Eamonn O'Hara retires

Say Your Number

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/sligo-s-eamonn-o-hara-retires-from-inter-county-football-1.1392751
One of the best players of his generation, Probably deserved to finish with more than one Connacht medal after 19 years service

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5ZjZUmrDBQ

Boots234

Legend

Syferus

Some player. Hard to like as an opponent but easy to admire.

James Kilkullen's addition to the Sligo panel probably meant O'Hara became expendable even on the bench and him not being able to commit to early season training because of work may have put the nail in the coffin. An inelegant end for such a great servant but that happens a lot these days.

theoneeyedman

I never rated ohara as highly as he obviously rated himself. He exploded onto the scene znd peaked imo around 01 or 02 and pretty much lived on his reputation ever since. The video above is a magnificent one, and is as significant as it is brilliant, but even at this stage of his carreer he was seriously on the wane. His behaviour on the field also takes a lot from any legacy imo; some of the stuff he indulged in over the years would put Paul Galvin to shame. However in spite of being less talented than Galvin, he was given a free ride in the media. I'm hoping his comments and demeanor on the Sunday Game is better than I've witnessed on the field towards his opponents over the years.

Great footballer. Best of luck to him in retirement. The great players dont always get what they deserve in life but i'm glad he has a few provincial medals for his troubles at the very least

Say Your Number

Deleted User wrote: »

Great footballer. Best of luck to him in retirement. The great players dont always get what they deserve in life but i'm glad he has a few provincial medals for his troubles at the very least

He only has the one from 2007, He was on the losing side in 4 finals.

Daroxtar

I was in his class in secondary school, Benada Abbey. We won an All Ireland colleges B title back in 92 when Sligo teams never won anything. He was incredible that day.
He scored a thunderbolt of a goal from about 40 yards for our club Tourlestrane in the 94 county final, turning the game and giving us our first county title since 82. We won 6 more since and he was at the heart of most of them.
I'll never forget the elation the whole county felt when he went on the rampage against Kildare in our first trip to Croker in a generation.
The following year he destroyed Tyrones midfield and helped us turn a 7 point deficit into a 5 point win.
Finally there was that goal in the Connacht final. I knew the second he took off that there was only going to be on outcome. I blew my larynx. I balled crying after the final whistle. 32 years of hurt washed away.
It wasn't all good though.
He beat me in every community games race, every fúcking year without fail. I have silver medals all the way up from under-6 thanks to the bastard. He even won the bloody art competition the one year I entered it leaving me with yet another poxy silver medal. The highlight of my athletics career was beating him in the under 14 long jump, a gold medal I treasure to this day. He beat me the following year though.
Prick.

Anyway,
Enjoy your retirement Eamonn, you owe us nothing. You were the best we ever had

Hulk Hands

theoneeyedman wrote: »

I never rated ohara as highly as he obviously rated himself. He exploded onto the scene znd peaked imo around 01 or 02 and pretty much lived on his reputation ever since. The video above is a magnificent one, and is as significant as it is brilliant, but even at this stage of his carreer he was seriously on the wane. His behaviour on the field also takes a lot from any legacy imo; some of the stuff he indulged in over the years would put Paul Galvin to shame. However in spite of being less talented than Galvin, he was given a free ride in the media. I'm hoping his comments and demeanor on the Sunday Game is better than I've witnessed on the field towards his opponents over the years.

Don't know what you mean with the first comment. The second one is just plain wrong, and I have full respect for Paul Galvin and the role he plays.

O'Hara was brilliant from about 99-08. The leader of a poor Sligo team for a long time. It was only when he was clearly past his best that Sligo started to improve. However, he still played a huge role on the pitch. His performances throughout the qualifier run in 2001 and 2012, and bringing eventual All Ireland champions Armagh to a replay in 02, were phenomenal.

DoctaDee

Say Your Number wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/sligo-s-eamonn-o-hara-retires-from-inter-county-football-1.1392751
One of the best players of his generation, Probably deserved to finish with more than one Connacht medal after 19 years service

As a Dub I feel we let O'Hara and Declan Browne down not giving them a chance to win a ton of medals with us :pac:

Strange one.

He just had an article on RTE a few days before hand speaking about Mayo's chances this year.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/football/2013/0512/391871-ohara-mayo-will-be-caught-cold/

12/5/13

He told RTÉ Sport: “I'm still available if Sligo come wanting. I know they are going over to London fairly soon but depending on how that game goes, we'll wait and see how things pan out.

“I'm 37 years of age now and I always said if I had nothing to offer Sligo football, I'd step away. I wouldn't stand in the way of another guy coming through. Unfortunately in Sligo, things are not progressing as I would love to see them coming through....

elefant

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Don't know what you mean with the first comment. The second one is just plain wrong, and I have full respect for Paul Galvin and the role he plays.

O'Hara was brilliant from about 99-08. The leader of a poor Sligo team for a long time. It was only when he was clearly past his best that Sligo started to improve. However, he still played a huge role on the pitch. His performances throughout the qualifier run in 2001 and 2012, and bringing eventual All Ireland champions Armagh to a replay in 02, were phenomenal.

It is definitely not 'plain wrong' that Paul Galvin is more talented a footballer than Eamonn O'Hara. That it is even arguably wrong is a matter of opinion.

Fireball07

Class player, one of my all-time favourites, particularly from other counties. Great servant to Sligo football.

theoneeyedman

My comparison to Galvin is simply down to the way Galvin is/was vilified whenever he transgressed, while O hara was given a free ride. It is my opinion that Galvin was all around a much better player than Ohara.I'd agree Hulk that 01 and 02 he was excellent, but I'd argue that after that he developed into a bulked up, cynical player that apart from the odd occasion(like the goal posted above) was ordinary and for some reason, maybe his availability to the media, was heralded as an all time great, when an objective analysis would show he was not.

cavan4sam

DoctaDee wrote: »

As a Dub I feel we let O'Hara and Declan Browne down not giving them a chance to win a ton of medals with us :pac:

all ireland medals must weigh a ton each then so :eek:

cavan4sam

Great player for sligo for the last 20 odd years also a good role model for kids as he neither drinks or smokes

best of luck on your retirement eamon you owe sligo nothing

Syferus

cavan4sam wrote: »

Great player for sligo for the last 20 odd years also a good role model for kids as he neither drinks or smokes

best of luck on your retirement eamon you owe sligo nothing

Err, let's not get ahead of ourselves. O'Hara was never going to win any fair play awards. I'll put it respectfully - he's one of the cutest and toughest hoors to play the game, but a role model?!

Tombo2001

How important is winning medals.

If Eamonn O'Hara was born in Kerry he'd have a heap of medals. He wasnt.

In some ways, that is my favourite type of GAA player. Eamonn O'Hara, Ciaran McDonald, Beano McDonald, Mattie Forde, Tommy Freeman. Players that you look out for, even if you know nothing else about football in that county. Players that everyone wants to see getting the ball.

DoctaDee

cavan4sam wrote: »

all ireland medals must weigh a ton each then so :eek:

LOL ... I was giving him O'Byrne and Leinster medals too

Say Your Number

Tombo2001 wrote: »

How important is winning medals.

If Eamonn O'Hara was born in Kerry he'd have a heap of medals. He wasnt.

In some ways, that is my favourite type of GAA player. Eamonn O'Hara, Ciaran McDonald, Beano McDonald, Mattie Forde, Tommy Freeman. Players that you look out for, even if you know nothing else about football in that county. Players that everyone wants to see getting the ball.

I agree with what you're saying, But I mean Sligo lost 4 Connacht finals by less than 3 points in O'Hara's time, they should have won all at least 1 or 2 of those games, Sligo probably needed a few more players of his calibre and a bit of luck to have any hope of winning an All-Ireland title. I suppose you see a great player play for a smaller county and think he is worthy of an All-Ireland title but will probably never get the chance.

padd b1975

Syferus wrote: »

Err, let's not get ahead of ourselves. O'Hara was never going to win any fair play awards. I'll put it respectfully - he's one of the cutest and toughest hoors to play the game, but a role model?!

+1.

Screaming abuse at referees because your legs have gone and thats all you can "contribute" to your team's cause is not something any sensible parent would want their child imitating.

Tombo2001

Say Your Number wrote: »

I agree with what you're saying, But I mean Sligo lost 4 Connacht finals by less than 3 points in O'Hara's time, they should have won all at least 1 or 2 of those games, Sligo probably needed a few more players of his calibre and a bit of luck to have any hope of winning an All-Ireland title. I suppose you see a great player play for a smaller county and think he is worthy of an All-Ireland title but will probably never get the chance.

Whatever about Connaught....

There are 12 counties in Ireland with population under 100,000.

In the past 30 years, not one of those counties has made an all-ireland final.

Sligo has practically no chance of winning an all-ireland because of its population size. I'm pretty sure they had a much better chance before the back door was introduced.

Say Your Number

I'll have to start supporting Kerry so
Due to the draw this year I think Sligo have a decent shout at a Connacht title this year, but that's just the blind optimist in me.
I can't see them winning an All-Ireland in my lifetime unless a golden generation comes along which I don't think is very likely.

Pride Fighter

Great player, sad to see him retire but thats the nature of sport.

Good luck to him in the future.

Stoner

Syferus wrote: »

. I'll put it respectfully - he's one of the cutest and toughest hoors to play the game, but a role model?!

It is a thread about his retirement after all, he managed to standout as a quality footballer while playing for a team that won very little. If a kid from Sligo playing the game has someone from their county recognized as a top player and they were tough and intelligent and generally well respected in the game then they would qualify as a role model.
What team has won an all Ireland with all angels? Growing up Brian Mullins was a role model for more or less the same reasons, tough, cute and wouldn't win any fair play awards, Paidi O Se, Mick Lyons, John Power were the same in their counties. Many of these guys had a side to their character that left them short of perfect, but so be it IMHO.

Syferus

Stoner wrote: »

It is a thread about his retirement after all, he managed to standout as a quality footballer while playing for a team that won very little. If a kid from Sligo playing the game has someone from their county recognized as a top player and they were tough and intelligent and generally well respected in the game then they would qualify as a role model.
What team has won an all Ireland with all angels? Growing up Brian Mullins was a role model for more or less the same reasons, tough, cute and wouldn't win any fair play awards, Paidi O Se, Mick Lyons, John Power were the same in their counties. Many of these guys had a side to their character that left them short of perfect, but so be it IMHO.

For Sligo people is destined to be a folk hero, of that there is no doubt, but I can tell you that he's very much a marmite player when it comes to the counties who have seen him up close and personal for the last two decades. You'd put him in the Ricey McMenamin/Paul Galvin category of players that brought a level of controversy to the way they played the game.

Role model as an athlete and in terms of preparation I'd agree with but Cavan4Sam was stretching beyond that range and I have to be honest. Making a saint out someone just because they retire serves no purpose.

And once again, EOH was a great player and one any county would have loved to have. That says it all.

walrusgumble

Say Your Number wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/sligo-s-eamonn-o-hara-retires-from-inter-county-football-1.1392751
One of the best players of his generation, Probably deserved to finish with more than one Connacht medal after 19 years service

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5ZjZUmrDBQ

He was good, but not that good. "Of our generation"? Please! Even the All Stars did not feel so strongly.

Either way, best of luck to him. He gave tremendous comment for Sligo, there since 1996, my god.

But frankly, he had a tendancy to be a Class A thug on the field. The Roscommon lads should have buried him into an ambulance en route to hospital in 2010, with the messing that he got up to off the ball (which, was not caught on camera, but pretty much not too far away from the Donegal Ref)

Sligo did not win much, because, they are not that good, why would you deserve more Connacht medals when the team only really played for about 3-4 years (note previous great wins over Tyrone / Kildare and great league campaigns and 2010 Championship)

walrusgumble

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Whatever about Connaught....

There are 12 counties in Ireland with population under 100,000.

In the past 30 years, not one of those counties has made an all-ireland final.

Sligo has practically no chance of winning an all-ireland because of its population size. I'm pretty sure they had a much better chance before the back door was introduced.

Considering Roscommon and Mayo dominated the 1980's, Roscommon early 1990's , then Mayo in Mid 1990's and Galway in the late 1990's , then tussle between Mayo and Galway in the 00's, how would Sligo have a better chance before the back door? Better chance of being on their holidays by July?

Of course you are fully correct to say, if they were genuine Connacht Championship Contenders back then, before the back door system, fair enough, a better chance to win the All Ireland.

walrusgumble

theoneeyedman wrote: »

My comparison to Galvin is simply down to the way Galvin is/was vilified whenever he transgressed, while O hara was given a free ride. It is my opinion that Galvin was all around a much better player than Ohara.I'd agree Hulk that 01 and 02 he was excellent, but I'd argue that after that he developed into a bulked up, cynical player that apart from the odd occasion(like the goal posted above) was ordinary and for some reason, maybe his availability to the media, was heralded as an all time great, when an objective analysis would show he was not.

Well Galvin is a bit of a tit. But, sure, by July, there would be little or no need to speak of O'Hara as Sligo would be out of the Championship. Some sunshiners won't have got into Championship mode until semi finals of respect championships. Galvin has more focus on him

Tombo2001

walrusgumble wrote: »

Considering Roscommon and Mayo dominated the 1980's, Roscommon early 1990's , then Mayo in Mid 1990's and Galway in the late 1990's , then tussle between Mayo and Galway in the 00's, how would Sligo have a better chance before the back door? Better chance of being on their holidays by July?

Of course you are fully correct to say, if they were genuine Connacht Championship Contenders back then, before the back door system, fair enough, a better chance to win the All Ireland.

Take Roscommon as a case in point.

The county made an all-Ireland final in 1980 (which incidentally I was at).

My point being that when they won the Connaught title they were one win away from the final. Today they would be two wins away.

Because of the population sizes, if a top Roscommon or Sligo team (e.g. a Connaught title winning team) were playing the Leinster or Munster champions (normally Dublin, Kerry or Cork) I would expect them to win maybe one in five times.........

So with the old system, Roscommon or Sligo, if they were Connaught champions would have a 1 in 5 chance of making the final.

With the new system, they have to play a Kerry or Cork equivalent in the quarter final and then again in the semi-final........so there chances go from 1 in 5 to 1 in 25........

Thats the way I see it.

And that is borne out in the stats....

As mentioned earlier, 12 of the 32 counties have a population of below 100,000.

In the last five years (I just checked on wiki) there have been 40 quarter final slots up for grabs in the All Ireland Football Championship (8 each year).

Of the 40 slots, those counties with less than 100,000 people above have taken just 2......Roscommon in 2010 and Laois last year.....

so those 12 counties between them have managed just 2 Quarter final slots out of 40 in the past five years. None made it to a semi-final or final.....indeed Roscommon if I recall were rightly tonked by Cork even though Roscommon played quite well.

My overall point is...... Roscommon........Monaghan......Laois......Offaly......these counties were making finals in the 1980s, or coming close in Monaghans case. Now, even if they have their absolutely best teams out, the best they can hope for is probably a quarterfinal. Sligo is in this category also.

Say Your Number

walrusgumble wrote: »

But frankly, he had a tendancy to be a Class A thug on the field. The Roscommon lads should have buried him into an ambulance en route to hospital in 2010, with the messing that he got up to off the ball (which, was not caught on camera, but pretty much not too far away from the Donegal Ref)

Sligo did not win much, because, they are not that good, why would you deserve more Connacht medals when the team only really played for about 3-4 years (note previous great wins over Tyrone / Kildare and great league campaigns and 2010 Championship)

You call O'Hara a thug but say Roscommon players should have put him in hospital, a bit contradictory no? Like Galvin/Whelan O'Hara played on the edge, which meant it was great if he was on your side and he was a c*nt if he was against you.

Sligo lost 4 finals by less than 3 points, Mayo were complacent in '97, if Sligo had any belief they would have won, in 2010 David Kelly had a goalshot brillianty saved in the 2nd half, and last year there was that "point" that Mayo scored and Sligo showing a lack of composure in the last few minutes, Lost all those games by small margins, should have at least one of them.

Tombo2001 wrote: »

So with the old system, Roscommon or Sligo, if they were Connaught champions would have a 1 in 5 chance of making the final.

Sligo would have had a better chance with the old system, but from '76 to '94 they were one of the worst teams in the country, Leitrim beat them by 1-16 to 0-5 in '91, It wasn't till O'Hara, Dessie Sloyan and Paul Taylor arrived at they at least gave Mayo/Galway a game.