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(Taken from Souvenir Programme for Official Opening, May 2001)
In 1965, Muhammad Ali was Heavyweight Champion of the World, Lyndon
Johnson was in the White House, Sean Lemass was Taoiseach, Martin
Quinn was Meath's full-back, Mick O'Connell was the star man for
Kerry, Colm O'Rourke was in high infants down in Leitrim and Arkle
won his second Gold Cup.
Just outside of Navan, meanwhile, a group of lads, led by Joe
Clarke of Simonstown and Jimmy Lane of St Mary's Park, were making
a big decision to start a new football club. They had to get a
few locals back from Kilberry and Gibbstown, there were a few
ex-O'Mahony's available and there were a few other young lads
unattached and 'mad' for action.
There had always been a tradition of kicking ball down in Clarke's
fields in Simonstown - a suburban area on the northern side of
Navan town - so the name of the new club as submitted to the County
Board was Simonstown Gaels GFC. It's fair to say that the reaction
of most County Board officials at the time was 'where the hell
is Simonstown?'.
Jimmy Lane was actually a native of Trim who was at that stage
residing in St Mary's Park, beside the Round O. He had been a
member of the Meath hurling panel which had won the 1948 All-Ireland
Junior Hurling championship title.
Joe Clarke was a twenty-something year old just eager to play
football with his own team. He also had a couple of brothers who
shared his enthusiasm and a mother who was only too glad to allow
goalposts be erected in a field at the back of the house.
The house and field, incidentally, were situated about a 1/2 mile
from the Round O, out the Proudstown Rd, down a long winding cul-de-sac
and, as another of the Clarke's, Mickey, puts it so well: right
beside the six furlong start at Proudstown Park Racecourse.
The affiliation was accepted and Simonstown Gaels became a reality
- just one team, Junior B. The first challenge match was played
in February '65. The fledgling club had to borrow a set of jerseys
from neighbouring Gibbstown for the match against the Commons
from the opposite end of town.
The next challenge was against Bective, who had been formed a
year or two previously, and for this match Mickey Clarke, 'exiled'
in Dublin at the time, arrived home with the club's very first
set of jerseys which was purchased in Elvery's for £19-19-0.
Mrs. Clarke not just satisfied with providing the pitch and the
use of the shed as a dressing room made tea and scones - there
might even have been jam on them! - for both teams.
That's how things were in the 60s. £10 was considered a good weeks
wages and £1 worth of petrol meant about 4 gallons (nobody knew
anything about litres!).
Now 36 years later as we gather this evening to welcome dignatories
of the GAA world and the mighty men of Kerry to officially open
our new Floodlit pitch and surrounding facilities, let us remember
the men whose dream in the 60s made it all possible.
Joe is still hale and hearty and owns a special stool in a particular
corner of the lounge. Jimmy Lane has, sadly, passed on but his
family are still deeply involved; Jim jnr. presently holds the
vice-chair. Mickey Clarke, who brought home those first set of
jerseys, is still active (and that's an understatement!) while
other founder members still involved are Jimmy Murtagh, Dessie
Gorman (current chairman), Paddy Flood and Robbie McCullagh (Hon.
President).
For that first year of 1965, the club's income was £42 approx.
while the expenditure reached £37. Two visits to the physiotherapist
would have made short work of the £37 in today's terms but, of
course, physiotherapists didn't figure on the Simonstown agenda
in those days - nor did hamstring or groin strains!
On the field of play the new club started with a big win over
Kilmainhamwood's second string in the 1st round - Oliver Plunkett
(not the saint) being top scorer on the day - and went on to win
the Division but, unfortunately, suffered defeat to the Commons
in the quarter-final.
The chairman of the club in that first year was Jack 'Duck' Callaghan
who had won senior championship medals with two clubs, Parnells
and O'Mahony's. He won the first with Parnells as far back as
1946, yet, amazingly, was still playing with Simonstown in the
late sixties.
Amongst the players were Benny Gartland, who was O'Mahony's goalie
when they won their first senior trophy, the Feis Cup in 1951,
and Tony Sheridan, a member of the great O'Mahony's five-in-a-row
team, who had also played full-back for Meath in the 1956 Leinster
championship.
The first major playing occasion for the fledgling club arrived
in 1970 when they reached the Junior B final only to lose to neighbours
O'Mahony's whose stars were veterans Tony McCormack and Patsy
Ratty laden down with senior medals. Indeed, a certain Navan wag
suggested Simonstown should object as O'Mahony's had 'overage
players'!
Just prior to this in 1968, the club decided to seek a more central
home in order to cater better for the lads from Windtown and St
Mary's Park. Reggie Casey who lived beside the Round O (the new
road now goes through where his house used to stand) came to the
rescue. He gave the use of a field on the Proudstown Road beside
Jimmy Murtagh's house at a nominal rent of 1/= per year with entrance
via a little gap.
Thus was born the basics of what you now see this evening. In
the 30 years since, adjoining land has been bought from Mrs Mullen
and Kilsaran Concrete but the original field, complete with the
gap, is still the foundation stone.
In 1977, an Estate down Simonstown Lane was being divided up by
the Land Commission. The club applied for land for a pitch and
were successful at a cost of £2,400 payable in two instalments.
However, there was agreement all round that Reggie's field made
much more geographical sense and the club began negotiations to
see would he sell. Eventually the deal was agreed at £20,000 and
the club, which had not yet used their own property for playing
purposes, sought and were granted permission to sell it. In 1979,
within two years of acquiring it, they sold it for £13,000 and
so they had nearly three quarters of the price of Reggie's field.
From that day on, Simonstown Gaels GFC has never looked back.
Starting the underage section, building the clubhouse, juvenile
successes, acquiring more land, opening a bar, making a car park,
extending the clubhouse, winning Junior and Intermediate titles,
players winning All-Ireland senior, U-21 and minor medals, buying
and developing, two House Draws, successful applications for Lottery
funding, erection of state-of-the-art floodlights, the Intercounty
Floodlit tournament - the list goes on.
The missing link is the Senior championship but patience is a
virtue and hopefully 'tiocfaidh ar lá'.
This evening marks a big milestone in the history of a club which
set out on a journey in 1965. The youth of the area have a lot
to be thankful for. The foresight of Jimmy Lane and Joe Clarke
should never be forgotten and, while there are elaborate arrangements
for catering this evening in the kitchen, spare a thought for
the goodwill of Mrs. Clarke with her tea and scones in the shed
all those years ago.
The Executive committee elected at the inaugural Simonstown Gaels
GFC AGM in 1965 was as follows:
President - Mr P Flood senior
Chairman - Mr J Callaghan
Secretary - Mr L Fagan
Asst secretary - Mr T Markey
Treasurer - Mr J Clarke
Committee - Messrs J Lane, J Lynch, T Clarke, T Sheridan, R McCullagh
Selection committee - Messrs J Lane, P Flood, B Gartland, H Brady
Delegate to the Co Board - Mr J Clarke
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