Updated Feb 27th 2021, 9:11 PM
MEATH ALL-IRELAND WINNER Vikki Wall has opened up about the regular verbal abuse — related to her weight — she has been subjected to from the sideline and stands while playing inter-county football.
Wall, who was named Intermediate Players’ Player of the Year on TG4′s ladies football awards programme, ‘Peil na mBan – Foirne na Bliana – le AIG Insurance,’ tonight, used her winning interview to speak about her horrific experiences for the first time.
The 22-year-old candidly detailed how, for several years, she and her family had to listen to regular insults about her during games.
“Since 2017, when I was in sixth year, I put on 10 or 12 kg that year,” she began. “That changed the way I played the game, you know?”
Emotional at times, she continued: “To be honest from 2017 to 2019, I heard something in every single game about my weight. Especially from managers on the sideline or people like that.
“Even last year, I got a call from one of the managers saying he was sorry after one of the games about the things he said the day before. You don’t forget those things. They stay with you.
“On a few occasions, my Mam was next to a woman who said I was too fat to play football and things like that. I’ve lost that weight now but yeah… many things have changed personally and team-wise as well.”
Dunboyne star Wall — who was also named at centre-half forward on the Intermediate Team of the Championship — touched on her personal story while discussing the wider difficult journey her side endured en route to 2020 All-Ireland glory.
A fluent Irish speaker, she did so all as Gaeilge.
“Many things have changed since I came into the panel in 2015 to this year,” she explained. “Many of the girls have come back.
“We had around 32 girls this year and in 2015 when we were playing against Cork we had to ring people the day before to ask if they wanted to play the following day. We lost by 40 points that day so it was terrible but it has completely changed now this year.”
Fast forward a few years to 2018 from that dark in ’15, Meath reached the All-Ireland intermediate final only to fall short at the hands of Tyrone.
In 2019, Tipperary broke their hearts in the Croke Park decider.
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Wall detailed the doubts about whether they would ever get over the line which followed, along with the self-evaluation as the verbal abuse directed at her came to a head.
In 2020, the Royals made it third time lucky in the showpiece against Westmeath.
Wall facing Westmeath in Croke Park in December.
Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO
That said, it didn’t happen without a few scares along the way, as Wall recalls. A blitz of early goals and a devastating knee injury to her sister, Sarah, made things difficult for Meath, but Vikki stepped up with 1-3 in a Player of the Match-winning performance to inspire her side to the elusive Mary Quinn Memorial Cup for the first time.
“The first few minutes of that game are mixed up in my mind. When they got the goal, I thought, ‘Is this going to happen again?’
“When Sarah went down with her knee, I didn’t know how bad it was. She was crying but we were kind laughing and she was saying that she could keep playing. But she stood up and she was only standing on one leg, saying she could keep playing. When she left the pitch, I was angry on one hand but I was also upset for her.
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“She tore her ACL in transition year too and I knew the work she put in to get back on the team. It was very difficult to watch her leave the pitch. When I got the ball after Sarah left the pitch I was livid. So I think that played a part in the goal.
“At the final whistle, I was on the sideline with Sarah after getting the yellow card. Mam was saying he gave me that so I could celebrate with Sarah at the final whistle! But yeah, it was amazing. That’s the dream when you play football with your county, to win the All-Ireland final in Croke Park.”
Is Vikki Wall's solo effort for @meathladiesMLGF the best goal scored in the 2020 @LadiesFootball championship? 🏐 🏆
Watch the full list of nominees and cast your vote for a chance to win a €500 voucher for @ONeills1918 here👉 https://t.co/nK6nBgdEjk#EffortIsEqual pic.twitter.com/BQtbTfkUXV
— AIG Ireland (@AIGIreland) February 23, 2021
That goal she speaks of was a memorable one, and one which was nominated for Goal of the Year alongside a host of other top-drawer finishes.
But the Player of the Year award surely puts the icing on top of an unforgettable 2020 ladies football season in which Wall starred on and off the pitch, doing some analysis on TG4 when she wasn’t caught up with her own inter-county commitments.
“To win this award, it’s definitely special,” she concluded, after pipping her clubmate Emma Duggan and Westmeath’s Fiona Claffey to the prize.
“Being voted by the players, I definitely was surprised. I would have had conversations on the pitch this year! It’s an unbelievable honour, to be honest. I’m absolutely chuffed and delighted to have been given the award.”
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AT 80, ALFIE Hale has seen it all.
Björn Borg, Roy Keane, Alf Ramsey, Angelo Dundee, Denis Law and Arthur Ashe (who he calls “the most remarkable man I ever mat”) are just some of the names mentioned in a two-hour-plus conversation over two days.
He has pictures with most of them and he had them hanging up at the pub he owns.
“People want their photographs taken and they say: ‘Will you put my photograph up there with you?’ And it looks like I’m putting me up. So I’ve taken most of them down. I left a lovely photograph with Kevin Keegan up there and one with Pele, they’re my favourites.”
A goal for Thurles Town in May 1981 meant he became both the oldest footballer ever to score in the League of Ireland and the only player to find the net in four separate decades.
He is currently 10th on the list of all-time leading League of Ireland goalscorers with 153 goals and it could have been more had he not departed and spent six years playing in England.
In addition to 27 years as a player and 30 as a manager, Hale also established himself as a prominent businessman in Waterford. He opened a sports shop and owns a chain of pubs.
Hale remains a keen golfer and up until last season, was still attending Waterford games on a regular basis, but often finds Friday nights too cold and suspects his match-going days may be coming to an end.
“At last, I think I’m giving in to my age,” he tells The42.
***
To say Hale comes from a footballing family would be putting it mildly.
His three brothers, George, Dixie and Harry, all represented Ireland at some level. Each of them played for Waterford at some point too, as did Hale’s father (also called Alfie) and his three brothers. His two sons, Darryl and Dean, continued the family tradition of representing Waterford, while Hale ended up managing his nephew Richie at Kilkenny City.
After enjoying increasing success at schoolboy level, Hale joined Waterford and made his debut at 17. His impact was immediate, scoring on his debut at Kilcohan Park and becoming part of a team that featured Dixie and George, who made sure to protect the youngster in what could be a brutal league at the time.
In total, Hale scored five goals in his first two games for the club, which were less than 48 hours apart.
Hale credits Alex Stevenson — the ex-Everton and Rangers player who was also a former Irish international serving as Waterford manager at the time — with playing a big part in his development, teaching him how to “avoid tackles” among other skills.
Hale and Jimmy O’Neill with their Irish Youth Caps for a game with West Germany in 1957.
Having established himself as an important player and prolific goalscorer though, Hale endured the first major setback of his career. Just a few days before the 1959 FAI Cup final, which Waterford would ultimately lose to St Patrick’s Athletic after a replay, the young forward tore ligaments in his knee.
By the time Hale returned, the legendary former Ireland international Paddy Coad was in charge of the club as player-manager, with the youngster playing alongside his veteran counterpart in attack. It wasn’t long, however, before he was signed by Aston Villa, with £5,000 in compensation divided between Waterford and his schoolboy club, St Joseph’s.
Managed by former Everton and Arsenal star Joe Mercer, Hale didn’t actually want to go to Villa.
“I didn’t like the culture of English football. I’d say it wasn’t their fault, it’s my fault.
“[Joe Mercer] was a terrific guy and knew his football. But he was never there, which wasn’t unusual. Most of the top managers would be seen on the line smoking a pipe with a trilby hat on and a big overcoat analysing what’s going on. But from Monday to Friday, you wouldn’t see them.
“I didn’t want to be there. I didn’t want the money. I had a job at Waterford and I was enjoying it. I was part of the showband situation of the ’60s. I loved and was dating a local girl I’ve since married, and we’ve been together 58 years.
“I was told by Waterford that I needed to go, because they needed the money. Everybody had a hand in pushing me forward to take this opportunity.
“When I went there, I didn’t like the big city, I didn’t like all the smoke, I was reared next door to Tramore, reared next door to the hurling pitch. Outdoors was all my life. They brought over my soon-to-be-wife the year afterwards to settle me in. She stayed in a house half a mile away and we got together — it didn’t make any difference and I didn’t want to play.
“There was only one lad there that I could really talk to — Peter McParland, the Northern Irish international and a Scottish international, Jimmy MacEwan, who was very good to me. The players who I played with during the week wouldn’t talk to me. One guy used to give me a real doing about being a Catholic, the Pope and whatever.
“I used to be seen as a Holy Joe. I was no different from anybody else. I used to look for mass, if there was a special holiday obligation or whatever. I’d be looking for a church to go to mass and it’d be: ‘Who’s that f***ing eejit and what’s he doing?’
“I was in the same dressing room as the senior pros and I asked to be put with the juniors. The junior lads I would talk to, I was no threat to [them]. The senior guys, they didn’t like me, they didn’t want an Irish guy coming over.
“I spoke to people like John Giles and he’d say ‘that would never happen at Leeds United with Don Revie and it wouldn’t happen at most clubs’.
“All the schoolboy internationals for England played once or twice for Villa, never made it in any division in football after they left. They were brilliant lads and the treatment they got there was unbelievably bad.
“They lived outside Birmingham as well. As soon as the game was over, they were gone and I’m just sitting on my own. So there was never a great chance of socially matching up. The only guy I could do that with was [former Arsenal manager] George Graham. George was from Scotland and he wanted to be back home with his mam. I used to try looking after him and tried to look after myself [as well].
“It came down to the coaching staff. They were the biggest bullies of the young lads. There was one guy in particular, he was a Scot and he didn’t like his own Scots. And he certainly didn’t like the Irish, he made that very plain. But in this day and age, it wouldn’t be tolerated at all. But we just put up with it.
“I never enjoyed it and the few games I played with the Villa, it gave me no kick at all. I never wanted to push on.
“On my league debut, I scored. I didn’t find any problem playing at first-team level, but I just didn’t want to [stay].
“The day I arrived back in Waterford, I said: ‘This is it, I’m back in the real world.’”
He continues: “Johnny Fullam was a great pal of mine at Shamrock Rovers. I went up to see him, because he wasn’t well in the hospital, about three weeks before he died [in 2015].
“Johnny came home from Preston North End, because he literally used to get physically sick from being homesick. He had a terrific career at Shamrock Rovers. He said to me: ‘Having been through it like we were, if you had a chance again, would you go back in these times with the money that’s available?’ I thought about it for a minute and said: ‘No, I wouldn’t’.
“People say: ‘Were you mentally strong enough?’ Mentally strong enough? I could take on anything with 100,000 people watching. It didn’t bother me one bit. So it had nothing to do with that. What it had to do with was basically, I just didn’t have anybody to connect to over there.
“In spite of all that, most of the people in the ’50s and ’60s went to England, because they couldn’t get work in Ireland. It’s not because they wanted to go there.”
Man United legend Johnny Carey managed Hale for Ireland.
Source: S&G and Barratts/EMPICS Sport
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There are still some great memories from around this time, however. He won his first international cap playing outside right in a 3-2 loss in Dalymount Park against Austria in 1962, during former Manchester United great Johnny Carey’s time as Ireland manager. Hale would continue appearing sporadically for his country thereafter, with his final international game coming off the bench in a 1-0 win at home to Poland in 1973.
Over the course of 14 caps, he scored two goals, with his career spanning a period from the days of the infamous selection committee, before managers such as Liam Tuohy and John Giles gained greater control over the running of the team and there was “a bit more respectability about it”.
With Waterford struggling financially and returning home not a viable option, Hale joined fourth-tier Doncaster Rovers in 1962. While he didn’t enjoy the experience, he still managed a tally of 42 goals in 119 league appearances.
“[Years later] I met Kevin Keegan when he came to Dublin and Kevin remembered me playing. He was saying I was his favourite player at Rovers — he used to go and see me. He was born only a few miles up the road. Doncaster had turned him down for trials.”
After three years at Doncaster, in addition to a season with Wales-based Newport County, in which he managed 21 goals in 34 appearances, Hale returned to Waterford in 1966.
Playing alongside the similarly talented and prolific Englishman Johnny Matthews, Hale became part of one of the great League of Ireland sides, scoring over 100 goals for a team that won six league titles in seven years (though he was only part of the side for five of the triumphs).
“When I came home, they said: ‘Why are you coming home?’ I said: ‘I’m coming home to play for my father. I want him to see me.’ It gave me the greatest encouragement and incentive to play football.
“I worked as a salesman on the road for years and I enjoyed doing that more so because I had the football to look forward to. One bounced off the other.”
Hale consequently enjoyed many memorable days playing alongside the likes of Al Casey, John O’Neill, Jimmy McGeough, Mick Lynch and Peter Thomas among others.
The scope of that team’s achievement was made more remarkable by the fact that Waterford had never won the league title before that triumph, nor have they managed it since.
In addition to their remarkable collection of silverware, there were some unforgettable two-legged European Cup games, coming up against sides of the calibre of Manchester United and Celtic, losing 10-2 on aggregate in these respective ties.
Hale was part of the great Waterford side of the late ’60s and early ’70s.
Following their last league triumph in 1973, Waterford’s fortunes began to decline. After fifth and sixth-place finishes in the next two seasons, Hale parted ways with his beloved hometown club.
The veteran star would subsequently take in stints at Cork Celtic, St Patrick’s Athletic, Limerick, Thurles Town and one last hurrah back at Waterford. His appearances at most of these teams were sporadic, however, and he was serving as player-manager with Cork Celtic, Thurles and Waterford.
Hale enjoyed some success as a manager, winning the League of Ireland with Cork Celtic in 1974 and spending a lengthy period in charge at Waterford between 1982 and 1988. He then returned to manage the club between 1991 and 1993, and also had stints as boss of Cobh Ramblers, where he signed future Manchester United star Roy Keane and gave him his debut, and Kilkenny City — the final League of Ireland club he coached between 1995 and 1999. Thereafter, he spent time helping out at local side St Joseph’s, before stepping away from an active involvement in football at around the age of 61.
“What talents they were, but because they all played as youngsters together, they got wiped off the floor.
“They were great guys. And I get letters from America and Australia today to say: ‘Alfie, I mightn’t have done much in my [football] career, but you shaped my future.’ It’s a lovely compliment.”
***
Hale can reflect on a remarkable legacy.
“There’s a history of stuff there,” he says. “I’ve had a great life, nothing to be sorry for.”
While he has many role models to thank for his success in the game, the influence of his father in particular looms large.
“I adored him,” he says. “He was my hero in every sense, as a man, as a gentleman more than as just a football man. He played for Shamrock Rovers and Waterford, and he had little innings at Bristol City.
“But would you believe it, he never spoke to me about football, except one occasion. He came in from the pub one night. I was 17 and playing with Waterford. I didn’t have a particularly good game that day. I was sitting down listening to the radio in the house and my mother [Alice] was out in the kitchen doing something. He said to me: ‘Are you fit?’ I said: ‘I am, yeah.’ He said: ‘You didn’t look it today.’”
Hale is friendly with Ireland and Leeds legend John Giles.
Source: Morgan Treacy/INPHO
Over the years, Hale developed a great friendship with John Giles. The two would travel over to Irish internationals from England together, and their somewhat like-minded fathers were a frequent topic of conversation.
“He went [to Manchester United] with his father at 14. Matt Busy met him and brought him up to The Cliff training ground. He said ‘come up, I want you to see some of the players in action’. He went up and was looking at Duncan Edwards, Bobby Charlton, Dennis Viollet, Roger Byrne and some of the greatest players that have ever played. Dickie Giles says: ‘Well son, what do you think?’ He said: ‘Dad, I don’t think I’ll be as good as these guys, I won’t be able to play.’ His father said to him: ‘What? You’re f***ing better than any of those guys out there and don’t you ever think anything else.’
“I went to Villa at nearly 20. I had the maturity of about a 12-year-old. They asked my father to come up with me. My father had never spoken to me about football in my life. But this was the first time he was going to fly. He said: ‘I’ll never travel [any other way] again anywhere.’
“He said to me: ‘You cannot let this pass you, you’ll look a fool when you go home to Waterford.’ The club you’re leaving, St Joseph’s, everybody’s depending on you to represent Waterford well.’ He said: ‘This opportunity won’t come again.’ I said: ‘I don’t want it really’.
“‘And what did he do?’ Gilesy asked. He took off his tie, opened the collar of his shirt and took out a scapular — it’s a little thing that’s blessed by the bishops and the popes and all that. You wear it for safety. He put it around my neck and said: ‘You’ll be alright. Go on.’ And I went in and signed for Aston Villa.
“The attitude of John Giles’ father and my father, they weren’t so far apart, they both wanted the same thing for their son.
“But I’d a great love for my father, because he had a great reputation in Waterford. People often said to me he mightn’t have left you any money, but he left some legacy in this town. I felt if anything, I’d like to do what my father did and just be a good guy, do the best that you can.”
At 80 years of age, Hale remains an avid football fan and has been a regular attendee at Waterford games in recent years.
Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO
The fact that Hale’s father seldom spoke to him about soccer may seem unusual by modern standards — the stereotypical image of the contemporary Irish footballing parent is the figure intensely berating his son, the referee and others from the sideline. However, he says his dad’s behaviour was not unusual for that period.
“It’s just the era of them coming out of the Second World War, he had nine children, he had three other sons. All of us were busy playing football on the road and everything else. The men just didn’t talk to the children. At seven o’clock in the morning, he’d cycle to the local meat factory, which was about five miles away. Every evening, at seven o’clock, he’d come home shattered and be up again the next morning, cycle again, winter and summer. They didn’t have time to nourish you in any respect outside of eating. Then you got a job at 14 or 16, and helped out your mother, and that was it.
“When I came home from England, I would go and see my mother every Monday.
“He died at 86, and between 75, when my mother died, and 86, I got closer to him. But football had nothing to do with it then — it was just a father-son relationship. The funny thing about it, as good a footballer as he was, he loved boxing and he adored racing, and Lester Piggott was his patron saint.
“When he retired after 46 years, they gave him some kind of a pension. He took it home. I remember he was sitting in the chair and he said to my mother: ‘I’m retiring today, there’s half my pension.’ He brought the other half down to the local bookmaker in the town centre and paid off his debts. And that was it.
“But my mother said he got great excitement and enjoyment out of watching me and my brothers play — he loved it. But he just never told us.”
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2019 ALL-IRELAND SENIOR club camogie champions Sarsfields of Galway are leading calls for the completion of the outstanding 2020 action — the provincial and national championship series.
Earlier this week, the Camogie Association overturned its controversial fixture plan as 53% of clubs voted in favour of a split-season format for 2021.
After an ugly back-and-forth involving the Gaelic Players Association [GPA] with inter-county players threatening strike action, members were polled on what direction the schedule should take.
The inter-county championship will now take place after the Littlewoods Ireland Camogie Leagues, which start this weekend, with 2021 club competitions following thereafter.
This decision, however, has come at a cost for clubs who were due to contest the 2020 All-Ireland club series. As of now, it will remain incomplete.
RTÉ Sport reports that the six senior clubs affected — Loughiel, Drom and Inch, Thomastown, Inagh Kilnamona, Sarsfields and Oulart-The Ballagh — have written to the Camogie Association this week to seek a window for those competitions to be completed.
The dates of 7, 13, 20 and 27 June have been put forward as four weekends that could see the completion of the senior championship – a proposed fixture schedule that would run in tandem with the 2021 leagues.
@gbfmsports @ConnachtCamogie @Drom_Camogie @inagh_kilnamona @OulartC @ThomastownC @LoughgielCamogi @SportsDaz @womenshurling @OfficialCamogie @WomensGPA @HerSportDotIE @TuamHerald @wsdotie @GalwayCamogie96 pic.twitter.com/yG2Nqbgn1M
— Sarsfields Camogie Club, Galway 🇳🇬 (@SarsfieldsCC) May 13, 2021
Manager Michael ‘Hopper’ McGrath spoke out passionately on Galway Bay FM today.
“We’ve the template set for them. done everything for them only give us a pitch, give us a ref, let’s get on with it,” the Tribe playing great said.
“I’m telling you now, the repercussions for this are going to be drastic. It’s going to split county players, it’s going to split club players, we don’t want that. We have eight on the county panel with Galway and we’re very proud of them. But we’re all about the mantra: you’re a club person number one, that’s where you start, that’s where you finish.
Don’t get me wrong, I played with the county myself and you give everything you have to the county, but it should not impede on club players. Club players make up 98% of the thing. Okay, the GPA are doing good things for the players, but they’re doing a lot wrong as well. They’re not doing anything for these [club] players, these are the heart of the communities, the heart of the Association.”
“We want to sit down at them around the table, or whatever way it is over Zoom,” he added. “They have to negotiate with us. They just have to. Who’s suffering? Everyone’s suffering.
“I hope they realise the effort that players have been putting in the last six months, putting their lives on hold for this. The county players threatened to strike, we have a nuclear option too and we’ll be pressing that button if needs be. We’re going as far as we possibly can to get common sense prevailing.”
✅Suitable dates proposed & outlined.
✅Respective clubs ready to go. @OfficialCamogie @HildaBreslin What’s the plan of action? https://t.co/XxiQn2ja0U
— Orlaith Mc Grath (@OrlaithMcGrath) May 14, 2021
Every players dream is to represent their club at the highest level. For some girls it's their first chance and for others it may be their last! Let's not undermind the importance of the club provincial and All-Ireland Championship. Hopefully the @OfficialCamogie will see sense! https://t.co/2YKiYz3zTQ
— Shauna Sinnott (@ShaunaSinnott) May 14, 2021
Let’s hope the @OfficialCamogie see sense and do the right thing and what was promised. https://t.co/lTBXUGoMCI
— Jackie Tyrrell (@MrJackieTee) May 13, 2021
Would love for the @OfficialCamogie to explain their reasoning behind the All-Ireland Club Championship being completely disregarded despite numerous times being told it was going ahead. No reason it can’t be played before the inter-county championship begins. @SarsfieldsCC https://t.co/LiztEy80Xb
— Siobhan Mc Grath (@grath_siobhan) May 11, 2021
Sarsfields released a statement yesterday — Oulart-The-Ballagh did too (read below) — which reads as follows:
“As things currently stand, following the outcome of the Camogie Association’s 2021 Fixtures poll of clubs, the All Ireland Club Championships 2020 will not now be concluding.
“Understandably, Sarsfields Camogie Club, as with all the other clubs involved, are extremely dissatisfied with this outcome and see no reason why the 2020 championships cannot be concluded.
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“There is no reason why the 2020 championships cannot be completed during the inter-county leagues as is the case every other year.
“Repeated assurances were provided by the Camogie Association that the championships would be concluding and all our players together with hundreds of players across the country proceeded to train remotely on that basis.
“The Camogie Association states in its mission statement that “Camogie is at the heart of the community, a game that inspires, an Association for all”. With its abandonment of the All Ireland 2020 club championships, the Camogie Association has disregarded its own vision.
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“What happened to the club being the heart and soul of our communities? Where do all players start and finish their careers?
“The championships have to be played and suitable dates have been identified by the clubs involved. Club players’ voices need to be heard for once and for all.”
VIKKI WALL, FOR one, was certainly taken aback by the positive response.
On last month’s ladies football All-Stars programme on TG4, the Meath All-Ireland winner opened up about the regular verbal abuse — related to her weight — she has been subjected to from the sideline and stands while playing inter-county football.
The 2020 Intermediate Players’ Player of the Year used her winning interview to speak about her horrific experiences for the first time.
“To be honest from 2017 to 2019, I heard something in every single game about my weight,” she told ‘Peil na mBan – Foirne na Bliana – le AIG Insurance,’ recalling how she once got a call from an opposition manager apologising for what he had said, and how a woman next to her mother in the stand said that Wall was “too fat to play football”.
The Dunboyne ace’s brave and powerful account shone a light on an issue that is often swept under the carpet, and sparked plenty of conversation online.
Wall came in for high praise for sharing her story and using her platform for the better, and her experience seems to have resonated with many.
Huge admiration for Vikki Wall opening up on this.
The Intermediate @LadiesFootball Player of the Year used her winning interview to speak about the regular — and horrific — verbal abuse she has been subjected to on the pitch.
Brave & powerful. https://t.co/W2mAQdpViu
— Emma Duffy (@emmaduffy_) February 27, 2021
“It was not something I gave a huge amount of thought to,” the 22-year-old said at the announcement of the Gaelic Games Player Pathway yesterday.
“I said I would bring it up in the interview but I definitely didn’t expect the reaction it’s gotten so far. I’m overwhelmed by it but I also think it has been really encouraging in the fact that a lot of younger girls have reached out to me.
“I didn’t realise it was such a problem but the fact that these people have reached out to me with similar stories, having that extra conversation on the topic is definitely not a bad thing.
“I had contact from some parents thanking me and it kind of shocked me how young it is, players who are U12, U14, and it is not something at that age I would have been conscious of. I think it is definitely trickling down into younger ages and a little more conversation and awareness about the topic is a good thing.”
Sledging on the pitch has emerged as a problem in sport over the past few years, but most players would brush it off in the moment.
Is it better to address it head-on and call out this unacceptable behaviour? Wall isn’t quite sure.
“It is a catch 22: do you ignore them and let it fizzle out or do you tackle it head on, and I think it is trying to find that happy medium of how you approach it.”
Source: Sport TG4/YouTube
Likewise, she’s unsure if anything more could — or should — be done going forward, rather than keep the conversation going, and the issue in the spotlight.
“It’s kind of a tough one. I hadn’t really thought of strategically how you’d kind of tackle it. It is tough and I think stuff gets said at matches, no one’s perfect when you’re under pressure, or when you’re in a high-pressure situation like that and you want your team to win. I understand that stuff gets said, so I don’t know.
“I don’t think I have a perfect answer, but I do just think more talking about it and more acknowledgment that it’s not okay, maybe, is the way forward. The fact that maybe more people are coming out and talking about it — it’s definitely not just in the female side of things, I know it’s relevant to the male game as well.
“Maybe just a bit more [conversation] about a body image as a whole to do with GAA and stuff like that, I’ve seen a few more articles this week. I think maybe the starting point is just the awareness side of things.”
Wall is just thankful that she stuck at football, well aware that her career could have taken a completely different direction had she let the verbal abuse take over.
“I reflect on it and think if I did not have such a love for the game and if I didn’t have that underlying confidence in myself, I do think it could have gone a different way. It probably did affect me more than I would have liked to admit at the time. I definitely think that the strong love I had for the game helped me but I do think it did affect me as well.”
2020 was a memorable one for Wall and for Meath, as the Royals made it third time lucky, finally getting their hands on the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup after back-to-back decider defeats.
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She stepped up with 1-3 in a Player of the Match-winning performancecto inspire her side against Westmeath, banishing the heartbreak of previous finals and defeats — one particular 40-point hammering at the hands of Cork in 2015 standing out.
But Wall — who “definitely wouldn’t rule out” pursuing an AFLW journey having impressed at a Combine in Melbourne in 2019 — is pleased with the “huge improvements” Meath have made of late, and feels they are ready for senior football.
“In 2018 when we were playing against Tyrone, if we’d gone up senior, I probably would have questioned how we would have survived,” she concedes.
Facing Westmeath in the All-Ireland final.
Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO
“But we’ve got a few more years’ experience under our belts, and I’d be more confident in the fact that we can compete up with senior and could probably hold our own. We don’t want to be coming up to go straight back down so I think definitely, we’re a lot more confident this year.
“We are not naïve in not thinking we have big challenges ahead of us this year and if the provincials go ahead, it means we will be in a straight final against Dublin so you could be playing the All-Ireland champions in your first match. We know we have to increase physicality and strength so in that sense, preparations will be a bit different.”
And playing Mick Bohan’s four-in-a-row winning Sky Blues is certainly a challenge she is relishing.
“Definitely,” Wall, who is happy to report that her sister, Sarah, is on “the road to recovery” after her second cruciate rupture in December’s All-Ireland final, concludes.
“You want to be playing against the best and that has been our goal since we got relegated to intermediate a couple of years ago so we are happy to be back up playing the best.”
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Updated Apr 1st 2021, 5:36 PM
DUBLIN GAA HAVE suspended men’s senior football manager Dessie Farrell for 12 weeks after a number of Dublin footballers were photographed attending a training session yesterday morning in breach of Covid-19 guidelines.
The Dublin County Board apologised “unreservedly” on behalf of its players and management, describing the training session as “a serious error of judgement”.
A statement released on Thursday evening read: “Dublin GAA acknowledge that, following an investigation this afternoon, there was a breach of Covid-19 guidelines yesterday morning.
The County Management Committee have suspended Dublin Senior Football manager Dessie Farrell for 12 weeks with immediate effect. The Dublin senior football management and players recognise that this was a serious error of judgement and apologise unreservedly for their actions.
An Garda Síochána said earlier on Thursday that it was in the process of making enquiries into reports of the regulation breaches after photographs of the morning training session were published in today’s Irish Independent.
The GAA also released a statement to confirm that they would pursue the allegations “at the earliest opportunity,” and would “invoke any necessary disciplinary processes as appropriate”.
In response to a query from The42, Gardaí said they would issue fines if potential breaches of the public health regulations are identified.
“An Garda Síochána is making enquiries into reports of alleged breaches of Covid Regulations,” a Garda spokesperson said.
“The Health Act 1947 (Section 31A-Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No.10) Regulations 2020, as amended, are currently in force.
“Regulation 11 places restriction on training events. Regulation 11 is not declared to be a penal regulation.
“If Gardaí identify potential breaches of the public health regulations (travel restrictions) a Fixed Payment Notice may be issued where appropriate.
“An Garda Síochána has no further comment at this time.”
Speaking on Newstalk’s Lunchtime Live today, Minister of State for Sports, Jack Chambers said action needed be taken.
“I was really disappointed and frustrated to see those photographs,” said Minister Chambers. “Many GAA players are important role models.
“In fairness to many inter-county players, they’ve shown great leadership over the last 12 months in trying to reinforce the public health message in our response to Covid.
“So to see a training session in breach of the rules is extremely disappointing and surprising as well. I know the GAA has said in a statement in the last 48 hours that any breaches will be properly dealt with and we need to see that now.
“It absolutely is [a slap in the face to Dublin GAA supporters] and the majority of people are upholding the public health advice when it comes to really important occasions like funerals, like family gatherings – many people are isolated or frustrated and I accept people are in a very difficult space.
“If we see blatant breaches of the rules, that undermines the integrity of the broader public health messaging and that’s why I think many people will be very disappointed this morning when they read what has happened.”
Meanwhile, Alan Dillon TD, who is Fine Gael’s spokesperson for Tourism and Sport, also called for clarity on the incident.
“The photographic evidence in today’s Irish Independent of a number of Dublin footballers and a coach engaging in a training session is highly disappointing,” said the former Mayo footballer.
“An immediate investigation must take place and I believe it is up to Dessie Farrell and the Dublin management team to make a statement in relation to this breach of the public health guidelines. Innisfails GAA club must also clarify why training was allowed to take place on their grounds.
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“It is possible that the Dublin players shown training in the photos were there under pressure from the Dublin management team. We all understand the ultra-competitive environment of the Dublin panel but there is no excuse for an organised training session in breach of Covid guidelines.
“I would warn against any knee jerk reactions or indeed targeting of abuse at the players in question here. We need a full investigation to establish what happened.”
Alan Dillon during his playing days with Mayo.
Source: James Crombie/INPHO
“We are currently at the highest level of health restrictions. The reason for this is simple; to save lives and keep people out of hospitals.
“Covid numbers are still very high and our frontline workers, made up of thousands of GAA members, are out working for us every day in hospitals, ambulances, schools, at garda checkpoints, shops and across a variety of sectors. They are our championship team and are playing a blinder.
“In the GAA world, the Dublin senior football team are the most revered. They have achieved the ultimate success repeatedly and are deservedly lauded for that. However with that comes responsibility in their role as GAA and sports ambassadors – responsibility to the GAA community, their clubs, to their families, supporters and to those who look up to emulate them.
“This training session in Malahide simply should not have happened. Organised training cannot take place currently – it is against the national health guidelines and GAA rules. It is particularly galling that this should take place mere days after a circular from the GAA made it clear that there should be no organised events or training.
“We are all eager to return to GAA pitches with clubs and counties. But we can only do so in a safe manner. Blatant breaches of the rules such as this one, will inevitably delay a return. By sticking to the guidelines and supporting each other, we can all get back to the sports we love.”
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