Scairbh
Na
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EMYVALE
Forde Cup 2011
The Forde Cup tournament for national school children in the parish was been held
over the past couple of weeks with the finals being played on Wednesday, March 16th.
There were two Shield finals together with the Forde Cup final, which meant a busy
evening at Tully and a big number of participants. Plenty of action and plenty of
skill on show as the players vied for the victory and the honour.
The Forde Cup was
presented to the Emyvale Club in memory of Val Forde who lost his life in Emy Lake
on the evening of August 14th 1964. Val was a fantastic footballer and though only
18 years of age he played on the County U21s the week prior to his death. He was
a very thoughtful and caring person and it was this that made him go into the lake
to retrieve a ball for children playing on the shore. His body was not recovered
until noon the following day. It was a terrible tragedy for his family and friends
and a massive loss of friend and leader for the football club. May he rest in peace.
Raymond
Kelly, Juvenile Club Chairman, thanked all who took part and all who helped to run
the competition. Sean Forde, on behalf of the Forde family thanked the Club for continuing
the competition in Val’s memory. 2014 will be the 50th anniversary of Val’s death
and Sean suggested that the Club gather together all the winning Captains of the
Forde Cup over the years and have a special night on that occasion. He then handed
over the 2011 Forde Cup to winning captain, Michael McAlister. Glynn from Centra
sponsored prizes for the Captains of the two Shield Competitions and these were won
by Aaron Sherry and Cian McQuaid.
Three generations of the Forde family with the winning captain Sean, his son Adrian and his children, Holly and Ben
© Declan McMahon