In this week’s ‘My Club’ feature, Roscommon star, Cathal Cregg, tells us all about Western Gaels.

By Cian O'Connell

Founded in 1962 in Fairymount Hall Western Gaels are a success story in Roscommon football.

Two County Senior Final defeats in the past seven years confirm just how far Westen Gaels have travelled.

The club has contributed handsomely to the recent Roscommon revolution at underage level.

County Junior Champions in 1977 and Intermediate victors in 1998 and 2004 Western Gaels are now a respected force at senior level in Roscommon.

Seamus and John Lavin both claimed All Ireland minor medals in 1939 and 1951, while Michael Finneran and Kevin Murray sampled national glory with the under 21 outfit in 1978.

Kevin Higgins was also a member of the Roscommon All Ireland minor winning team in 2006.

For more information on Western Gaels, visit their website http://westerngaels.com/

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Q: You have made huge strides in the last decade reaching two County Senior Finals.  Is that a sign of how far the club has progressed?

** A:** Yes, we have lost two County Finals in the last number of years which is disappointing. We were an intermediate club until 2004 so competing in two finals has shown good progress, but ultimately we would like to win a senior title.

Q: Can you tell me a bit about the club?

**A: **I suppose we are a small enough rural club situated in Frenchpark and Ballinagare.   We initially won an Intermediate title in 1998 went up to senior and got relegated.  When we won the Intermediate again in 2004 we have stayed senior since then. We have been knocking around quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals since that but haven't actually got over the line to win a senior title.

Q: Do you have a strong underage set-up?

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A: We have people putting in great work at underage, but we would be competing in lower Divsions at underage due to numbers which is a major issue for lots of clubs in north Roscommon at the minute.  To be fair to all the coaches, they do super work and they always bring through a couple of players each year to the senior squad which is a great reflection on the work they are doing.  It’s great to have these players coming through and we are blooding some good new, young players onto our senior team at the moment which is brilliant.

Q: Do some of the lads involved with the senior team play an active role with coaching in the club?

A: I do a small bit when I can, but it can be hard with work and Roscommon commitments. Some of the senior players coach with the underage teams and one of our senior players, Dermot McGarry, is our coaching officer. He is doing great work with the underage teams in the club and it is great to see that.

Q: Starting off, can you remember the journey of going playing with the club?

A: I started playing under 10 and 12s with Western Gaels.  I had started off in National School in Frenchpark first where Dermot Murray looked after Frenchpark National School teams.   We played blitzes between the different schools, that culminated with people going playing with Western Gaels at under 12 and under 14.  I played the whole way up to senior.

Q: Do any of the people involved in those underage teams stand out for you as influences on your career?

A: There have been lots of people that have helped me out all the way up.   Dermot Murray coached our national schools teams along with the under 10 and under 12`s.  Then Noel Creighton coached at under 12s & under 14s.  Padraig Cassidy and James Ryan did the minors, then when we came through to senior we've had a number of different managers.  Donal Casserly has been over us twice, I was quite young when we won the intermediate in 2004, he was player-manager at the time.  He took us over again a few years ago and brought us to a County Final in 2013. Others that would have done lots of work with us down through the year are lads like Declan Sampey and two club members who have sadly passed away - Thomas Mahon and Seamus Nolan, who did great work. So they've been the main people for me, but there are loads of people playing an active role around the club.  They have been involved in the past and they continue to do great work.

Q: When you came in as a teenager to win the Intermediate title did you think a lot more silverware would follow?

A: I suppose at the time you don't really appreciate things as much as you do when you get a bit older. We also won the Connacht Intermediate title that year and there were some great nights out and great memories. At that time we had a very young side, we had won a Division One minor title a few years previous, that is the only Division One title we have in the club at under age ever.  I was very young on that intermediate panel, some of the lads were a couple of years older with the majority of the players being only 21 or 22 and a lot of them went on to form the basis of the teams that got to the County Finals. That group brought the club along way winning two Senior leagues and got to two senior finals but it was very disappointing not to win either.  In 2009 we were unlucky too in ways because we lost a lot of good players to emigration which set us back quite a bit.  Still we would be quite strong, we would have five or six on the Roscommon panel on and off over the past number of years.

Q: Is that a source of great pride?

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A: Definitely it is great but it can be a hindrance for the club too missing that amount of players for large periods of the year.  When we won the Allianz Football League titles in Croke Park the last two years there were six of us in Croke Park on those days.  The likes of Donal Ward, my brother Finbar, Kevin Higgins, Seanie McDermott, and Ciaran Cafferkey.  So they were special days with Roscommon, especially when you have so many clubmates involved.

Q: How are you faring in this year's County Championship?

A: We had a good win in the first round which we were delighted with.  We are in a group of six so we have five games in that overall. We are in the bottom six of the Senior Championship after a disappointing year last year so only two get out of the group into the knockout stages this year.  We will probably have to win every game in the group to get out of it.  So we have one down and four more to go.

Q: Considering how many guys have represented Roscommon recently would you be hopeful enough about the future of the club?

A: We have been knocking around the latter stages of the championship for the last seven or eight years bar last year.  We did lose a lot of players, but luckily enough quite a few players have come through from a minor team that got to a Division One Final two years ago.  They are developing and they've played well for us in the Championship.  If those guys can keep developing our squad, we would hope to push on if we can.  Roscommon club football is quite strong with the bigger clubs like Brigid's, Clan na Gael, Roscommon Gaels, and Pearses all going well.  Huge work has been done at underage in the club so hopefully before I finish up I can get one.