Per head of population there are more fanatics in Armagh than in any other county in Ireland.
I have absolutely no evidence to support this claim. It’s just a hunch. But, it’s 100 per cent true.
Take last week, I was lying on the sofa, hopelessly mining for gold on Twitter.
Twitter rarely delivers, but now and again, you get a nugget. And last week I struck gold.
A Twitter account-holder using the alias ‘Our Ma’ posted pen pics of the Armagh squad that reached the 1977 All-Ireland final.
The pen pics were fascinating.
Footballers didn’t just have longer hair in the 70s. They had different jobs.
Most of them were smaller and considerably lighter too.
Let’s start with occupations. The team that lined out against Dublin in 1977 was as follows:
Brian McAlinden (cabinet maker), Denis Stevenson (computer engineer), Tom McCreesh (company representative), Jim McKerr (steel erector), Kevin Rafferty (joiner), Paddy Moriarty (solicitor), John Donnelly (student), Joe Kernan (car component salesman), Colum McKinstry (process operator), Larry Kearns (meat processor), Jimmy Smyth (P.E. teacher), Noel Marley (fruit grower), Sean Devlin (barman), Peter Trainor (student teacher) and Peter Loughran (joiner).
Obviously, the professions that jump out are: cabinet maker, steel erector, joiner (x two), process operator, meat processor, fruit grower, and barman.
That’s eight members of the team. Not many county players do those jobs any more.
Reading through the player profiles, the thought struck me that it would be interesting to compare the occupations of the men from ’77 with the current team.
Little did I realise the job I had taken on. No one told me the Ulster Council no longer publishes pen pics.
Why would anyone buy a match programme at £5 that doesn’t tell you the age, height, weight and toughest opponent of your favourite county men?
Undeterred by Ulster Council’s decision to abandon this age-old GAA tradition, I did some digging.
Here are the occupations of the Armagh team that beat Derry in Celtic Park.
Starting in goals: stock control administrator, actuary, joiner, teacher, student, teacher, physiotherapist, teacher, IT consultant, teacher, coach, sales manager, men’s clothing retailer, student, teacher.
Aye, just the five teachers. One tradesman. No manual workers. And no fruit growers.
Contrary to what I expected, there wasn’t a seismic height difference between the two teams.
In the ’77 side, there were five men who were six foot or taller: Tom McCreesh (6ft 1in), Joe Kernan (6ft 1in), Colum McKinstry (6ft 3in), Larry Kearns (6ft 2in) and Jimmy Smyth (6ft 2in).
In Celtic Park, Armagh had nine six-footers Paddy Burns (6ft), Ryan Kennedy (6ft), Mark Shields (6ft), Oisin O’Neill (6ft 2in), Stephen Sheridan (6ft 1in), Rory Grugan (6ft 1in), Stefan Campbell (6ft 2in), Rian O’Neill (6ft 3in) and Jarlath Og Burns (6ft 3in).
It’s actually the weight of the current generation which is more striking.
In 1977, wing half-back Kevin Rafferty tipped the scales at just 10st 5lbs, marginally heavier than Tony McCoy when he was racing.
On the other wing, John Donnelly was a very slender 11st.
The respective full-forward lines warrant a comparison.
In ’77, Sean Devlin (12st 2lbs), Peter Trainor (11st 7lbs) and Peter Loughran (11st 7lbs) had an average weight of 11st 10lbs.
In 2020, Jamie Clarke (12st 7lbs), Rian O’Neill (13st 7lbs) and Jarlath Og Burns (14st) had an average weight of around 13st 5lbs – more than a stone heavier.
The players who came off the bench in 1977 were also very light and lean by today’s standards.
Jim Loughran (23, 5ft 11in, bricklayer, brother of Peter) was 11st 7lbs. Sean Daly (26, 5ft 9in, sawyer) was 11st 7lbs and Frank Toman (25, 5ft 7in, process operator) was also 11st 7lbs.
The lightest player on the current Armagh team is goalkeeper Blaine Hughes.
Listed at 76kg on the Armagh GAA website, he’s just shy of 12st.
Otherwise the vast majority of Armagh’s modern crop are 13st or heavier.
Now, are they heavier because they’re sitting at desks and no longer erecting steel and processing meat?
Or, is it because they’re lifting weights and carrying more muscle?
Judging by what I saw in Celtic Park, I reckon muscle is the right answer.
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I REALLY enjoyed writing last week’s column about the late Sean Smith, the visionary manager who achieved great success with his innovative and ground-breaking methods.
It was a pleasurable experience because normally when writing about such individuals, I have to rely on the insights and testimony of other footballers.
With Sean, it was that very rare situation where I could provide information based on my own first-hand experience.
Judging by the feedback I received on that article, it seems Sean was even further ahead of the curve than I realised.
I won an All-Ireland Freshers’ medal under Sean in 1992/1993.
The individual below won an All-Ireland Freshers’ medal with Sean a decade earlier.
Here are his memories: “I read your Article on ‘the Master.’
“I could relate to everything, namely his genius and his tactics.
“He was implementing these same tactics and training methods in 1981.
“I served under this general in two all-Irelands in 1981 (Freshers) and 1983 (Trench Cup).
“There was only going to be one winner.
“He had no time for individuals. It was all about the team.
“What a pleasure to have known and served this larger than life character.
“I was a Division Four footballer at the time and I represented my county. Such was the influence on my career of this remarkable man.”
