1605X PROGRAMME PLUS 270516
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PROGRAMME PLUS – VOLUME 1, NUMBER 5, MAY 27 th , 2016 The fifth edition of ‘Programme Plus’ comes to you at the end of a less than stellar month for our hobby judging by the poor quality of many publications I have received. The back door ensures that numerous championship games played since our last edition don’t carry the same ‘bite’ of old now that the do-or-die aspect of first round encounters has disappeared. And in keeping with that general theme, it seems to me that the vast majority of programmes for those matches were compiled primarily as a box-ticking exercise without any great effort applied to the content. Of course, I’m only going on what I’ve seen so far, but the general standard to date has left a lot to be desired in my humble opinion. PROGRAMME OF THE MONTH: Given the dearth of decent content as outlined above, I was sorely tempted not to award a programme of the month at all this time around. However, that opinion changed on Wednesday when the Tipperary v. Cork offering from Thurles last weekend arrived through my letter box. It was comforting to note that Ed Donnelly and his team in Munster still deem a championship game in May as being worthy of a substantial publication. Certainly there was more quality in the programme than the game itself, with the 60 pages retailing for €4 and featuring a front cover photograph of a very serious-looking Bill Cooper and Brendan Maher holding the Munster championship trophy…does anyone ever crack a smile at these media events nowadays? Twelve of the pages are devoted to advertisements with another six for promotional matters, and I’m grateful to Ed for giving this information bulletin a decent plug. The Semple Stadium debut for Hawkeye is marked on page nine, while Seamus O’Doherty from this parish devotes two pages to the last championship clash between the counties in 2012, along with a feature on Frank Murphy’s elevation to the position of Munster Council President. Jackie Cahill chats to Lorcán McLoughlin and Brendan Maher while the Kilmeen-Kilbree and Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams Juvenile clubs are profiled. There’s a particularly interesting two pages on the Munster championship campaign of 1916, including a cigarette card illustration of Cork stalwart Seán Og Murphy which will catch the eye of collectors. There’s plenty of reading material and, while it’s by no means an outstanding programme, it’s the best of what I’ve seen so far this month. It certainly conveys the impression that this was an important game, and sadly I cannot say the same about some other championship programmes as I will be outlining below. Personally I’m not a fan of the rather bland typefaces and lay-out deployed by the current Munster championship programme printers, but the compilers always achieve high marks for content and that’s what gets my vote this month. THE MONTH IN PROGRAMMES: There wasn’t as much to review this month, although the first item is of a quirky nature and may be of some interest to collectors as a result. April 30 th , Nowlan Park - Kilkenny Senior football championship final, Railyard v. Kilmoganny: The first county Senior championship final of the year is already over, even though several counties haven’t even started their main competition. And for the record, Railyard completed the three-in-a- row with a 1-8 to 2-3 win over a Kilmoganny side featuring former Kilkenny hurling star Noel Hickey in his familiar full-back position. The programme was 16 colour pages for €2, with the cover featuring cut-outs of the captains on either side of the Ned Langton Cup, and also informing us that it was the 124 th Kilkenny Senior football final. Page two carried the roll of honour and the results of previous rounds, while page three had a welcome from the Chairman of the Football Board, Tom O’Reilly, but an incorrect head and shoulders photograph (of another Kilkenny official, Tom O’Hanlon) was used. A paragraph explaining the background to the cup on offer was underneath. Reports of the finals of 100, 75 and 50 years ago appeared on 4 and 5, although the lack of interest in football in Kilkenny isn’t a recent phenomenon judging by the only account unearthed from 1916. It read as follows: ‘ A very interesting football encounter took place in New Ross on Sunday last when Glenmore and Coolroe toed the line in the final of the senior football county championship. After a good game Glenmore were declared winners by 1-1 to 0-0’. That was it, short and sweet! Incidentally, the 1941 final, between Tullogher and The Rower, was also played over the border in New Ross, and this was a regular occurrence whenever south Kilkenny teams met as it was the most logical and practical venue. There’s also a photograph of the Railyard mentors on the bottom of page 5, while 6 and 7 has team photographs of the two finalists. The line-outs are on 8 and 9, with two black and white photographs of Railyard and The Village from the 1960s on 10. Page 11 carries a report on the 1991 final plus a list of the Railyard and Kilmoganny club officers, while 12, 13 and half of 14 are devoted to the latter’s one and only Senior title in 2000, including their team photograph plus that of beaten finalists Dicksboro. The current Kilmoganny mentors are pictured on the bottom of 14, while 15 has photographs of the beaten semi-finalists, Muckalee and St. Patrick’s, plus their respective captains. The sole advertisement, for championship sponsors J.J. Kavanagh & Sons, is on the back page of this compact but informative programme. The historical content alone shows the pride involved in producing a decent souvenir of the game, and it was certainly very good value for €2. May 1 st , Gaelic Park - Connacht Senior football championship first round, Roscommon v. New York: A belated happy 60 th birthday to Clare collector Seamas O’Reilly who celebrated the milestone in the Big Apple. And he nearly witnessed one of the biggest shocks in history as Roscommon were a relieved bunch to escape from The Bronx with a one-point win. As an aside, did you notice the ‘Sunday Game’ graphic declaring that New York are now in the qualifiers? Is there nobody up there - production staff, analysts and/or presenter - capable of noticing such a glaring error? Anyway, back to more pressing matters. Seamas kindly sent me on the 40-page programme which cost $5 and, in keeping with the norm for games in the States, is top-heavy with advertisements. The cover has an action photograph of a New York player who unfortunately isn’t identified with a caption on page 3 which features the ‘Clár an Lae’ plus the words of ‘Amhrán na bhFiann’ and ‘The Star Spangled Banner’. There’s messages from the New York Chairman, Laurence McGrath, and the Connacht Council President, Mick Rock, on 5 and 7 respectively, while no fewer than six pages of New York player profiles complete with head and shoulders photographs start on 10 (five per page). There’s a similar page for their mentors, plus a team photograph, before the centrespread which carries the line-outs, and the Roscommon content starts after the fold. There’s a team photograph from the National League semi-final in Croke Park, one page of player profiles with text only (name, age, club, position), and two pages of head and shoulders colour photographs. That’s the extent of the content apart from 22 pages of advertisements, but it’s an unusual addition to my collection nonetheless and I appreciate the efforts of Seamas in securing a copy for me on a very wet day. May 1 st , Mullingar - Leinster Senior hurling championship round robin, Westmeath v. Offaly: Our man on the ground at this game was Offaly collector and programme contributor Patrick Donegan, whom I met for the first time a few weeks ago, and he has the following interesting observation to make: ‘ As a young boy, my father always advised waiting until we had entered the ground before purchasing the day’s programme. This was in the early 1980s, the era of unofficial programmes. ‘Earlier this month, at the Westmeath v. Offaly Leinster round robin fixture at Mullingar, I ignored that advice and purchased my souvenir from a young chap outside the gate, while I waited for my friend to arrive. After passing through the stiles I saw there were no programme sellers to meet patrons. I enquired of the man selling tickets for the half-time draw and was told that there were no programmes for sale inside the ground. ‘I thought this was strange. For one thing, there are presumably many who have a policy of buying their programme inside the ground; there is the security issue, and perhaps a child protection matter. I count myself fortunate to have made my purchase when and where I did. But I wonder how many others were less fortunate.’ That certainly seems a strange situation to me also Patrick. In fact, I can’t think of another ground utilising a similar policy and, as you say, it creates a security deficit and surely leaves the young sellers vulnerable. The programme itself was 24 pages for €3, with the Senior game preceded by the Minor quarter-final between the same counties. There’s an action photograph on the cover, again uncaptioned on page 3 which carries the Clár an Lae plus Amhrán na bhFiann.