4th May, 1999.
GRANDSTAND Herald
THE SECTION ALL DUBLIN TURNS TO
FOREVER YOUNG: St Brendan's Joe Cassidy, 49, is still playing for Brandan's after 32 years.
Evening
Cassidy still going strong after 32 years with Brendans
FOR 32 years, Joe Cassidy has been playing for St. Brendan's in Grangegorman.
And the 49-year-old Sligo native has no intention of hanging up his well-worn football boots.
"I have been pretty lucky to stay free of serious injury, and my enjoyment of football is what gives me the incentive to keep going," reveals Joe.
TRAINING
Apart from club training, Joe runs a few times a week near his home in Lucan.
"The extra training is a great benefit to me," says Joc, who doesn't think the odd pint of Guinness or smoking effects his fitness.
"I do smoke, and I drink a little, yet if you keep yourself fit, those type of things shouldn't effect you too much," reasons Joe.
In 1966 he won the Sligo Minor Championship with Sooey, starting
By NIALL SCULLY
work in St. Brendan's Hospital of September the following year.
"Around that time we had a big influx of nurses from all over the country to St. Brendan's, and we had quite a good team," recalls Joe.
The year 1971 proved a golden one as Brendan's won the Junior Championship and the Intermediate League, graduating to senior for several years.
"We
the Sere played in the Division 2 of Senior League in the 70s and we performed against some of the great Dublin footballers like Paddy Reilly, Alan Larkin and the Brogans," remembers Joe.
Always a
a corner-back, the best players he marked included Brendan Lynch of Kerry, "very tricky" and, more recently, Cathal O'Hanlon of Louth.
"I didn't know who O'Hanlon was. He had just returned from a soccer trial in England, but after he
scored four goals off me I soon found out who he was after the game," quips Joe.
Players leaving Dublin to return in their local areas to work saw Brendan's slide down the divisions, but they were foiled on a few occasions of a return to senior status by bad fortune in Intermediate finals.
These days, Brendan's are doing very well in Junior 6 and the O Broin Cup. Their last big success was winning the inaugural Junior Football B Championship in 1993.
ELIMINATED
Over the years, the side has collected many Inter-Hospital Football titles. Joe's colleagues included Martin Story (Wexford), Thomas Connors (Offaly) and Dublin's Tommy Conroy and Dessie Farrell.
This year they were eliminated at the semi-final stage. But Joe will keep on running.
"It's nice to be still able to play and enjoy it," he says.
GRANDSTAND Herald
THE SECTION ALL DUBLIN TURNS TO
FOREVER YOUNG: St Brendan's Joe Cassidy, 49, is still playing for Brandan's after 32 years.
Evening
Cassidy still going strong after 32 years with Brendans
FOR 32 years, Joe Cassidy has been playing for St. Brendan's in Grangegorman.
And the 49-year-old Sligo native has no intention of hanging up his well-worn football boots.
"I have been pretty lucky to stay free of serious injury, and my enjoyment of football is what gives me the incentive to keep going," reveals Joe.
TRAINING
Apart from club training, Joe runs a few times a week near his home in Lucan.
"The extra training is a great benefit to me," says Joc, who doesn't think the odd pint of Guinness or smoking effects his fitness.
"I do smoke, and I drink a little, yet if you keep yourself fit, those type of things shouldn't effect you too much," reasons Joe.
In 1966 he won the Sligo Minor Championship with Sooey, starting
By NIALL SCULLY
work in St. Brendan's Hospital of September the following year.
"Around that time we had a big influx of nurses from all over the country to St. Brendan's, and we had quite a good team," recalls Joe.
The year 1971 proved a golden one as Brendan's won the Junior Championship and the Intermediate League, graduating to senior for several years.
"We
the Sere played in the Division 2 of Senior League in the 70s and we performed against some of the great Dublin footballers like Paddy Reilly, Alan Larkin and the Brogans," remembers Joe.
Always a
a corner-back, the best players he marked included Brendan Lynch of Kerry, "very tricky" and, more recently, Cathal O'Hanlon of Louth.
"I didn't know who O'Hanlon was. He had just returned from a soccer trial in England, but after he
scored four goals off me I soon found out who he was after the game," quips Joe.
Players leaving Dublin to return in their local areas to work saw Brendan's slide down the divisions, but they were foiled on a few occasions of a return to senior status by bad fortune in Intermediate finals.
These days, Brendan's are doing very well in Junior 6 and the O Broin Cup. Their last big success was winning the inaugural Junior Football B Championship in 1993.
ELIMINATED
Over the years, the side has collected many Inter-Hospital Football titles. Joe's colleagues included Martin Story (Wexford), Thomas Connors (Offaly) and Dublin's Tommy Conroy and Dessie Farrell.
This year they were eliminated at the semi-final stage. But Joe will keep on running.
"It's nice to be still able to play and enjoy it," he says.
