The end of an era as Texaco pull out of sponsoring their feted sports awards, writes JOHNNY WATTERSON

IT WAS the black tie event, where athletes left at the end of the evening with their menus autographed and the feeling they had just attended the sports Oscars. From the first Caltex awards in 1958, later called the Texaco Awards, almost every name in Irish sport from George Best to Nicky English, from Angela Downey to Christy O’Connor senior were recognised and honoured at the Dublin gala dinner.

The format varied but largely 10 names were chosen each year by a panel of sports editors representing national print and broadcast media across Ireland, with one of the athletes earning the supreme award.

Yesterday Texaco announced they would be withdrawing from sponsoring the event, ending a 54-year run.

There was little detailed explanation for what Texaco called the “cessation” but it is believed to be a mix of the current economic environment, sports award fatigue and changing priorities for the company.

In a statement, the company said: “Following a comprehensive review of its two major sponsorship programmes, Valero Energy (Ireland) Limited, a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corporation who market fuel in Ireland under the Texaco brand, has announced changes to its current sponsorship portfolio that will result in the retention of the popular Texaco Children’s Art Competition and the cessation of the Texaco Sportstars Awards”.

It brings the curtain down on an annual sports event that had an honourable history which reached back into an innocent era of sporting history far removed from now.

The great Christy Ring won an award for hurling in 1959, while the prince of Old Trafford and The King’s Road, Best, was honoured in 1967, with John Giles feted in 1968 and Liverpool’s Steve Heighway in 1970.

The winners list was a who’s who of Irish sport, with cyclist Seán Kelly winning a record 10 awards. World Champion athlete Eamonn Coghlan and horse trainer Vincent O’Brien weren’t far behind with six each.

The nominations were catholic in their appetite and drew from all sports. Gary O’Toole won three awards when he was at the top of Irish swimming, with his win in 1989 coinciding with five times winner, snooker player Ken Doherty.

“I met Ken that night at the dinner and didn’t see him again for about 20 years when we were both sitting in the baby pool with our kids in Lloyds Riverview,” says O’Toole. “I said ‘howya, Ken’ and he said ‘howya, Gary,’ all from that one meeting at the awards years ago.”

In recent times the cost factor and the difficulty in drawing the big name athletes would have dulled the once cutting edge event. One source in the industry put the cost of the annual bash for 300 in a Dublin hotel at €50,000 give or take.

If a major international player like Rory McIlroy won the prize, his golfing schedule combined with the additional cost factor of getting him to Dublin for the night would have been another prohibitive factor.

A first class ticket and accommodation would have been in excess of €10,000.

“A lot of other awards would have come in over the years,” says Coghlan. “You have the GAA awards, the Golf Links awards, the Women in Sport awards, the RTÉ awards and the Manager of the Year awards but the Texaco were the first and they were around for a long, long time.”

While former taoisigh were often the guests of honour and another big attraction for the sponsor, the reality is sports have introduced their own award schemes over the years and they also have the pulling power.

For the Irish Rugby Union Player Association (IRUPA), the main international players are guaranteed to be there, to promote their own ceremony.

Soccer, GAA, horse racing and most of the minority sports also have their award nights, usually organised for the end of the year.

“I suppose their relevance would come into question now,” said an industry source.

“The Texaco Awards lost something and not only do most of the sports have their own awards now but they are more glamorous too.”

Texaco’s view is they are gracefully stepping off the stage and are leaving a legacy that will be difficult to follow, that is, if any other company steps into the breach.

“There was a legacy and heritage we had that other brands couldn’t touch. Ours ran across a plethora of sports and we always felt we had a point of difference,” said a spokeswoman.

And they did but perhaps in another time and another place.

TEXACO AWARDS: Looking back . . .

Eamonn Coghlan (Athletics)

“I always regarded the Texaco as the most coveted award. I remember one time I travelled from Auckland via London to attend the award ceremony in Dublin and the next day I flew to LA for a race and I just about beat John Walker on the line. John started complaining that he had to come from New Zealand and then I told him what I had to do to get there. I know there are a lot of different awards that have on stream in recent years but the Texaco was always the one to win.”

Hugh Russell (Boxing)

“When I look back at the list of the people who have picked up the award it was the biggest accolade I picked up outside of boxing and I cherish it a lot. I still keep the award in my house and when you see all the names of the people who are on it you’d nearly feel embarrassed about it. The good thing was that you were given it from people from outside of your sport and it’s a shame that the people who won medals this year at the Olympics won’t be able to be on that list.”

Jimmy Keaveney (GAA)

“Any player who was selected for a Texaco award would have been proud of himself. It was a great function they put on in Dublin every year and there’d be fellas you would get to know through going along to them.

It was a very, very enjoyable night where you would meet people from all the different sports and sit down and have a meal with them. I think all sports people will be disappointed because it was a great occasion for everyone.”

Gary O’Toole (Swimming)

“One of the years I won it I met Robbie O’Malley, the Meath footballer, and I followed his career from there on because I spoke to him. I wouldn’t have compared myself to some of the winners but for one night we were all equals and held on the same levels of esteem. As an amateur sportsman it was recognition for one night you were competing with people from other sports for the Supreme Award.”