Dinny "Pop" O'Neill is one of the grand old men of Cork football. Scratch that old. Sunday morning week was a bad one up in Knocknaheeny and the first Grattan Utd man up was Dinny, the 71 one year old getting on with his usual job of hanging the nets.
Dinny, now the club President, remembers watching Grattan play as far back as 1932. He eventually played junior and intermediate with the club, following spells with St Paul's and Freebooters.
They were one of the leading intermediates club and, as juniors, were founder members of the Cork AUL in 1947. Since then, championship triumphs have been rare for Grattan. Their latest success was in the City Cup in 1988/89.
Georgie Murphy and keeper Joe Lynch have given great service to the club over the years and it is they who are now providing guidance as the team, who play in One A, is being rebuilt. George is delighted that they have been able to attract new blood to the club and hopes to be challenging for promotion next season.
Dinny "Pop" reckons that the standard of junior football has gone down over the years. He could get an argument on that score around Knocknaheeny, the home of Temple and Castleview, among others, but no one will argue that Dinny's level of enthusiasm has diminished. Long may he continue putting up those nets.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment