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Val Forde Memorial Cup.
On August 14th 1964 Val Forde, aged 18, my best friend, lost his life while trying to recover a Ball belonging to
another party, which was being carried away from shore by the wind at Emy Lake. It was a beautiful Summer evening
and a crowd had gathered to enjoy a swim in the Lake. Val was a tremendous footballer and had played a fantastic
game for Monaghan U21’s against Donegal the previous Sunday. He was a very popular young man and his death
shocked and stunned his many many friends over a very wide area. After his death the Emyvale Club initiated an
annual Tournament in his memory and this has been run on a yearly basis since then. The 2021 contest was held on
Sunday, December 19th in the Emyvale HQ at Tully when over 50 youth, boys and girls, aged between 7 and 11
attended to participate. They were selected into four teams and after playing each other team the semi-finals were
held and both ended level and extra time was needed. Then the final also ended all square and extra time was again
needed to decide the winning team. The Runner-up team was presented with trophies and Declan Forde, brother of
the late Val, presented the Cup to the captains and trophies to the all the team members. Juvenile Chairman, Shane
McCormack, thanked all who had helped in organising and running the event, all who took part, the parents who
attended and helped, and Declan Forde.
Joint captain, twins Domas and Dija, were presented
with the Val Forde Cup by Val’s brother Declan, who is
generous sponsor in the Club.