On the road with the Rossies

Roscommon fan Brian Carroll talks about memories of Derek Duggan and the great Dermot Earley and tells us why to him, football is like a religion.

By Conor Heneghan

It’s a sign of the times in Roscommon that a trip to London to take on the Exiles in the first round of the Connacht football championship is no longer regarded as a sure thing.

London may have only won a single game in the Connacht championship in their history, against Leitrim way back in 1977, but Roscommon football, at senior level anyway, has rarely been at a lower ebb than it has been since the turn of the millennium and some pundits had suggested that the time was nigh for London to rewrite the history books.

Besides, before this year, the last time Roscommon played in the championship in Ruislip in 2005, they escaped with a one point victory that was thoroughly undeserved by all accounts. When Brian Carroll (pictured above left), chairman of the Roscommon supporters club, travelled over on the last weekend of May this year, then, it was with a degree of trepidation.

I don’t see it as an effort having to go to a Roscommon match. I see it as a routine, a bit like how some people would never miss mass; it’s the same for me going to a match

Ruislip retreat

Fergal O’Donnell’s men got over the line without much of a fuss in the end, which meant that Carroll and the band of loyal Roscommon followers who had made the trip could enjoy themselves.

“There were about 180 of us over there with the supporters club. We had a good old weekend. The game was on Sunday and it wasn’t the most exciting game but we got the win anyway. We stayed in Ruislip till around eight or half eight and went back to the Crown hotel in Cricklewood afterwards. It was getting bright by the time some of us hit the bed”.

“There’s a great buzz over there because there’s people out there that you wouldn’t have met in a long time. In fairness to London GAA, they put on a great show out there. There’s a great atmosphere, they have music playing and everything. They put in a great effort”.

London in 2005 and New York a year later were some of the more exotic venues to which Carroll has journeyed to follow the fortunes of the Roscommon footballers over the years, but he is no sunshine supporter; for him, missing any form of Roscommon game would be akin to missing a family wedding.

“I wouldn’t have missed a championship or league game since 1999, I think. I’d always try and get to the challenge games and I wouldn’t miss too many FBD League games either. It’s a part of my life now, I take it as normal.

“I don’t see it as an effort having to go to a Roscommon match. I see it as a routine, a bit like how some people would never miss mass; it’s the same for me going to a match”.

Earliest memories

Like so many diehards, Carroll’s interest was sparked from within the family and he remembers as clear as day his brothers taking him to see the Connacht Final against Mayo in McHale Park in 1991, his earliest memory as a Roscommon supporter.

“We were a point down in injury time and Derek Duggan, who was only 19 and just coming on the scene at the time, got a free about 65 yards out and no one thought he had a hope in hell of putting it over the bar.

“One of the wing backs was going to take it, but the ref said it was the last kick of the game, so Derek took it and somehow managed to put it over the bar. And we won the replay”.

That Connacht title in 1991 was Roscommon’s second in two years and they went on to contest the next two deciders, but lost out to Mayo on both occasions. Since then, however, Roscommon have only won one Connacht title (2001) and been in only two more finals (1998 and 2004), a poor record for a county in the smallest province who have only one less All-Ireland title than their more celebrated neighbours in green and red.

The way he (Dermot Earley) spoke about Roscommon it would make the hairs stand on the back of your neck. There was so much passion in his speech and unless you were there you couldn’t understand the passion he spoke with on the night

Modern day problems

Some lengthy runs in the qualifiers and the magnificent All-Ireland success of the minors in 2006 have provided some welcome relief for fans of the primrose and blue, but as a seasoned observer, Carroll feels he knows why Roscommon haven’t been more competitive at senior level.

“The problem in Roscommon is that every year we’ve started off, we’ve had six or seven players coming in all the time, we don’t seem to have players that grow old on the panel. I always remember back in the mid ‘90s, your biggest fear when you were beaten in the championship was players retiring, the likes of Tony McManus or John Newton and Paul Earley, everyone would be saying that they wouldn’t be back the following year”.

“You don’t hear that anymore. Now you hear, ‘oh he’s just not around anymore’. You’d hope that the younger lads, with so many coming in from the minor panel, that they could stick together as a team. You’d hope that in ten years time that if I was talking to you again that we’d be talking about how well Donie Shine or Peter Domican are doing, that we’d be talking in the present rather than wondering where those players went”.

Domican and Shine in particular, have shown enough promise to suggest that they could have a long inter-county careers ahead of them and Carroll hopes that one day they will enjoy the same status as his Roscommon heroes, Tony McManus and Seamus Killoran in the old days and Frankie Dolan from the more recent crop.

Dermot Earley

One man who Carroll also has great respect for is the great Dermot Earley senior, a legend of Roscommon football who won two All-Star awards in 1974 and 1979 and is the father of current Kildare midfielder Dermot Earley junior. Unfortunately, Earley was forced to retire from his post as Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces recently due to a debilitative illness.

It was Earley that provided Carroll with his most outstanding memory as a Roscommon fan and there is emotion in his voice when he recalls a speech made by the great man in New York four years ago, after Roscommon had played a Connacht Championship first round tie there.

“There was a banquet out there on the Sunday night after the match and it always stands out in my mind the way Dermot Earley spoke on the night. The way he spoke about Roscommon it would make the hairs stand on the back of your neck. There was so much passion in his speech and unless you were there you couldn’t understand the passion he spoke with on the night.

“You could see how much Roscommon meant to him. When you hear how seriously ill Dermot is now, it’s very tough to take. You’d feel so sorry for the way things are working out for Dermot at the moment”.

The passion that Earley holds for his native county is shared by Carroll and he will be passionately supporting his county when they take to the field against Leitrim in the Connacht semi-final in Hyde Park on Sunday.

Roscommon’s traditional rivals might be seen to be the likes of Galway, Mayo and even Westmeath for the players from the St.Brigid’s club, but not for Carroll. Not when you went to school in Carrick on Shannon and live four miles from the border with Leitrim, who are the opponents Carroll relishes facing most.

“I live in Kilmore, four miles from the border with Leitrim and any time we play them, whether it’s the league, championship or whatever, it’s the one game you look out for. That’s why Sunday is so big down this end of the county. We’d have great rivalry down here with them. It’s good, friendly rivalry but you never want to lose”.