The Irish News - Wednesday June 2 2010: Bradley calling time on Derry
THE rumour mill in Derry GAA has gone into overdrive following Paddy Bradley’s announcement that he is planning to end his inter-county career at the end of the season.
The former Allstar told The Irish News: “It’s looking increasingly likely that this will be my last year for Derry."
Having celebrated his 29th birthday on May 23, Bradley would have no problem retaining his first team status for the next few years.
Due to get married in September, the Glenullin man has refused to cite his commitments beyond football as the reason for his decision.
Bradley’s refusal to confirm his retirement has already prompted further speculation.
"A lot can change before the end of the year but at the minute, I don’t see myself playing for Derry next year,” he said.
This statement begs the question what could possibly change that would make Bradley reconsider.
When posed this question, the Derry star declined to make any comment.
Tyrone postpone four SFC games
FOUR of the eight first round games in the Target Express Tyrone SFC have been postponed by at least three weeks in order to give the county team more time to prepare for the Ulster Championship semi-final against Down on June 19.
Three games were played last weekend, but only one of the remaining five will go ahead next weekend as originally scheduled.
Tyrone county chairman Ciaran McLaughlin has defended the decision to postpone the games.
“We had to look at the fixtures that were presented, and the fact that in that second week, there were so many of the county panel involved,” he said.
“What it meant, particularly for the county manager, was that for the period of two weeks after the first round game against Antrim, he would not have a full panel.
“The first time he would have his panel of players would have been the Tuesday after that, which is only 11 days before the Ulster semi-final,” he said.
St Mary’s making a splash
A FTER a record-breaking 10 successive years as Canada Trophy winners, St Mary’s CBGS water-polo squads at U19 and U16 level recently wrapped up their third Grand Slam since 2000.
The journey began when the U19 squad blasted their way to victory in the All-Ireland competition held in Dublin last November.
The St Mary’s team included five Irish internationals in Matthew Hanna, Daniel Moore, Cathal Fitzpatrick, Ciaran McKeever and Connell Morgan, alongside regular team members Stephen Durkan, Conor McGeown, James McComish, Tiernan Monaghan and Paul Moran.
With such a strong squad, it was no surprise that eight of those players were later selected to represent Ulster in the Inter-provincial Championships held in Dublin in February.
More recently, the same squad lifted the Canada Trophy for a record-breaking 10th successive year.
The team, originally under the stewardship of schools water-polo legend Jim McClean, who retired three years ago, is now managed by Mark Watson and assistant coach Ronan McClean, who continues the family legacy and who also played in several Canada Trophy-winning teams for the Glen Road school.
Not to be outshone, the U16 team then won the All-Ireland and Ulster crowns in March, with a dramatic win over St Malachy’s to complete the clean sweep.
BIRTHDAYS
Mark Lawrenson (soccer) - former Liverpool and Republic of Ireland defender turned TV pundit, born 1957.
Mark Walters (soccer) - former Rangers, Liverpool and England winger, born 1964.
Steve Waugh (cricket) - former Australia captain, scorer of 10,927 Test runs, born 1965.
Mark Waugh (cricket) - twin brother of Steve, scorer of 8,029 Test runs for Australia, born 1965.
Abby Wambach (soccer) - former striker for the United States women's team who retired in 2015 as the all-time leading goalscorer in international football, born 1980.
Nikolay Davydenko (tennis) - Russian former tennis player, born 1981.
Angelo Mathews (cricket) - Sri Lanka's ODI and Test captain, born 1987.
Sergio Aguero (soccer) - Manchester City and Argentina forward, born 1988.
Freddy Adu (soccer) - United States international who became the youngest professional footballer of the modern era at the age of 14, born 1989.
Steve Smith (cricket) - Australia batsman and former captain, born 1989.
QUICK QUIZ
1. Which English football club have won both European Cup finals in which they have participated?
2. And which manager guided them to their success?
3. In which sport is the playing surface known as a sheet with players aiming towards the house?
4. What's the lowest number which cannot be scored with a single dart?
5. And what is the name given to the throwing line in darts?
6. Tennis doubles pair Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah are from which country?
7. Which football club used to play at Plough Lane?
8. And where did they move to?
9. What nationality is Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa?
10. Which former world boxing champion was known as the 'Italian Dragon'?
(See quiz answers at bottom)
ON THIS DAY
1904: Swimmer Johnny Weissmuller was born. He became the first man to swim 100 metres in less than one minute and won five gold medals at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics. He later moved into acting and played Tarzan in a series of films. He died in Acapulco, Mexico in 1984.
1954: Lester Piggott won his first Epsom Derby at the age of 18 on Never Say Die, a 33-1 shot.
1962: In Santiago, police intervened several times in the World Cup game between Chile and Italy, one of the most violent matches in football history.
1970: Former Formula One driver Bruce McLaren died after a testing accident, aged 32. The New Zealander founded the McLaren team.
1985: UEFA ruled English clubs would be banned indefinitely from European competition following the riot at the Heysel Stadium, in which Liverpool fans were involved. The ban remained in place for five seasons.
2005: Wicketkeeper Keith Piper was sacked by Warwickshire after testing positive for cannabis.
2008: Sven-Goran Eriksson left Manchester City after just one season as manager.
2014: Frank Lampard announced that he would leave Chelsea after 13 years at Stamford Bridge.
2015: Then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he would step down and called for an extraordinary congress "as soon as possible", saying "a new president will be elected to follow" him.
2016: Chris Smalling sent England to Euro 2016 on the back of a 1-0 win, but the late header could not mask an underwhelming display against Portugal at Wembley.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
I was there.. in 1993, Armagh supporter Peter Clarke told The Irish News on June 2 2010..
With five minutes left, Armagh trailed Fermanagh by nine points and their Championship aspirations for 1993 looked dead and buried. Enter Dinny Hollywood, and within the blink of an eye he had scored two goals and a point, writes Armagh supporter Peter Clarke.
The hundreds of Armagh supporters that had already left the Athletic Grounds started to make their way back in to see what all the commotion was about. In injury-time the ball sailed high towards the Fermanagh goal.
Ger Houlahan rose to break it down into the path of John Grimley, who ripped the back of the net to give Armagh an incredible victory as Fermanagh were left to wonder what had just happened.
An amazing finish in what turned out to be an amazing Championship for Armagh, who played six games (three replays) yet never even reached the Ulster final.
On this day in 2004: Chelsea appoint Jose Mourinho for the first time
Jose Mourinho was the hottest property in Europe when he was named as Chelsea boss, three days after Claudio Ranieri had been sacked despite leading them to their best ever Premier League and Champions League performance.
The Portuguese coach delivered one of the most memorable press conferences in football on his Stamford Bridge unveiling, giving a glimpse into the character that would dominate English football to this day.
When talking about his credentials for the job, Mourinho said: "I have to say this, we have top players. I am sorry if I am a bit arrogant, we have a top manager. I am European champion, I am not one of the bottle. I think I am a special one." It is a phrase that has followed him around ever since.
PICTURE OF THE DAY - June 2 1971
Leeds claimed their last European honour when they lifted the Fairs Cup in 1971.
Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles, Allan Clarke, Mick Bates and Mick Jones helped Don Revie's side to victory over Juventus.
Leeds beat Sarpsborg, Dynamo Dresden, Sparta Prague, Vitoria Setubal and then Liverpool in the semi-final.
The first leg of the final against Juventus in Turin was abandoned in the 51st minute due to heavy rain and a waterlogged pitch.
The rearrange game finished 2-2 with Roberto Bettega and Fabio Capello scoring for the hosts and Paul Madeley and Bates netting for Leeds.
At Elland Road, Clarke put Leeds ahead and although Pietro Anastasi levelled Leeds claimed the trophy on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate draw.
They had also won the competition in 1968 after beating Ferencvaros 1-0 on aggregate having been runners-up to Dinamo Zagreb in 1967.
Their 1971 victory was the last Fairs Cup final, when it came under the governance of UEFA and was replaced by the UEFA Cup.
QUICK QUIZ answers: 1. Nottingham Forest; 2. Brian Clough; 3. Curling; 4. 23; 5. Oche; 6. Colombia; 7. Wimbledon; 8. Selhurst Park; 9. Argentine; 10. Joe Calzaghe.
