Ger Loughnane
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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Irish name | Gearóid Ó Lachtnáin | ||
Sport | Hurling | ||
Position | Right wing-back | ||
Born |
1953 (age 70–71) Feakle, County Clare, Ireland | ||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
Club(s) | |||
Years | Club | ||
Feakle | |||
Club titles | |||
Clare titles | 1 | ||
Inter-county(ies)* | |||
Years | County | Apps (scores) | |
1972-1987 | Clare | 26 (0-1) | |
Inter-county titles | |||
Munster titles | 0 | ||
All-Irelands | 0 | ||
NHL | 2 | ||
All Stars | 2 | ||
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 23:40, 19 February 2014. |
Gerard "Ger" Loughnane (born 27 January 1953) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a right wing-back for the Clare senior team.[1][2]
Born in
As a member of the
Throughout his career Loughnane made 26 championship appearances. His retirement came following the conclusion of the 1987 championship.
In retirement from playing, Loughnane became involved in team management and coaching. During a six-year term as manager of the Clare senior hurlers, he guided the team to two All-Ireland and three Munster titles. His two-year term in charge of Galway ended without success.
Biography
Ger Loughnane was born in Feakle, County Clare. He was educated at his local national school where he was first introduced to the game of
Playing career
Colleges
As a boarder at
Club
Loughnane was in the twilight of his career when he enjoyed his greatest success as captain of the Feakle senior team. Having lost their first championship decider in almost thirty years in 1987, Feakle reached a second successive final the following year. Ruan provided the opposition, however, a 1–17 to 1–10 victory gave Loughnane a championship medal.[3]
Inter-county
Loughnane arrived on the inter-county scene as a member of the Clare minor hurling team in 1970. The following year he lined out in his sole Munster decider in that grade, however, Clare endured a 6–13 to 3-5 walloping from Cork.
After progressing onto the under-21 team he faced narrow
in 1974.Loughnane made his senior championship debut on 24 June 1973 in a 3–11 to 3-9 Munster semi-final defeat by Limerick.
In 1974 Loughnane lined out in his first
After facing a fifteen-point defeat by Kilkenny in the league final in 1976, both sides faced each other again at the same stage the following year. A 2–8 to 0–9 victory gave Clare the title and gave Loughnane a National Hurling League medal.[4] Clare later faced Cork in the provincial decider, on a day when armed robbers made away with the takings from the gate of £24,579 during the second half of the game. Clare conceded an early penalty but they fought back to take the lead until a contentious red card for full back Jim Power turned the tide for Cork and they fought on win by 4–15 to 4–10.[5]
Clare retained their league title in 1978, with Loughnane collecting a second winners' medal following a 3–10 to 1–10 defeat of Kilkenny once again. In a repeat of the previous year Clare faced Cork in the subsequent Munster decider. In one of the worst ever provincial deciders and only the second one ever not to produce a goal, Clare were narrowly defeated by 0–13 to 0–11. As the final whistle sounded Loughnane, who had scored the last point of the game, slumped to the ground in frustration and thumped his hurley off the pitch.[6] Once again he was later honoured with a second All-Star.
This defeat demoralized Clare, however, Loughnane lined out in a fourth Munster decider in 1981. A 3–12 to 2–9 defeat by Limerick was the result on that occasion.
In 1986 Loughnane's played in a fifth and final provincial decider. Victory eluded him for the fifth time, as Cork secured a 2–18 to 3–12 victory.[7]
Loughnane retired from inter-county hurling following Clare's exit from the 1988 championship.
Inter-provincial
In 1975 Loughnane was chosen on the Munster inter-provincial team for the very first time. In spite of a narrow one-point defeat by Leinster in the decider, it was the first of seven successive seasons of Loughnane being picked for inter-provincial duty.
The following year Loughnane was dropped from the starting fifteen, however, he was introduced as a substitute in the decider against Leinster. A narrow 4–9 to 4–8 victory gave Munster the title, and gave Loughnane a first
Defeat was Munster's lot the following year, however, Loughnane was back on the starting fifteen in 1978. A 0–20 to 1–11 defeat of Connacht secured a second Railway Cup medal for Loughnane.
Munster faced defeat at the hands of a resurgent Connacht over the next two years, however, the team bounced back in 1981. Loughnane was at right corner-back as Munster trounced archrivals Leinster by 2–16 to 2–6.
Management career
Inter-county management | |||||||||
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Inter-county titles | |||||||||
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Managing Clare
Although Loughnane was noted as a great hurler in a county that was starved of success, it is for his exploits as manager of the
After a winter of intense training Loughnane's side proved their worth by reaching the final of the
Clare surrendered their Munster and All-Ireland titles in their opening game in 1996. In an exciting game against Limerick Ciarán Carey provided one of the greatest match winners of all-time when he soloed the sliothar for 70 yards before scoring the winning point.
After an early defeat in 1996, Clare were out for victory in
The
In 1999 Clare reached a sixth Munster final in seven years, however, in spite of aiming to retain their title a young Cork team caught Loughnane's side off guard and defeated the most dominant team in the provincial championship. Clare later drew with Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final, however, they overcame the men from the West in the replay. Kilkenny provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final, however, 'the Cats', under new manager Brian Cody, defeated Clare by 0–19 to 0–16.
Loughnane decided to remain in charge for one more season to see if he could gain revenge. The plan came unstuck in the Munster semi-final when Clare suffered a particularly heavy defeat by Tipperary. Loughnane resigned as manager of Clare shortly afterwards.
Managing Galway
In September 2006, the Galway senior hurling team, devoid of a manager after the resignation of Conor Hayes, issued a press release indicating their desire for Loughnane to take the vacant managerial position. Although he had already stated his disinterest in the position, he remained the favourite candidate to succeed Hayes, before Loughnane himself withdrew for the contest. In true Loughnane fashion, however, he re-entered the managerial race again and was named successor to Hayes.[8] After stating in 2000 that he would never take charge of an inter-county team again Loughnane was back.
Loughnane's first game in charge saw Galway take on Laois in the first-round of the qualifiers on 30 June 2007. A comprehensive 3–20 to 1–14 victory[9] gave Loughnane hope for his next game against his own-native county of Clare. The game, which took on a derby-type feel to it, was an exciting and close one, however, victory went to the Claremen.[10] The final whistle saw scenes resembling that of an All-Ireland final win with hundreds of Clare supporters bursting onto the pitch. A huge victory over Antrim[11] allowed Loughnnane's team advance to an All-Ireland quarter-final meeting with Kilkenny. This would be the first meeting of Loughnane and Brian Cody, two of the greatest managers of the modern era. For sixty minutes both sides were neck and neck with no team taking too much of a lead. On several occasion it looked as if Galway might pull away and win the game, however, Kilkenny's Eddie Brennan scored two goals in the last ten minutes to give Kilkenny a 3–22 to 1–18 victory.[12] Following the game Loughnane entered into a war of words with Brian Cody after the former accused Kilkenny of striking late with the hurley and then referees letting them away with it.
When Loughnane took the Galway job he famously promised to quit if he failed to deliver the All-Ireland within two years. Galway had gone unbeaten in the National Hurling League and pipped Tipperary to a semi-final spot. Galway defeated Cork in this game, resulting in a league final showdown with Tipperary. The team has been a lot more settled compared to this time last year especially in the area of defence which is considered Galway's greatest weakness. Loughnane himself has adopted a much lower media profile with less of his trademark outbursts and wasn't even present for the launch of the National Hurling League. His side went out of the All-Ireland in the qualifiers after failing to beat Cork in July 2008.[13] Following a county board meeting on 19 August 2008 Loughnane agreed to stay on for one more year as Galway manager.[14] This decision resulted in some players expressing unease about his style and tactics. Amid accusations of 'player power', Loughnane was voted out of the job in October 2008.[15]
Managing St Aidan's National School
Loughnane enjoyed considerable success as manager of St Aidan's hurling team. In 2004 Loughnane lead the team to their first Division one Cumann na mBunscol title.
Media involvement
Loughnane spent a number of years as a hurling analyst in the media. He wrote a column in The Star newspaper and regularly appeared as a pundit on RTÉ's The Sunday Game. In this capacity he earned a reputation as an outspoken critic of many hurling teams, including Clare.
Personal life and health
In June 2011 Loughnane was diagnosed with Leukemia.[16] It was falsely reported on 28 July 2011 that Loughnane had died. The news had spread over a number of social networking sites although it was quickly exposed as a hoax.[17]
Honours
Player
- St. Flannan's College
- Munster Colleges Under-15 Hurling Championship (1): 1968
- Feakle
- Clare Senior Hurling Championship (1): 1988 (c)
- Clare Intermediate Hurling Championship (1): 1973
- Clare
- 1977-78
- Munster
- Railway Cup(1): 1976, 1978, 1981
Individual
- Honours
- All-Star(2): 1974, 1978
Manager
- Clare
- All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (2): 1995, 1997
- Munster Senior Hurling Championship (3): 1995, 1997, 1998
References
- ^ "Ger Loughnane". Hurling Stats website. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
- ^ King, Séamus J. "A selection of great hurlers". Séamus J. King website. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- ^ "Feakle Hurling Club (1980-1989)". Feakle GAA website. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- ^ Ó Muircheartaigh, Joe (21 February 2013). "In a league of their own". The Clare People. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- ^ "Reeling in the years: 9 of the biggest moments in the Cork v Clare rivalry". The Journal. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ^ McEvoy, Enda (6 September 2013). "When wily Rebels crushed spirit of Clare". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- ^ Breheny, Martin (16 February 2014). "Clare, Cork head for hurling showdown". The Irish Echo. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- ^ "Galway confirm Loughnane appointment". RTÉ Sport. 26 September 2006. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ "Laois 1-14 Galway 3-20". RTÉ Sport. 30 June 2007. Archived from the original on 2 July 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ "Clare 2-10 Galway 0-14". RTÉ Sport. 7 July 2007. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ "Galway 2-31 Antrim 1-09". RTÉ Sport. 14 July 2007. Archived from the original on 20 December 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ "Kilkenny 3-22 Galway 1-18". RTÉ Sport. 28 July 2007. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ "Galway 2-15 Cork 0-23". RTÉ Sport. 19 July 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Loughnane Saga Drags On". Connacht Tribune. 21 August 2008. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ "Loughnane loses Galway post". RTÉ Sport. 14 October 2008. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ Bray, Allison (28 June 2011). "Friends confident Loughnane will win leukaemia battle". Irish Independent.
- ^ "Hoax Ger Loughnane death rumour spreads like wildfire". JOE.ie. Retrieved 4 August 2021.