BUNRATTY FC.... A LOT
MORE THAN JUST A FOOTBALL TEAM
By Dermot mcKee (Clare Champion)
Success: achievement; accomplishment; victory. In the world of football, how many times have we heard great success, and failure, explained away with a cliché beginning, ‘all things considered….’? If the measure of success is, indeed, to consider all aspects of an achievement, an accomplishment, or a victory, then it is with bewildered awe with which this writer steps back and contemplates the continuing rise of Bunratty FC.
A football club competing merely 11 years, Bunratty’s trophy cabinet is already bursting at the seams, holding a Premier League and a First Division title, two Third Division trophies, two Carling Cups, three Youths titles and a Youths Cup –all this with an ‘A’ team squad averaging just 23 years. Their most recent, and most spectacular haul came just last month, when they rounded off a magnificent season by capturing the Premier League and Carling Cup double, a feat seen none too often around the playing fields of Clare. Indeed, it was the club’s second double in three years, as, in 1999, Bunratty captured the first of their two Carling Cups after they had marched to the First Division title.
Ardent football fans have watched in amazement over the past decade as Manchester United have picked up championship after championship, and become the first club in England to secure the Premier League and FA Cup double on no less than three occasions. While I have no intentions of comparing the achievements of one of Europe’s greatest clubs to the bread and butter of the Clare and District Soccer League, I am of the opinion that it takes a great team to win a double at any level, professional or amateur. I asked Jim Toomey, the man who led Bunratty to their brilliant double last season, what makes his squad so special. “It’s the continuity in the team,” he says. “They same crop of players have come through the ranks over the past few years. Most of our Youths team from 1995 through 1999 makes up today’s squad.”
True to that fact, six of Bunratty’s starting line-up for the Cup Final have all played together since the age of 14 or 15. Cup Final goalkeeper Sam Higgins, full-backs Michael Devitt and Dan Sheedy, captain David Hogan and midfield maestros David Considine and Shane O’ Connor were all part of Bunratty’s beaten Munster Youths Cup semi-finalists of 1998, while those like Fintan Quin, Eoin Nash and Declan Adams have played for the club since its inception in 1990. Toomey, commenting on what he believes is a “huge loyalty” factor at the club, also makes the observation that very few players leave Bunratty FC after joining. He makes reference to the camaraderie and team spirit within the club as a whole, paying tribute to the fact that new players, after a couple of months at Woulfe Park, feel as if they have been playing there for years. Midfielder David Considine, scorer of the first of Bunratty’s two Carling Cup Final goals, echoes his manager’s sentiments, pointing out that the squad is as closely knit off the pitch as it is on.
With regard to the team’s exploits on the pitch, it seems years of hard work at underage level are now paying off for the senior team. Bunratty competed with practically the same squad at Under-16 Level, and on to Youths, from 1994 through to 1999. That crop of players brought the first piece of silverware to the club at the end of the 1994/95 season, winning the Under-16 league, after which they marched on to three Youths League titles in four years between 1995 and 1999. A rich blend of youth and experience was what won the first of their doubles in 1999, while an amazing thirteen of the ‘A’ team squad last season was under the age of 22. It’s almost frightening to think that a squad so young is beginning to stamp its authority over Clare soccer, and it poses the inevitable question: can they now go on to retain their titles and dominate the local scene during the next decade? In order to do that, the Rats would have to overcome fierce competition from the likes of Avenue, Newmarket and St. Pat’s, which, as Considine rightly points out, will only get worse for the Bunratty next season. “When you’re winning, everyone wants to knock you,” he says.
Captain David Hogan reiterates that fact, but is adamant that his team are no longer the surprise package, the dark horses, or the underdogs. Hogan refers to the unending rivalry between Bunratty and the Ennis teams, and insists that rivalry is justified. He feels there is now a mutual respect between the top teams in Clare football, and that other clubs are now realising just how big a deal Bunratty FC is on its way to becoming. My questions are answered with an assured confidence, a trait which shows when Toomey outlines how far he thinks his young side can go. He states that his side have the potential to attain provincial success in the future, but not yet. “They need to be exposed to more big games,” he says, “and they’ll get that next season when competing in the Munster Senior Cup, the Munster Junior Cup, and the FAI. On their day, this team is as good as anyone in Munster, but they need more experience.”
David Jones, ‘A’ team coach and recently-elected Chairman of the club, agrees with Toomey and highlights the fact that Bunratty have yet to pit their wits against the major players in Munster football, and have never come up against the likes of Fairview and Janesboro of Limerick, or St. Michael’s of Tipperary. “We have never gone that far, and, to date, we haven’t been good enough to get as far as those teams,” says Jones. It seems to be a recurring theme in the provincial and national cups that Clare football never matches up to its neighbours in the Limerick league, at junior or schoolboy level. Park Rangers’ defeat of Avenue in the FAI Cup last season, and Limerick City’s 9-0 mauling of Bunratty’s youths two years ago seem proof of that. Bunratty’s players seem to view the level of football played in Limerick as something to strive for, and take pride from their recent back-to-back victories in the Park Rangers Wesley Webb pre-season tournament, the general consensus being, attaining the level of football played outside their own county may lead to provincial or national success.
While Toomey warns of the pitfalls facing his team and their quest for further glory, he simply cannot quell the sheer magnitude of his players’ hunger and ambition. Hogan states that Bunratty are considered a good team now following their success, but, in order to be considered great, would have to do it all again next season. Considine outlines his own ambition for the club’s success in two words – ‘provincial’ and ‘national’. There is not a hint of arrogance in his or Hogan’s voice, rather a deeply rooted aspiration for greatness. Hogan categorically states that his team has learned its lesson about its place in the local footballing circle, and points to major defeats against Kilmaley in the league and Burren United in the cup in a mediocre season 1999/2000 as the team’s wake-up call. It is evident that success breeds desire at Bunratty FC, a desire which could unlock these players’ massive potential and drive them to the top, to where they so desperately want to belong.
Should they fail to realise their dreams, Bunratty’s players will not moan and complain, but rather, will lay the blame squarely on their own doorstep. For it is the players who run the club now, both on the pitch and behind the scenes. David Jones, 23-years-young, was unanimously voted in as the club’s Chairman at their AGM last month. David Hogan became his Vice-Chairman, while the club’s Committee is now made up of at least one player from the ‘A’ team, the ‘B’ team, and the Youths. As the team continues its amazing growth on the pitch, Jones and co. will be doing their utmost to ensure the club prospers both financially and communally off the pitch. The development of the field at Woulfe Park is a source of immense pride at the club, and the ‘A’ team were delighted with the new set of gear they received prior to the Cup Final, sponsored by Eoin Gavin Transport. The Committee have earmarked the dressing rooms as next for an overhaul, with work due to be completed by Christmas. The club website, created by former Youths star John Naughton, is constantly reviewed and updated, and the brief history and achievements of this club can be seen at www.bunrattyfc.com.
It is when you converse with members of Bunratty Football Club that you realise it is much more than the sum of its parts. Given the new backroom structure, you could almost go as far as to say that Bunratty FC is now a club run by a group of friends, playing and working for each other. There is a tremendous sense of community at the club, brought upon by sustained growth and success. Considine sums it up by stating that no other club in Clare appears to be growing like Bunratty is, and it would be hard to disagree with him. The development of the club, now charged to its more youthful members, would never have been possible had it not been for the efforts of a tireless few, most notably the late PJ Woulfe, one of the founder members of Bunratty FC. PJ’s legacy lives on at the club he helped build, and Woulfe Park will never just be a soccer field to the Rats. Toomey recalls one summer in the early ‘90s when PJ took an entire week’s holidays from work to ensure the development of the pitch (ongoing, back then) was done right.
Jones, as Chairman, now views his role as an opportunity to repay the local legend for all his efforts. In an attitude I found common with a lot of the players, especially those who knew PJ, Jones firmly believes that the achievement of the Rats to date was made easier by the relentless development, fund-raising and sponsorship work of those who have gone before him, and that continued success and expansion is the only way to repay the likes of John Jones, Tom Ryan, Joan Boland and the irrepressible Gerry Hayes, who had picked up where PJ left off.
The club, however, is not without its flaws. One major problem Jones has identified is the chronic lack of underage players at his disposal. Indeed, for the second year running, Bunratty will not be able to field teams in the Under-14 and Under-16 leagues in the coming season. It seems the hard work done throughout the ‘90s that is now paying off for the senior teams has come at a price. While the ‘A’, ‘B’ and Youths teams have all had triumphant seasons in recent years, the development of their would-be successors has been sorely neglected.
Jones also states how much more difficult it is becoming to rely on one playing field to sustain six or seven teams. The club, as a whole, wants to expand, and, therefore, would ideally like a second pitch. Such a massive undertaking could, however, cripple the club financially. Sponsorship is one thing, and the club could not be more grateful to the likes of Mac’s Pub, Kathleen’s Irish Pub, Fitzpatrick’s Shannon Shamrock Hotel and Durty Nelly’s for their help down through the years, and, more recently, The Creamery, Eoin Gavin Transport and Lufthansa, but constructing a playing field is a completely different matter.
But problems can be resolved. Difficulties can be overcome. The Rats are heading in one direction – up, and no one is going to stand in their way. The aforementioned communal atmosphere is not a deception, put on simply for the public image of the club. Rats players take to the field for the crest on the front of their jerseys, not the number on their backs. Testament to that fact, I found, was the attitudes of both Hogan and Considine. Hogan, the team captain, who lifted both trophies last season, and Considine, scorer of the first goal in the Cup Final, didn’t bat an eyelid when Toomey declared there were places up for grabs next season. Stating that he had at least six irreplaceable players, Toomey commented that no team is perfect, is constantly looking to improve and was always recruiting new players. Hogan and Considine agree whole-heartedly, and happily admit that they would rather sit on the bench and win, than play every match and finish second.
It is an attitude rampant through the club, at all ages and levels, and would have to be seen and experienced to be believed. When it was suggested that star players like gifted midfield inspiration Shane O’ Connor, recently voted the ‘A’ Team Player of the Year, and the lethally prolific Brian Casey, the Club Top Goalscorer, could walk away from Bunratty and into the arms of the nearby semi-professional outfits, I am, in turn, asked: ‘why would they want to?’ I am informed that the players beside them on the pitch are more than team-mates, they are their friends.
Watch this space. In five years’ time, you could be reading about the exploits of the Rats in the Munster Junior Cup, or even the FAI. If the past record of Clare teams is anything to go by, however, you won’t be reading much. No Clare team has ever had provincial or national success on the footballing circuit, not once…. You could be reading about the opening of a second playing field in the small tourist village of Bunratty, to accommodate its growing legions of players and teams. Given the cost involved though, you could almost certainly rule that out….. Or you could be reading about how hurling has remained the dominant sport in Clare, supported by thousands of loyal fans, longing for a return to the glory days of Loughnane, even as the memory of his love affair with the Championship falls under Biddy Early’s spell……
Don’t bet on it though. The Rats are young, talented, organised and hungry. Hungry for success. A club that does things the right way is a club that wins trophies. If there was ever a force to put Clare football on the map, it’s Bunratty FC. Why? Because, according to its captain, it’s a hell of a lot more than just a football team.