NAME: Hugh Emerson DATE OF BIRTH: 12/9/73 HEIGHT: 6' 2" WEIGHT: 13st 10lbs CLUB: Portarlington COUNTY: Laois HONOURS: (Laois county medals) 2 Under12, 2 Under 16, 2 Under 18, 1 Under 21, 1 Senior League, 1 Intermediate INTER COUNTY DEBUT: National League, Laois v Cavan, came on as a sub PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: Student at Limerick TOUGHEST OPPONENT: Adrian Phelan, fellow county and clubmate FAVOURITE GROUNDS: Croke Park FAVOURITE POSITION: Centre forward SPORTING AMBITION: To win a Leinster medal DO YOU PLAY ANY OTHER SPORTS? None BOYHOOD HEROES: Matt Connor ANY GOOD SPORTING YARN: Don't put your hand in where there's room for your boot BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON CAREER: Joining the Laois senior team and my brother George WAYS OF IMPROVING THE GAME: Better standard of referees DISLIKES ABOUT THE GAA: Poor refereeing BEST GAME SEEN: Meath v Laois (last summer) PLAYERS WITH A PROMISING FUTURE: Who am I to say (I'm still improving) HOPES FOR 1993: Some luck and to play to my potential TELL US ABOUT YOUR CLUB, PORTARLINGTON: My club Portarlington is one of the biggest clubs in Laois. The club is run by a fine group of men and women who do their best for it's members. On the other hand it's a club whom I am very proud of THERE ARE QUITE A FEW OTHER CLUBS IN THE PARISH: Yes, there are. Portarlington, O'Dempseys, Gracefield. Each of these clubs have excellent young players and each of these clubs contribute greatly to their counties YOURSELF AND MICHAEL LAWLOR ARE TWO OF THE BEST YOUNG FOOTBALLERS IN THE COUNTRY. ARE THERE ANY MORE EMERGING STARS IN LAOIS? Deco Connor, Adrian Phelan, Noel Coss, Brendan McCann, David Sweeney, Declan McCann, the Bracken brothers, Andrew Emerson, Martin Slevin and any other clubmates and schoolmates I forgot to mention (I promised to give them a mention) YOU MADE YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP DEBUT AGAINST MEATH LAST SUMMER. WERE YOU SURPRISED AT GAINING SELECTION FOR SUCH AN IMPORTANT CLASH AWAY TO THE PROVINCIAL TITLEHOLDERS MEATH ON THEIR OWN PATCH OF PAIRC TAILTEANN? No, I might be a bit arrogant, but I knew I had more to offer the team AT THE TIME OF THE MEATH GAME, YOU WERE SITTING FOR YOUR LEAVING CERT. DID THE FOOTBALL COMMITMENT ADD AN EXTRA STRAIN? It was always the schoolbooks v football and I guess it was a strain, but I managed, like I managed before all those club games and winter training sessions. Not just before these glamourous Meath games YOU PLAYED VERY WELL THAT HOT SUMMER DAY: I was nervous at the start of the game, because I was playing against the best, but as the game progress, I said to myself, the Meath men are only human and that I could show them a thing or two YOU WERE ON THE PORTARLINGTON CBS TEAM WHO ENJOYED A GREAT RUN IN LAST YEAR'S LEINSTER SENIOR COLLEGES CAMPAIGN. ONE MINUTE YOU WERE PLAYING COLLEGES FOOTBALL, THE NEXT PLAYING AGAINST SUCH PLAYERS AS COLM O'ROURKE, MICK LYONS ETC. - A HUGE DIFFERENCE: It was a bit hard to adjust, because you had to show leadership to my school team and when playing championship football, I was looking for leadership, like the case of the small fish in the big pond THE LAOIS CAMP MUST HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED AT JUST LOSING OUT TO LOUTH IN THE SEMI-FINALS: Very disappointed, because we were capable of playing better and we didn't do ourselves justice OBVIOUSLY MANAGER RICHIE CONNOR HAS HAD A BIG BEARING ON YOUR SENIOR CAREER: Yes, he has a big bearing on my senior career, because he had the confidence in me and he knows I can do the job, and I hope I can continue to do the job for a long time to come YOU ARE ONLY A STONE'S THROW AWAY FROM THE OFFALY BORDER AND COULD HAVE PLAYED FOR THE FAITHFUL COUNTY AND THE LOCAL CLUB, GRACEFIELD: Not a chance! DO YOU GET ANY TAUNTS FROM OPPOSING PLAYERS ABOUT THE LENGTH OF YOUR HAIR? They're too busy marking me (joke). Usually they say 'get your hair cut' WE ARE TOLD THAT YOUR MOTHER IS INVOLVED IN POLITICS: Yes, as a member of the PDs she was elected to the Offaly County Council in 1991 ARE LAOIS TRAINING HARD AT THE MOMENT? The training is going well, Laois are training well with good turn outs and we will progress with a proper attitude to next summer's championship AGAIN YOU WERE PLACED IN THE HARDER SIDE OF NEXT YEAR'S LEINSTER CHAMPIONSHIP DRAW. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE LAOIS PROSPECTS? We will go into the championship confident next summer an we will take one game at a time and let's hope we can shock a few people HUGH EMERSON NOT TO GET THE HAIR CUT AND TO PLAY A BIG PART IN LAOIS'S 1993 LEINSTER CHAMPIONSHIP BID? I couldn't have put it better myself! Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 4th December 1992 Vol 2 No 84 Tweet

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