Carrownaclougha United

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Carrownaclougha United Football Club was formed in 1992 and the official papers were signed in Clarke's pub, Crusheen, Co. Clare in November of that year. The very first game was held in Easter of that year in New Trafford. A young Carrownaclougha United selection took on a drumsallach selection who were captained that day by the great veteran Jimmy Hynes. It was an inspirational moment by Hynes himself that swung the game in favour of the Drumsallach selection, when he fired home from clsoe range to level the game up at 2-2 all at the start of the second half. The Drumsallach selection went on to win the game 6-4. The two sides were later that year to amalgamate and play against a famed Dynamo Drumbaniff side, captained by John Whelan. The game was held over 2 legs, the first of which was played in New Trafford. A bumper attendance was present for the game that was played in excellent conditions. Many aspects of that game are still spoken about to this day, most notably the footwear worn by the Drumbaniff players (i.e. hobnail boots) and an incident in the second half that saw Pat Roughan tear in through briars and bushes to retrieve a football. Carrownaclougha went on to win the leg 6-2 and all was set for the away leg in Drumbaniff. The away leg was to set the scene for 10 glorious years of football in Carrownaclougha. Michael Craven was asked the night before in Fogarty's if he'd come and give a hand with the team and was at the cross at 1pm to be collected and brought to the game. The United team that lined out that day was Pat Scanlan, Jimmy Hynes, Ruairi Mulkere, Kevin Scanlan, Paudge Hanrahan, Michael Liddy and Paul O'Loughlin. Talk of the game had produced a lot of interest in the days leading up to the game. Pat Scanlan's red car was full to capacity and the horn started blaring once the car went in under the bridge of Crusheen and continued all the way down through the village and on past the lake. In fact, the beeping only really subsided when the car got to the pitch. The pitch itself was unlike anything the United players had played in before. There was a steep slope on one side of the pitch that meant the ball often rolled off down to a wall and it would take a few minutes to retrieve it, take a throw in and hope that the tackles wouldn't be over-zealous enough for the ball to be knocked back down the hill towards the wall again. Donie Whelan broke a goalpost he'd erected with a shot. Edmund Lenihan was seen peering out from behind a hedge where he had been taking notes and a huge crowd of locals and interested parties pulled up to look in over the wall at what was going on. United went on to win the game 7-4 and the horns started blaring again soon after all the way up to the village where celebratory drinks were to be had in Clarke's pub. It was here that Michael Craven was formally appointed manager of Carrownaclougha United. A piece of paper was produced and a hastily written contract was penned in a short space of time that the great man himself went on to sign. It was then sealed with candle wax, but its whereabouts there after have always been somewhat of a mystery. Carroanaclougha United was now born. News of the encounter was to make it into the press the following Thursday, under the title "Turkey Trot" and an account of the days events were published for the general public to read. It was the start of a footballing frenzy. A huge encounter was set up for Stephen's Day in Raymond O'Grady's field between Carrownaclougha United and a selection from the lower side and over the Galway side of Crusheen. The cars started to pour into the field shortly after midday and a huge crowd was in attendance. It was a game that is still spoken of to this day. A goal by Aidan Daffy opened the scoring, but a sharp turn and finish frm Pat Scanlan levelled it at 1-1. By the time the game was into the second half, there were 17 playing for the Lower sie and 16 playing for Carrownaclougha. Manager Michael Craven was chased down the line by Gerry Gleeson who was wielding an ash plant. The game ended in a note of controversy as in injury time, with Aidan Daffy through on goal, Enda Mulkere ran on to the pitch and knocked him. The game ended sometime after that amid all sorts of allegations and fells pointing fingers at one another, but it was all fogotten once we got into Fogarty's refurbished pub. Shortly after, the club made its first big name signing. John "Brother" Crowe signed from somewhere in Tulla late in the year of 1992, or was it early in 1993, I can't remember. The terms of the contract were most unusual - one of the clauses stated that for every goal he scored, the club had to lay on 3 pints of Guinness. To this day, the club still owe him 9 pints by all accounts and this has always been somewhat of a debate.