Mayo Football League elects new chairperson
SEAMUS Hughes has been elected as the new chairman of the Mayo Football League after the annual general meeting held at Solar 21 Park last Tuesday night.
Before his address, outgoing chairman Gerry Sweeney began by passing on his and the league’s best wishes to Pat Quigley on his recovery after a health scare last week.
He began the meeting by congratulating those that had won cups and leagues so far this season but commented that there are still a lot of titles up for grabs as the leagues enter their closing stages with the Calor Gas knockouts competitions still to come as well as external fixtures.
He wished Joe Redmond and his management team of the Under 18 Interleague squad all the best for the coming season before going on to thank the people who have made the past few years an enjoyable experience for him as his tenure as chairman came to a close.
He thanked the league management committee for their hard work and dedication for the past five years before thanking all the officials in all the clubs who have been so helpful and polite to him personally over the last few years.
Gerry then thanked the press, referees, Tom Jennings and his team in Solar 21 Park and all of the league sponsors who have been so loyal over a number of years.
Finally, he wished incoming chairman Seamus Hughes all the best in his new role and offered his full support to Seamus in the years to come.
League secretary John Durkan, in his report, said it was great to get back to a full season of football, including the Under 18 league, which had come under the umbrella of the league this season.
He said the league was delighted to be in a position to honour one of the ‘good people’ of the game in Martin Keane, Westport United.
In addition to the Henry Downes Under 17 Cup, there is now the Martin Keane Under 17 Leagues, the Under 21 grade in the TF Royal Hotel & Theatre Leagues and the CMR Fire & Security Cup competitions.
He announced there would be a review of the Under 18 and Under 21 Leagues in October and the launch of a new coaching support programme for clubs, with details to follow at a later date.
John pointed out that a number of clubs have now received the FAI Club Mark and that Westport United and Castlebar Celtic had achieved the One Star Award. He encouraged all clubs to concentrate on this in the coming months.
Finally, he thanked both Gerry Tully from the Connacht FA and Pat Duffy from the FAI for their help throughout the past year and stated that the league is extremely grateful to all club officers, team managers, players, referees, sponsors, and media - ‘without all your commitment and assistance we just could not function’.
The current outgoing presidents and vice-presidents were elected en bloc and Tom McHugh was reappointed as the league’s auditor.
John Durkan was elected as the league secretary as was the current league management committee of Donal Benson, John Durkan, Joe Faughnan, Kieran Gallagher, Seamus Hughes, Martin Kielty, James Larkin, Tom McDaniel, Chris McHale-Roe and Gerry Sweeney.
After the meeting, the election of officers took place, and the following positions were ratified: Seamus Hughes (chairman), Martin Kielty (vice-chairman), John Durkan (secretary), Tom McDaniel (treasurer), James Larkin (assistant treasurer) and Kieran Gallagher (PRO).