Club Involvement
My grandfather was the first ever captain of Galwegians in 1922 and was captain for five years, which I think was the longest serving captain of the club.
I played under 18’s with Wegians in 1977. I then left to work in Dublin before returning to the club until around 1984.
Before being elected Chairman at this year’s AGM, I had previously served as Club Chairman from 1996 to 1999 when professional rugby evolved.
Playing Highlights
We won the Connacht Senior league in 84/85 season and won the Connacht Senior Cup in 1986 beating Athlone (before Buccaneers!). Played with the thirds and seconds before and after 88/89.
I was Club Captain in 88/89 following a family tradition, and we were pipped in the ’89 Senior Cup Final by UCG. We also lost narrowly in the Junior Cup final in 1992 to Monivea.
Best Players Played With
I was lucky to have played with a lot of great players including Paud Finn, Billy Quinn, Joe Healy, Eric Elwood and our current Pres Mike Tarpey.
Best Opponents
Athlone players such as the Henshaw brothers Dave & Tony ( father of you know who!) and Tommy Conlon were all difficult players.
Career outside Galwegians
After a career in retail and wholesale, I remain very involved in the wine trade as an importer and distributer.
Aspirations for the Club
We have a big two months ahead of us. The future of the club is now at a very interesting crossroads. We need to move and clear our debt and thankfully there is a great financial offer for Glenina at this time. This will afford us the opportunity to move to new grounds and offer state of the art facilities to future generations of Galwegians.
I cannot stress the how important this is. We need to move and move very soon, otherwise we will not have a club in five years’ time.
