Vinny Harvey in his own words ...

Reproduction of 2006 notes lovingly compiled with the passion and flair that the 'Harve' brought to everything he turned his hand to ...

Training the county and fond memories of individual brilliance: I was honoured to train the Carlow senior football team for some years with reasonable success and the following individual performances remain fondly in my memory. Brendan Doyle's three-goal haul against Westmeath in the Leinster Championship game v Westmeath. Doyle, a well balanced athletic type of footballer who could, and did, play in many positions was not far off the best of his generation and again a man who contributed a huge amount to his club Kildavin and county from a very youthful age.

I would like to highlight Murt Hayden's marvellous goalkeeping against Meath in Dr. Cullen Park. Murt that day brought off at least five world class saves against the likes of Stafford, Flynn, Beggy and Gillick. If the RTE cameras had been present that day in Dr. Cullen Park those saves would have been highlighted again and again.

That match was also notable for an exhibition of football from one of my favourite players of all time, red-haired happy go lucky Tommy Dwyer who cleaned out the Meath mid-field of Joe Cassells and Liam Hayes and had a back to the wall Mick Lyons beseeching the ref to blow full-time as Meath held on to a one goal lead.

It was Joe Cassells himself who told me outside the losing Carlow dressing room that he hadn't felt the weight of the ball for the closing 20 minutes. Praise indeed from Cassells to the the great Tommy.

Another exceptional performance came in 1984 in the Centenary Cup played in Dr. Cullen Park against the mighty Kingdom Kerry. This time it was given by one of Carlow's all-time greats Paddy Quirke. In one of the best games played in Carlow in decades a Carlow team minus the aforementioned Tommy Dwyer, injured in the league quarter-final v Armagh in Croke Park a few short weeks earlier, ran Kerry to a score of 1-8 to 0-9. That Kerry team consisted of twelve players who had won All-Ireland medals, household names Pat and Tom Spillane, Tommy Doyle, Ger Power and the mighty Jack O'Shea.?

The mid-field battle rested between Jack O'Shea/Ambrose O'Donovan versus Linus Kearns and Paddy Quirke and in a battle royal only one man came out of the contest with a 10 out of 10 rating and that man was the bold Paddy, finishing the game strongly and giving the performance of a life-time.

Mention of that game brings me to a footballer who I rated very highly, up there with the best of them. I am referring of course to Blues great Willie Doyle. Braveness personified, excellent fielder of the ball with a powerful if erratic shot, if Willie hadn't emigrated to New York he would have reached great heights and would have inspired Carlow and his beloved Blues to much success.

Golden nights and heartbreak with U-21's: On the U-21 scene we had some golden nights and days in the 80's. Who can ever forget that night we brought 7,000 supporters to watch us face the mighty Dubs in Newbridge only once more to be gallant losers, this time by the minimum one point. Two special memories abide from that era. The game between Carlow U-21 v Mayo U-21 and All-Ireland winners '83, the occasion being the opening of the Eire Og club extension, the prize a valuable set of tankards, the result a sparkling display of football from the Carlow boys, routing Mayo to the tune of ??? and prompting the Mayo chairman to confide in fellow county man and great gael Padraig Cunnane that he did not think any team in Leinster, least of all Carlow, could provide such sparkling football and a stern warning that their U-21 title was in serious jeopardy. Ironically that kick in the backside worked for Mayo as they retained their Connacht title and most importantly defeated the Dubs, who had put paid to Carlow's hopes by a point, to reach the '84 All-Ireland final only to lose their title to Rebel Cork.

Let's flash now to a sun-kissed night in Tullamore when with Larry Canavan pointing everything within reach and Carlow at their dazzling best, neutrals and locals alike rubbed their eyes in disbelief at the half-time score. 0-11 to 0-1. Yes in Carlow's favour against Matt Connor trained Offaly! After that the second half was always going to be easy.

The 80's was a great era for Carlow U-21's and I would like to thank all the players for the memories, especially Linus Kearns, Joe Dunne, Pat, Noel and Lar Molloy of Rathvilly, the fabulous trio of Johnny Owens, Smokey Joe Hayden and twinkle-toes Kevin Madden, the Wynne brothers, Tom Cullen (Eire Og) John and Tommy Dwyer, Mick and John Murphy (Tinryland), 'Bonzo' McNally, Damian Fogarty, John Grey (St. Andrew's), Anthony Curry, that great hearted Myshall man, Tullow's Rossiter, Healy and Larry Canavan, Tommy McEvoy (Ballon), Mick Murphy (Fenagh), Mick Halligan (Grange) and a special player too in John Joyce (Mount Leinster Rangers) and certainly last but my no means least two of that great bunch I just mentioned who very sadly have passed away, the great Murt Hayden and the genial loveable quiet gentleman John Kennedy (Clonmore).

Hardest Fought Club Game and other club reflections: The most hard fought club game I played in was the Senior League final of 1960 in Dr. Cullen Park. Just a few days prior to Christmas, naturally the Brendan Hayden factor played a huge part in the build-up to the match, Hayden having transferred on a point of principal to Eire Og early in '60 and no way were Eire Og going to yield to a star-studded Tinryland side which would leave the legendary Hayden in Limbo.

The quality of the two teams that took the field that day can be gauged by the fact that no less than ? would appear in Croke Park two years later in the famous league semi-final against Down, the All-Ireland champions of '60 and '61, and push that great side to the pin of their collar, going down to a very narrow ? defeat.

For the record on the Tinryland side that later faced Down, Paddy Darcy, Joe Gorman, Enda Smith while Eire Og had Cran Hogan and Peter and Eddie Walker.

Also on that Tinryland side of '60 were battle-hardened veterans Andy Murphy (Leinster fame), Paddy Sullivan (forty-four fame) and that mighty little man, Tinryland folk hero Jackie Doyle and last, but by no stretch of the imagination least, the charismatic Liam Delaney.

I would like to mention that I am dealing only with the 50's and 60's when reminiscing regards Eire Og in particular and football in general, the Knockmore, Newbridge, Croke Park, Limerick 'Millar Era' had yet to come and boy how we all enjoyed those golden days.

To finalize the Carlow scene I much admired the exciting brand of football played by the excellent Clonmore team of the 50's, Paks Connolly, Mick Connolly, Dinny Cullen and the best small man ever to play with Carlow, Martin Molloy, greater even perhaps than his son Lar.

The demise of the great Tullow teams of the 60's had a very adverse effect on Carlow football in general as they were a fine bunch of manly players who excelled at both inter-county and club. Just to mention a few ... Johser (Nolan), Buller (Canavan), Brophy (Pat), Ed Aughney and goal-scorer supreme Mick Donovan, the best county forward I ever witnessed.?

The 80's brought a new and very potent power in the arrival of the Paudie Doyle shaped Rathvilly, the new kids on the block. They brought with them great speed, flair and imagination and their legendary jousts with Eire Og brightened up the 80's and made Carlow seniors and U-21's a very potent force once again.

To name but a few of Rathvilly's finest .. Paddy Gahan, Noel, Lar, Cricket Molloy, Joe Dunne, Linus Kearns, wee Red Ger Byrne, a real ball artist, and the Sibbald brothers Frosty and Cock to be later followed by the long-serving Sean Kavanagh, the elegant Noel Doyle and the classy Bobby Doyle.

Yes indeed Rathvilly produced an abundance of talented players and only for their lack of scoring power would have added considerably to their senior championships. Oh for a Donovan, Hayden or Muckle during their golden years of 80's and 90's. A thriving club with a great following, perhaps Ger Foley is correct when he lovingly refers to Rathvilly as 'the home of football'.

Down Wicklow Way - Vinny in the Garden of Ireland: Wicklow, the Garden County, has a soft spot in my heart, heading off to matches on sunny Sunday mornings, the lunch box full of sambos, Madge and myself in the front and the kids having the crack in the back, off to such exotic venues as Aughrim, Ashford, Bray, Asniagap, Tinahely, Shillelagh.?

Although Wicklow, like Carlow, have had rare success there are many staunch gaels in the that beautiful county, men like Pat Hedderman, Pat Doyle of Tinahely, John Timmons and ageless Peter Keogh of Kiltegan, Pat Byrne of Knockananna and, of course, the Billies men of great fame Pat Carty and the Byrne family of Moyne.

I was extremely proud to train so many teams in Wicklow and have golden memories of them all, from Junior B in Coolboy to top of the heap almost Leinster finalists in '84 with Tinahely. I would like to share one or two, or maybe three!, memories with you ...

Most outstanding was Tinahely's defeat in the senior semi-final of '84 at sun-drenched Aughrim of arch rivals Balto and I can tell you at that time in the 80's the rivalry was for real so it was just out of this world to win that one.

Inspired by our warrior-like mid-fielder Seamus Morris (RIP), aided by his staunch brother Paudge, with the will-o-the-wisp Dickie Doran, Spider, Paul Tyrell, Niall Adare, Patrick and Dan Murphy his brother, the gazelle-like John Joe Doyle and veteran hero of so many battles, the great, one and only Jimmy 'Butcher' Doran.

I can tell you I never drank sweeter lager than that served up after that great win in famous Wicklow hostelry, Lawless Hotel in Aughrim, where many a gael before and since have drunk.

Memory No. 2, the Billies replay v St. Patrick's, Wicklow town. Having won the Junior Championship in 1985 Ballymanus, coming off a record 32 consecutive victories at junior level (possibly a national record) reached the Intermediate final of 1986 and having been lucky enough to squeeze a draw against Pats on the previous Saturday, well known referee Eddie Leonard missing a gale-assisted side-line kick with the last kick of the game, the replay, fixed again for the Greyhound park at Arklow the following Saturday, drew a huge crowd, most of them Billies supporters who were not going to be disappointed.?

Astonishingly, we held our last training session at 9 o'clock (pm) on Friday under lights at Aughrim and after a long year on the go it was 100% turn out. The replay was to see a different Billies from the previous Saturday, gone was the nervousness and hesitancy, instead was a machine-like display of fifteen-man football which blew Pats out the greyhound gate and left Eddie Leonard for ever cursing his last second miss the previous week.

So good was the Billies display that none other than Micheál O'Muirceataigh, having viewed a video of the replay as part of his programme for 'Green Fields' on Radio Eireann described the Ballymanus performance as absolutely scintillating and of very high standard. Enough said.

One of the early teams trained in Wicklow was Kiltegan and having won the Junior and the Intermediate were defeated by Rathnew in the senior final of, not bad for a very sparse population situated between two super powers of club football, Balto and Rathvilly, but here again the advantage of having good committee men bore fruit and very few clubs I encountered could compare with Kiltegan. Paudie Doyle, Peter Keogh, Brian Graham and the greatest Secretary of all, wee John Timmons, proof of which lies in their immeasurable success at not alone the big ball but also the small ball iomaniocht. Kiltegan remains steadfastly Gaelic orientated and surely must be the only club in Wicklow or Carlow where soccer has no roots.

Exceptional there were the seven-a-sides during the month of August are talked about still as indeed are the names of their outstanding players, Rich Harmon, Sean Keogh the 'Lion Heart', his brother Peter, Michael Farrell, the Whelan brothers, inspirational Mick O'Toole, blondie Mickie Byrne, the ultra-brave Mick Foley who bounced back twice after breaking a leg, ball juggler and free-taker Tom Pearson, young Brian Case on the team at 14 years, cultured Pat Foley and finally Matt Gartland in the goal - all Timmons men who gave us many a thrill in their day.?

Carlow team 50's/80's

1. Murt Hayden (éire óg)
2. Paks Connolly (Clonmore)
3. Ned Long (O'Hanrahans)
4. Andy Murphy (Tinryland)
5. Martin Molloy (Clonmore)
6. Cran Hogan (éire óg)
7. Peenie Whelan (Tinryland)
8. Jim Morris (Ballon)
9. Tommy Dwyer (Tinryland)
10. Paddy Quirke (Naomh Eoin, Myshall)
11. Brendan Hayden (Tinryland)
12. Paddy Sullivan (Tinryland)
13. Mick Donovan (Tullow)
14. Ned Doogue (O'Hanrahans)
15. Jimma Rea (O'Hanrahans)

This in my opinion is the best Carlow team of the 50's to 90's era. It may be revolutionary but my goodness did ever a more talented fifteen take the field for the scallion-eaters?

Carlow team 70's/80's?

1. Murt Hayden (éire óg)
2. Lar Molloy (Rathvilly)
3. Tom Cullen (éire óg/Cuala)
4. Noel Molloy (Rathvilly)
5. Joe Walshe (Tinryland)
6. Liam Foster (Tinryland)
7. Anthony Curry (Naomh Eoin,Myshall)
8. Tommy Dwyer (Tinryland)
9. Sean Kavanagh (Rathvilly)
10. Kevin Madden (éire óg)
11. Paddy Quirke (Naomh Eoin. Myshall)
12. John Owens (éire óg)
13. Joe Hayden (éire óg
14. Brendan Doyle (Kildavin)
15. Willie Doyle (O'Hanrahan's

This is the best team I handled during the 80's and my manager would be Paudie Doyle (Rathvilly). Selectors: Jim O'Brien (Eire Og), Willie Eustace (Myshall), George Darcy (St. Andrews). ?

Clubs Trained/Titles won

WICKLOW: Shillelagh (Junior), Coolboy (Junior B), Tinahely (Minor, U-21, Senior, Leinster semi-finalists) The Billies, Ballymanus: Junior, Intermediate; Knockananna (Junior); Kiltegan (Junior, Intermediate, Senior League, SFC finalists)

WEXFORD: Halfway House Bunclody (Senior 1982, Senior finalists 80/81, Sea Link League (Trip to London) 81

LAOIS: Portarlington (Intermediate)

CARLOW: Rathvilly (2 Senior); Grange (Junior); Leighlinbridge (Junior winners, intermediate runners-up) St. Andrew's, Bagenalstown (2 SFC runners-up); Askea (a few enjoyable years)