Galway United

GUFC2009

simongurnick wrote: »

Great. Thanks
I used to check in on foot.ie but I think everyone there migrated off to the official site our something.
Thanks again

Ya that site has gone down hill, more commonly known now as fool.ie!

civis_liberalis

I read foot.ie regularly, but generally don't post.

It seems to be home to some great posters, but they are outnumbered by keyboard warriors, people who are banned from their own club's forum and kids who aren't old enough to make a valid contributions.

civis_liberalis

Thomas Heary signs for Galway United.

http://www.galwayunitedfc.ie/defender-added-to-squad

Galway United - Squad so far

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galway_United_F.C.#Current_Squad

simongurnick

civis_liberalis wrote: »

Thomas Heary signs for Galway United.

http://www.galwayunitedfc.ie/defender-added-to-squad

Galway United - Squad so far

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galway_United_F.C.#Current_Squad

Great signing. Brings some valuable experience

Utopia Parkway

What's the story with John Russell this season?

civis_liberalis

Russell is injured and is unlikely to be playing any football for something like 3 or 4 months.

I don't know his situation right now, but we may well offer him a contract when he recovers.

doninchina

Hello this is Don O'Riordan

After reading some comments on here about my time in Galway I had to laugh a couple of times because as usual I read some good some not so good and some rubbish comments about my time in Galway. I think some of the rubbish comes from people with short memoriies.

In my time in Galway (where I loved working and living by the way)(1) We won promotion in my 2nd season to the Premier League 1998-99 Season (2) We reached the semi final of the FAI Cup and lost to Finn Harps (3) We reached the semi final of the FAI Cup and lost to Shelbourne (4) We kept our premier League status 1999-2000 (5) We kept our Premier League status 2000-01 (6) We were the first team from the west of Ireland to lift a national cup when our youngsters beat St Josephs of Dublin in Terryland

When I left Galway United were relegated that season 2001-02 and didnt get back into the Prelier League till recently because they had the criteria needed to be a Premier League team

I started the GUFC youth policy which was a big success with Justin Neary doing a good job bringing players on.

I just like to say thanks to those of you who have good memories oh and regards not being able to handle the older players I have to disagree I didnt fall out with any of the lads I just had a budget I had to stay within and I wanted to try and intoroduce a younger element. Saying that I had Olly Neary Noel Mernagh Johnny Morris Burke and Ricky O Flaherty who were oldish (sorry lads) and we all got on really well.

Regarding Eric Lavine he was a great addition not only to Galway United but to Irish football. We actually get on great have never had a problem and I am in fact godfather to his son.

I loved my time in Galway and whenever Chinese people ask me about Ireland I say stay in the west keep clear of Dublin because the west is best what a beautiful part of the world Connemara is. I used to go to coach kids in a village in Connemara and it was a fantastic experience I will never forget.

I would like to wish Sean Connor the best of luck for the coming season from what Ive read he will be doing similar to what I did by looking to use local talent there is an abundance of talented players in the west you just need to trawl the west and find them.

Galway United will forever be in my heart I remember when I arrived Gerry Grey drove me to Terryland and just before we got to the gate he said you know Don we dont have any stands I said is the pitch good he said one of the best in Ireland (and still is well done Noel) I said thats all that matters to me. What a great man Gerry Grey was breaking his neck to get Galway back on the football map and we did it together but sadly he didnt get many more helping him and so the finacial situation caught up with us being in the Premier and having to pay more wages etc.

Obviously there are a few that maybe wouldnt want to see me back at the helm but there are a few that might and you never know football is strange. Sean doesnt have a thing to worry about I am not touting for his job as I will start a new chapter in my career in the next couple of weeks so watch this space as they say.

I was in South Africa recently coaching the Womens Under 20s in a World Cup Qualifier V Zambia which we won 6-0 but I have to say I saw the funniest thing ever when the Zambia squad came out to warm up they ran into our half of the pitch and performed what I can only say was some kind of magic dances all over the pitch but especially in our goal area. When we eventually did the toss up we won and changed ends and were 4-0 up at half time the "witchcraft" or magic had worked ok but against themselves so funny true story. Wonder will Galway try it next time they play in Sligo maybe not ha ha

Just like to say hello to all the Galway supporters waiting for the good times to return well dont sit there watching the EPL get up to Terryland and support the team your team and if enough turn up the lads may well respond with some good results. Give it a try you never know

Good luck to one and all

Don

ErnieBert wrote: »

Don is an excellent coach but his man-management skills were poor. He constantly washed his dirty laundry in public which was his ultimate downfall. In a nutshell, he fell out with players who were over the of of 23 or 24 most notably Eric Lavine in the car park in Longford in front of hundreds of people. Both became a laughing stock, allegedly.

Prior to his appointment as the manager of Galway United, Don was manager of Torquay United which was a disaster.

Bottom line: O'Riordan was a poor manager and he was truly found out when he got the job in Sligo were he was soon ran out of town after been thrashed 3 - 1 by Galway United in a Cup match in the Sligo Showgrounds.

What a spoofer.

doninchina

doninchina wrote: »

Hello this is Don O'Riordan

After reading some comments on here about my time in Galway I had to laugh a couple of times because as usual I read some good some not so good and some rubbish comments about my time in Galway. I think some of the rubbish comes from people with short memoriies.

In my time in Galway (where I loved working and living by the way)(1) We won promotion in my 2nd season to the Premier League 1998-99 Season (2) We reached the semi final of the FAI Cup and lost to Finn Harps (3) We reached the semi final of the FAI Cup and lost to Shelbourne (4) We kept our premier League status 1999-2000 (5) We kept our Premier League status 2000-01 (6) We were the first team from the west of Ireland to lift a national cup when our youngsters beat St Josephs of Dublin in Terryland

When I left Galway United were relegated that season 2001-02 and didnt get back into the Prelier League till recently because they had the criteria needed to be a Premier League team

I started the GUFC youth policy which was a big success with Justin Neary doing a good job bringing players on.

I just like to say thanks to those of you who have good memories oh and regards not being able to handle the older players I have to disagree I didnt fall out with any of the lads I just had a budget I had to stay within and I wanted to try and intoroduce a younger element. Saying that I had Olly Neary Noel Mernagh Johnny Morris Burke and Ricky O Flaherty who were oldish (sorry lads) and we all got on really well.

Regarding Eric Lavine he was a great addition not only to Galway United but to Irish football. We actually get on great have never had a problem and I am in fact godfather to his son.

I loved my time in Galway and whenever Chinese people ask me about Ireland I say stay in the west keep clear of Dublin because the west is best what a beautiful part of the world Connemara is. I used to go to coach kids in a village in Connemara and it was a fantastic experience I will never forget.

I would like to wish Sean Connor the best of luck for the coming season from what Ive read he will be doing similar to what I did by looking to use local talent there is an abundance of talented players in the west you just need to trawl the west and find them.

Galway United will forever be in my heart I remember when I arrived Gerry Grey drove me to Terryland and just before we got to the gate he said you know Don we dont have any stands I said is the pitch good he said one of the best in Ireland (and still is well done Noel) I said thats all that matters to me. What a great man Gerry Grey was breaking his neck to get Galway back on the football map and we did it together but sadly he didnt get many more helping him and so the finacial situation caught up with us being in the Premier and having to pay more wages etc.

Obviously there are a few that maybe wouldnt want to see me back at the helm but there are a few that might and you never know football is strange. Sean doesnt have a thing to worry about I am not touting for his job as I will start a new chapter in my career in the next couple of weeks so watch this space as they say.

I was in South Africa recently coaching the Womens Under 20s in a World Cup Qualifier V Zambia which we won 6-0 but I have to say I saw the funniest thing ever when the Zambia squad came out to warm up they ran into our half of the pitch and performed what I can only say was some kind of magic dances all over the pitch but especially in our goal area. When we eventually did the toss up we won and changed ends and were 4-0 up at half time the "witchcraft" or magic had worked ok but against themselves so funny true story. Wonder will Galway try it next time they play in Sligo maybe not ha ha

Just like to say hello to all the Galway supporters waiting for the good times to return well dont sit there watching the EPL get up to Terryland and support the team your team and if enough turn up the lads may well respond with some good results. Give it a try you never know

Good luck to one and all


Don

PS ernie forgot to say Torquay were in a disastrous position when I got there hanging around the bottom of the 4th DIvision every season fighting to avoid the drop to the conference. I along with Neil Warnock kept them up when they looked doomed I was given the job and we reached the playoffs losing to Preston in a very tough semi final I developed a group of young and older players and because of lack of experience I allowed my players to be sold thinking I could discover new talent and replace the players we sold. I brought 2 llads in from the carribean Gregory Goodridge and Rodney Jack who cost us nothing to bring in and who we sold for 1000000 for the pair and also sold Darren Moore Paul Trollope Paul Hall lads who went on to play Premier League football. SO overall it was not a disaster as you say and I read a quote recently by Mike Bateson the chairman in my time there who had a great record for sacking managers he said his biggest mistake as chairman was sacking Don ORiordan

Sorry Ernie I bet you never thought Id read your comments, did you ever go to a game by the way when I was in charge, or did you ever go to a game of football.

UnleashTheBeast

Hi Don,

I hope everything is going well for you over in China.

You might have heard, Bobby Ryan is on trial with United, hopefully he re-signs.


Good luck in your future endeavours - http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/developing/women/news/newsid=1168292.html#oriordan+nomadic+nurturer

doninchina

Thanks ever so much for your best wishes I will be off to pastures new on a new project soon but I cant say for now what it is but I will get a message on here soon and let you know

Time for bed now in China almost 1215am

Take care

Don

gufcfan

doninchina wrote: »

I used to go to coach kids in a village in Connemara and it was a fantastic experience I will never forget.

Hi Don,

We enjoyed having you out in Carraroe very much also.

I had never been to Terryland at the time and have been to every match I could since then. I can think of 4 or 5 other current and past season ticket holders that attended them also.

I never realised my potential as a keeper, since I haven't grown much taller since then . I have great memories of the soccer camps though.

I've brought up the issue many times over the years, but I'm always given a million reasons why it can't/won't/shouldn't be done.

Thankfully there are some moves happening to restore the club to somewhere near the structure it had when you were managing, but since clubs like Mervue and Devon have been doing such a good job in United's absence, it won't be easy.

Just to illustrate to people how healthy the youth structures at the club were at time, here is an article from the 99/00 FAI Cup Semi-Final.



I was only 15 or so at the time, so my only knowledge of the youth teams came from the match programmes, but from what I'm told, the performances of that particular u16 team was fairly indicative of how all the Utd youth teams were doing.

doninchina

Hello GUFC fan from Carraroe

I have to say when I went to Carraroe the kids were just fantastic. They were almost untouched by the outside world, not street wise no bad language so respectful and mannerly and full of smiles and so unusual to hear them speaking Irish as the 1st language but fluent in english too.

The first week we had about 10 kids and there is a quick story thet I tell about how we came to train the kids in the parish hall. I was told about the hall and I was unable to go to Carraroe before the first weeks training session to see how big it was but I needed to know. So I called the priest who said he didnt know how big it was in square feet or metres but it "danced 60 people" to which I replied "oh ok thats great see you saturday". When I put the phone down I thought to myself how big does that make it I had no idea I was trying to picture 60 people dancing in a room but which way were they dancing holding each other or apart I had really no idea if it would be big enough given that info but it was ok for the first week at least.

We had 20 then 30 then 40-50 kids as the weeks went on the word got out that it was fun etc and the summer camps were terrific as you said. I will never forget the BBQ we had with the kids on the beach after one of the days camps it was magical.

One of the best untouched places in the world was Carraroe and hopefully still is. I was delighted to spread the word of GUFC into connemara and to know people are still heading in from there to see games makes me very happy.

Please say hello to everyone in Carraroe especially any of the kids who came to training with us who are now not kids obviously, can you believe thats over 12 years ago so most of those kids probably have kids of their own now. Time flies my goodness.

Take care thanks again for the kind words

Don

gufcfan

Limerick v Galway United twitter updates

http://twitter.com/galwayunitedfc

Match kicked-off at 2pm.

Starting XI
Barry Ryan
Sinnott
Ami
Conneely
Myhill
Bobby Ryan
Foley
O'Donnell
O'Brien
Rodriguez
Sheppard

Subs
King
Enzenberger
McKenzie
Curran
Creaney.

ErnieBert

ErnieBert wrote: »

Don is an excellent coach but his man-management skills were poor. He constantly washed his dirty laundry in public which was his ultimate downfall. In a nutshell, he fell out with players who were over the of of 23 or 24 most notably Eric Lavine in the car park in Longford in front of hundreds of people. Both became a laughing stock, allegedly.

Prior to his appointment as the manager of Galway United, Don was manager of Torquay United which was a disaster.

Bottom line: O'Riordan was a poor manager and he was truly found out when he got the job in Sligo were he was soon ran out of town after been thrashed 3 - 1 by Galway United in a Cup match in the Sligo Showgrounds.

What a spoofer.

Hey Don,

Indeed I never thought you'd read it but haven't changed my opinion. Obviously I can hide behind my internet usernsame and you have identified yourself. My opening line was that you are an excellent coach which you have clearly outlined.

In hindsight, I regret saying that you are a spoofer but you are a master of spin, as you have illustrated above.

Your assumption that I never attended games when you were in charge are unfounded. I went to all home games and a lot of away games too. Nowadays, I bring my kids to games. I am a Galway United man through and through and this will never change.

I never officially met you but I often saw you in Elle's Cafe on Shop Street chatting to the staff.

Good luck with your work in China.


EB

Borders no.2

Wow this is kind of bizarre, not often you see managers appearing on forums!! No point dwelling in the past too much but there were some great memories around Terryland at that time. The cup games were always special.St. Pats game a great highlight.I always feel the Finn Harps game in the semi that year was a missed opportunity as that year seemed our best chance of winning the cup.

I feel that the connection between the club and supporters has faded in recent years and the club needs to work on making Galway United part of the community again.

I'm relatively hopeful Sean Connor can turn things around in the medium term in terms of making Galway United a sustainable community club but it will take time and hopefully Sean will stick around to see this job through for a few years.

Looking forward to the Hull game Friday night and hoping that can get the season off on a positive note.

Jordonvito

for the match on friday night, would I be able to just turn up and but tickets at the ground, or is it sold out, or whats the story?

Tedole

Don, if it is you, the club is hurting since you left. Actually, since you left, the club has become a team - just 11 players rather than something greater, but hopefully Sean Connor will change that. Mind you, if you ever want to return, and bring your youth policy with you, you know there will be a huge welcome for you.
Best wishes in whatever your next step is

Pinturicchio

Jordonvito wrote: »

for the match on friday night, would I be able to just turn up and but tickets at the ground, or is it sold out, or whats the story?

Ticket details: http://www.galwayunitedfc.ie/ticket-details-for-hull-city-game

Pinturicchio

UnleashTheBeast

Jordonvito wrote: »

for the match on friday night, would I be able to just turn up and but tickets at the ground, or is it sold out, or whats the story?

You could, but, it would be advisable to buy beforehand to save yourself the hassle of queuing.

If you're going to leave it till the night of the match, I wouldn't leave it any later than 7.00PM to buy your ticket or you'll be queuing for quite a while.

civis_liberalis

I agree with unleash the beast. There is a lot of interest in tickets and quite a few are being bought beforehand, but most people won't realise the how big the queues are likely to be with most just turning up on the night.

Col200sx

Read somewhere (can't remember where though) that Phil Brown was so disgusted with his side's performance against West Ham, that he cancelled his scheduled appearance on Goals on Sunday on Sky Sports.

Instead, he brought the whole Hull squad in on Sunday morning for a right bollocking and training session after:D

And as more punishment he's promised that he will put out a full strength side - so chance of seeing a few Irish internationals:)

Col200sx

Just went over to Zhivago on Shop St to buy them, got 3 adult tickets, handed €50 expecting to get a fiver back, but no, he asked me for €51, they are charging €2 booking fee PER TICKET.

I was about to say hang on a second and tell them where to go, but the club needs the support so I took them for the price.

Bear in mind you only find out at the till, as it's not advertised anywhere else.

That's bad form, €2 fee on a €15 ticket. That's a 13.3% mark up on the price.

Not happy with it:mad:

EDIT:
Proof (here's scanned receipt):

ScumLord

Col200sx wrote: »

Just went over to Zhivago on Shop St to buy them, got 3 adult tickets, handed €50 expecting to get a fiver back, but no, he asked me for €51, they are charging €2 booking fee PER TICKET.

I was about to say hang on a second and tell them where to go, but the club needs the support so I took them for the price.

Bear in mind you only find out at the till, as it's not advertised anywhere else.

That's bad form, €2 fee on a €15 ticket. That's a 13.3% mark up on the price.

Not happy with it:mad:

If they didn't mention the price anywhere their breaking the law. I can never get over this booking fee, that's a complete lie it's not a booking fee if your buying the ticket there and then.

fergiesfolly

Go back, get a refund and get them for face value in Terryland. Ticket office open till 1pm each day I believe. As a locally owned business, Zhivago should be ashamed of themselves charging that much. At the very least, they should donate a portion of this charge to the club.

mink_man

scum is what they are!

carmex21

If you buy them from the club then no fee.... if you pm me I can give you the number of someone to call to get them...Got mine already ....better not be raining / snowing / -15 !!

ScumLord

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Go back, get a refund and get them for face value in Terryland. Ticket office open till 1pm each day I believe. As a locally owned business, Zhivago should be ashamed of themselves charging that much. At the very least, they should donate a portion of this charge to the club.

They more than likely get them at a discount anyway to cover the costs associated with selling them. The rest of the money goes to the club, if the club needs more money they should raise the price of the ticket. This is a bizarre thing for Zhivago to do when they're not the sole supplier and people can and more than likely will go else where.

Foxx92

Faz Kudozovic has signed for GUFC according to a number of papers. Add to that Bobby ryan is close to signing and John Russell hasn't left yet that potentially leaves a midfield of Derek O'Brien, Bobby Ryan, Stephen O'Donnell, Faz and possibly Russell. Not much better in the league at the moment!

siltirocker

Foxx92 wrote: »

Faz Kudozovic has signed for GUFC according to a number of papers. Add to that Bobby ryan is close to signing and John Russell hasn't left yet that potentially leaves a midfield of Derek O'Brien, Bobby Ryan, Stephen O'Donnell, Faz and possibly Russell. Not much better in the league at the moment!

Bobby Ryan is past it imo shame he didn't do well at Dunferimline, but still that's a healthy looking midfield.