Craven, Ronan
November 25, 1994
Ronan Craven
A Roscommon Star right through the 60s
While Roscommon are not near the higher echelons of footballing power they have always shown themselves to be capable of making a burst every now and then, of awakening from a deep slumbering state and making a serious challenge for honours. Many top class footballers have been produced by the county, men of the calibre of Bill Carlos, Brendan Lynch, Eamonn Boland, the Murray brothers Jimmy and Phelim, Gerry O'Malley, Aidan Brady, John Lynch, Eamonn Curley, Dermot Earley, Gay Sheerin, Tony McManus and Derek Duggan, to name but a few.
Another name worthy of mention in this illustrious list is one Ronan Craven who had the distinction of playing for Roscommon at Minor, Junior and Senior levels within a fortnight in 1959, was a tremendous achievement for a young man from a small parish such as Toughmaconnell, situated half way between Athlone and Balllinasloe. "Toughmaconnell was a Junior club and I got my place on the team when I was just 15. We got to the Junior final in 1958 which was pretty good for a small club. After that we amalgamated with Moore and became Padraig Pearse. I made my Roscommon debuts in '59 and the same year moved to Dublin to go to Bolton Street College, and joined Sean McDermotts."
The McDermotts would have been one of the top three clubs in Dublin at the time. "We played in three county finals without ever managing to be victorious but we did win a Senior League." Despite being based in Dublin Ronan remained loyal to his native county and played for Roscommon in the League semi-final and replay against Kerry in 1961, a game they eventually lost and at 21 years of age was the youngest man on the field when they bowed under to Kerry in the following year's All-Ireland final.
That game was not a particularly memorable one and is best remembered for Mick O'Connell's phenomenal display of fielding and his magnificent kicking with either foot. It was also the day that Kerry midfielder Jimmy Lucey drove a high kick in the direction of his own goal in the game's early minutes! Roscommon were rocked back on their heels by Gary McMahon's goal immediately after the throw in. Soon after experienced captain Gerry O'Malley got injured and had to leave proceedings. The combination proved too much for the Connacht champions.
"The build up to the game was not the nerve-wracking experience that people might think and neither was the game itself, because I was too young to realise what was happening. The occasion got to the team as a whole however. Expectations within the county were very high. On the day we were never in it and their goal after 60 seconds was a real blow from which we never recovered." Roscommon eventually lost 1-12 to 1-6 but Ronan still believes that they were a good team and rates Eamonn Curley, Gerry O'Malley, Aidan Brady and John Lynch amongst its best players.
Ronan was selected to play for his province on a number of occasions and was fortunate enough to be on two Railway Cup winning sides in 1967 and 1969 when they defeated Ulster and Munster respectively. He was also selected on the '65 side but had to withdraw from the team on the morning of the final because of a bout of flu. "The Railway Cup used to be on television and yet you'd get 20,000 or 30,000 at the finals. That's not happening now because there are a lot of other outside interests available to people. There were not as many counter attractions in our time and a lot more people attended the games as a result." "But then there were more people going to all the games. Two of the three Dublin County finals I played in were held in Croke Park. I remember 30,000 people came to see St.Vincents and Sean McDermotts line out in headquarters. That would be unheard of now- you wouldn't get a county final in Croke Park nowadays. Attendances have improved however and I honestly believe that the Dublin/Meath four match saga had a lot to do with that, with all the media coverage it received,"
It is Ronan's considered opinion that there should be a lot more media debate on GAA games, a la Sky's coverage of soccer. "Say on a Sunday night for a half an hour. There should be a programme with interviews before and after the match. Sky always have a programme before and after with ex-players from whatever teams are playing discussing what they think will happen and analysing what has happened. That would be beneficial to the game."
The year of 1969 proved to be a memorable one for the Contracts Director of Roadstone Dublin, the company he has worked with since 1960. He won a Railway Cup medal, playing at corner back, was chosen as Roscommon Footballer of the Year, got married and opted out of the inter-county scene and he not yet 28. A short period of time was spent performing for the Pearses in Roscommon, but to all intents and purposes Ronan Craven's career was over. Why so young? "I achieved a lot in the game and then got married to Lola. So I just decider to give up. I didn't miss the game I had some great times over the years and definitely have no regrets. I am very much involved with the St Bridgets club in Blanchardstown for whom my four sons play. Karl (23) lined out with Dublin Juniors and has had a few runs with the Seniors."
Ronan was Chairman of the Development Committee which was responsible for building a new complex on the St. Bridgets grounds six years ago. It was a very costly development which was of extreme importance to the club. "It has its requisite dressing rooms," handball alleys etc. This is a developing club which went from Intermediate to Division Two Senior to Division One Senior in consecutive years. At the moment we're consolidating and in fact are doing quite well at underage level. That's because we have a great underage structure. Our Senior team consists exclusively of home grown talent, which is testimony to the work put in with the kids by the parents and various players."
A cousin of long-serving Meath Secretary Liam Creavin, Ronan doesn't believe that the best players in the contemporary game are in any way comparable to the best exponents of the game in his time on a skill level. "We had nothing like the physical fitness that the modern day players have though. Our training was kicking the ball between four or five men who would try to catch it. You had more individual skills in our time such as kicking points with either foot and high fielding. Nowadays the emphasis is on running and slapping the ball down in the middle of the field."
"I would rate Gerry O'Malley (Roscommon), Sean Purcell (Galway), Packie McGarty (Leitrim), Sean O'Neill (Down), Seamus Leydon (Galway) and Paddy Doherty as the best player of my generation. I would have to name Packie McGarty as my most difficult opponent. Once he got the ball you couldn't get it from him you'd end up fouling him. He didn't actually score that much however. On the other hand you could keep Sean O'Neill to only three balls in the game and he could get 1-2. Packie though was very strong to win the ball and to keep it."
Ronan believes that Graham Geraghty of Meath is the outstanding young talent in the game of football today, while unsurprisingly comments that Mickey Linden has to be footballer of the year. What in his opinion does it take to become a successful inter-county footballer? "I worked hard by myself and nurtured a desire to play football. I was always a football supporter as a youngster and was brought to games from a very early age by my father. I loved those games and still love football." I think we could have worked that one out for ourselves, don't you think?
Written by the Hogan Stand Magazine
25th Nov 1994
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