Cavan, the Ulster football champions, were back in training at Killygarry last night as part of their build-up to the opening National League match against All-Ireland champions, Kerry, in Downing Stadium, New York on Saturday, October 18th. The match is being staged in New York to mark the 50th anniversary of the historic All-Ireland final which was played in the Polo Grounds in 1947.
With Cavan's manager, Martin McHugh, having stepped down following the county's defeat by Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final, the other two selectors who served with him, Michael Reilly and Donal Donoghue, will be in charge of the team in New York. McHugh will also be in New York, but only in his capacity as a guest of the Cavan county board.
A decision has already been made that the entire championship panel of 28 will travel to New York. Also travelling will be 11 surviving members of the squad of players who went to New York in 1947. Ten of the Kerry team which figured in the 1947 match, which Cavan won by 2-11 to 2-7, will also be present.
The Kerry squad will take the Sam Maguire Cup and the National League Cup with them while Cavan will take the Ulster championship trophy. Kerry beat Cavan in this year's All-Ireland semi-final by 1-17 to 1-10.
Kerry's victory in last Sunday's All-Ireland final has increased interest in the New York match and some 4,000 supporters from the two counties are expected to travel. The Downing Stadium has a capacity of 20,000, but the organisers do not expect more than 15,000 for the match, which will be shown live on RTE television. The name of Mattie Kerrigan, the former Meath player, is being widely mentioned in the discussion as to who will succeed McHugh as Cavan manager. Kerrigan is highly regarded as a coach and motivator and was instrumental in bringing Westmeath to a National League semi-final. He also managed the Leinster team for a number of years.
A member of the Summerhill club in Meath, he won several county championship medals with the club and was a member of the Meath team which won the All-Ireland title in 1967. Meanwhile, an announcement about the structure of this year's All Star awards scheme is expected shortly. The scheme was sponsored by Powerscreen for the past two years, but the firm has discontinued its sponsorship.
A number of prominent organisations have indicated an interest in sponsoring the scheme and a spokesman for the GAA said yesterday that talks were taking place and the awards scheme would be going ahead. The presentation ceremony is scheduled for December, and a decision on the selection process is expected within the next 10 days or so. The new scheme is to have a greater involvement from the sporting media.
TnaG have announced a list of nine matches which they will be showing in their All-Ireland Gold series this month. The matches will include the 1977 final between Dublin and Armagh, the 1996 Ladies football final between Laois and Monaghan and the Donegal-Dublin football final of 1992. The programme will continue in its usual slot on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10.30 p.m.
???O Muircheartaigh with the match itself retaining the original commentary. The draw for this year's provincial championships will be made at Croke Park on Sunday, October 12th and will be shown live on RTE television.
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