional consultants. "It's the kind of thing you only do once, so it's very important to do it properly," Mannix notes. "We fully intend to bring it up to the standard of any other pitch in the county. In the long term, we'll also be putting in walls and a stand and we'll then look at a clubhouse." Mannix Carolan's ambition is the very reason why he makes such a good Chairman. Formerly club Secretary in the '80s, he became Chairman for the first time in 2001. "I just decided to go for it," he says. "I spoke to a few people and they said to go for it, so I did. My aim is to improve things right across the board . . . not just the team but the club in general." There's a lot of work to be done bearing in mind that the Emmets didn't even field for some games towards the season's end. "No club likes to be unable to field but the timing of the games was disastrous for us. When you're struggling, things just tend to go from bad to worse. We really don't think we're in any serious trouble and I believe we'll be okay. "We were beaten in a play-off three years ago and had put in a sustained effort to get up out of junior since then but it just didn't happen. Losing the 2000 final was the culmination of years of effort and was a big blow, especially as we felt we had an excellent chance. Even after the county final that year, we were still well up in the league. But the week after the championship final we lost to Wolfe Tones, a result which effectively put us out of the running. "Sean McDermotts won the league that year and look at how far they've come since. Dreadnots and O'Connells were first and second the previous year and we were third. That shows what can be achieved. Unfortunately for us, we just got caught on a downward slope instead of an upward curve, but we're ready to turn the corner now." Of course, there's more to the club than just their first team: "Our minors were part of an amalgamation with Collon and Hunterstown and they won the Division Two league. We had a strong team but just didn't play well enough on the day against Valley Rangers in the championship. "Glen Emmets have a lot of very good young players coming through, especially in the younger grades of juvenile where we have a lot of parental interest and big crowds turning up. The more we can improve the standard, the more people we can get involved. Of course, we're also aware of the fact that parents won't bring their kids over unless we have the facilities, which is exactly why we're working so hard behind the scenes as well." When should we expect to see a marked improvement? "We're expecting to get a big move on and there will be huge changes by 2003 at the latest. We have out lotto going well and enjoy tremendous support from the parish so I don't see too many problems. We're one of the fastest-growing parishes in the county, so it's crucial that we have the facilities in place to be able to cope with the anticipated numbers. "It's up to us to make a start now, because the population is increasing and will continue to do so. Even though our first team didn't have a good year, we don't see that as a serious drawback. We feel that these are exciting times for Glen Emmets and that our future is going to be a big one." Finally, what are Glen Emmets' hopes and ambitions for 2002? "We're hoping that the County Board will do something to remedy junior football in general because only having seven teams in one grade is ridiculous. We played 20 games in 1999 and it was a great league - we had a game every week. "But last year we got to a county final, having played only one game in the championship. Young Irelands did the same this year. It's a crazy system. "There are only seven junior teams and they're the only clubs who are concerned about the plight of junior football in Louth . . . nobody else cares. "It's very difficult to motivate and encourage lads to give commitment to a league with only seven teams in it. It's not good enough and we'd call for the structure to be changed. Junior football in the county had deteriorated and will become even poorer unless something is done quickly at County Board level." Tweet

Most Read Stories