These are encouraging times for Tuam Stars, who contest their first Galway SFC Final since 2012 on Sunday.
By Cian O’Connell
In Tuam where the talk about football endures, the fact that the Stars are shining again brings a little drop of hope to the famous town.
Amazingly it is 25 years since Tuam Stars red and white flag was perched on the summit of the Galway club game. That the Stars last county final appearance was in 2012 means this particular journey is being cherished.
Sub-plots most certainly exist too because the Tuam revival has been spearheaded by the iconic Tommy Carton, who was part of the 1994 winning crew against Corofin.
Carton was an emerging player at that time and subsequently featured for Galway in the John O’Mahony era. His dashing skill and ability to fashion chances were classic Tuam football traits, but Carton’s willingness to graft is assisting the current generation.
For a club that has recently flirted with relegation, the revival has been brisk with Tuam Stars Chairman Keith Murphy adamant that a meeting at the outser of 2019 set the tone for the months ahead.
“There is great excitement because we had a few tough years,” Murphy admits. “We had a meeting at the start of the year when a lot of the senior lads spoke, they came on board. We brought a couple of good young lads, who we have coming through.
“It is great getting the bunting up in the town, there is a great buzz around Tuam again. It is a long time since we were in a final, seven years, and 25 years since we won it. We are really going to push hard for it this Sunday.
“For a couple of years our underage we weren't putting them through like we should be. So we were really concentrating on the underage in the last couple of years. You can see it now, we are very strong at Under 12, 14, even Under 16, maybe at minor we were a bit slacker.
Tuam Stars are currently managed by former Galway forward Tommy Carton.
“Definitely we have put more emphasis on the underage system and it is starting to come through now with Ben O'Connell, Brian Mannion, Mikey Mannion, lads like that. You need to be bringing three or four young lads through every year.”
Tuam’s disappointing record during much of the past decade and a half in the underage ranks hurt deeply so Murphy ackowledges that it was important to address the issue.
“Definitely, I played minor up until '91,” Murphy recalls. “That minor team had Ja Fallon and Tommy Carton. We contested a minor final against Salthill at Tuam Stadium. Out of that minor final only three lads went on to play senior for Tuam - Biscuits Kelly, Ja Fallon, and Tommy Carton.”
Inevitably Carton, who soldiered through barren spells for Tuam, has returned to occupy a central role in the Stars’ story again. “We had a meeting at the start of the year when Tommy spoke,” Murphy stresses. “He kicked the winning point in a County Final in 1994.
“At that time he thought he was going to be contesting a final every year. Unfortunately they don't come around that often unless you are from Corofin. For Tuam or Salthill or any other team they don't come around that often.
“He thought at 17 years of age you'd be up on a pedestal and that there would be a final every year. He has put it into the player's minds that these days may only come around once in a lifetime.”
Despite a shaky start at the penultimate stage against Moycullen, Tuam Stars delivered when it truly counted after the restart.
“The training is going very well, he really has concentrated on fitness,” Murphy states. “Tuam has always had great footballers, good footballers and skilful footballers. Maybe for a couple of years we were lacking a bit of fitness and how to see out a game.
Significant underage work is being carried out by Tuam Stars.
“Johnny Trayers made a fantastic save at the end of the first half, that really changed the game. We just came out as a different team in the second half. We seem to be blitzing teams away in the last 20 minutes with our fitness. Tommy Carton has done a fantastic job fitness wise.”
Suddenly the future glimmers with promise. The past means Tuam’s tradition is rich, but Murphy is encouraged by the strides being made on and off the field of play. “We are after buying eight acres of land down behind the astroturf in Tuam just for the development of the underage,” Murphy remarks.
“We opened a new community hall last year. Tuam Stars as a whole is one of the biggest clubs in the west of Ireland, if not Ireland. We are really trying to get back on the map. Tuam has always been known for producing great footballers.
“We are trying to get the town involved. You have a lot of other clubs in Tuam - the rugby club, the athletic club, Tuam/Cortoon Ladies Football, so we are trying to gel all of that together. So far, so good. It is early days yet, but it is working for us anyways.”
Relevant in Galway, Tuam’s next brief is the most demanding exercise due to Corofin’s relentless drive and ambition. Tuam, though, are completely aware that this is a crucial spell for a proud and decorated club.
“For the long term it is important,” Murphy admits. “We won a County Semi-Final two weeks ago and we have asked the people of Tuam to get behind Tuam Stars. The generosity of the people and shopkeepers has been unbelievable. It is a costly exercise to put a team into a final with physios, lights, training, feeding them, but the people in the town have really got behind us.
“Seven years is a long time in Tuam Stars' history. People have got behind us and we thank them for the generosity all year. We know it is going to be tough, but hopefully we can push it on next Sunday to go that extra mile.”
The Tuam Stars story continues.
