Pat Quigley rewarded for long and active service



Connaught Telegraph 1 May1996


PROFILE OF THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND

By TOM KELLY

Pat Quigley's elevation to the highest office in the Football Association of Ireland represents the culmination of 25 years involvement in the gam

He first began to take an active role in football in 1971 when he became a committee members of the new defunct Road Rangers club in Castlebar.

Road Rangers was formed in 1969 and initially the players were drawn from youngsters living in MacHale Road, a street which provided some of the best known footballers in Castlebar's soccer history.

The inspirational figure behind the club was businessman Kevin O'Malley who served as chairman, secretary and trainer.

It was Kevin who approached Pat to become involved with the club and the response was in the affirmative. Pat subsequently served as secretary of Rangers and represented the club at delegates' meeting of the Mayo League.

Others closely involved with Rangers at that time were Frank Blake, Frank Ludden, Mike Kilcourse, Joe Scully, Eamon Clarke, Paddy Moylette, Maurice King and Frank Scully.

Pat took a keen interest in the development of underage football, and he donated a cup to the Mayo League in 1973 for an under-18 competition.

Ironically, Rangers became the first winners of the trophy in the 1973/74 season, defeating Westport Crusaders in the final. Later that year, negotiations took place and a merger with Castlebar Celtic was arranged.

The merger worked extremely well as Castlebar Celtic won the Connaught Youths Cup in 1975, defeating Galway Rovers 1-0 in the decider.

Supporters of Road Rangers took great delight in the fact that the majority of the members of the team had played for them. They included Padraig Cresham, Lar Morahan, Bobby Feeney, Martin Hopkins, Brian Ainsworth, Padraig Hopkins, Sean O'Donnell, Stephen Minogue, Tom Blake, and Philip Cresham.

By that stage, Pat had become involved with Castlebar Celtic, and gave long hours to the development of the club's underage structure.

He had also become a leading figure within the Connaught Football Association and succeeded Westport's Don McBride as the Connaught representative on the F.A.I. Senior Council in 1973.

His work involved attending in the region of 20 meetings in Dublin every year, as well as catering for the international ticket demands of football followers throughout the West of Ireland. In that regard, his wife, Eleanor, exercised an integral role behind the scenes while Pat was working away from home through his capacity as a medical representative with Glaxo Pharmaceuticals. In fact, Eleanor's role in Pat's success story cannot be underestimated.

GREAT FRIEND

He chaired his first ever meeting of the Mayo League on March 21st, 1974, in an acting capacity and did so on many occasions whenever his great friend, Henry Downes, the long serving chairman, was absent.

It was not until 1990, however, that he was appointed to the post of chairman for a three year term in succession to Ballyglass official, Michael Keaveney.

It followed a two-year period during which he had served as president of the F.A.I. Youths Council, the first Mayoman to hold the post.

He was disappointed, during his term in office, not to have had the honour of presenting a national trophy to his native county when, in 1989, Mayo were defeated by the Amateur Football League, Dublin, in the final of the Youths Inter-League series.

Pat had declined the offer of the Mayo League chairmanship on a number of occasions over the years because he held a similar position with the Connaught Football Association since 1976.

He retained the Connaught seat on senior council until July 1994 when he became senior vice-president of the F.A.I., a position which put him firmly in the forefront of the Irish game.

The most difficult time in his years in football came at the end of February last when the F.A.I. was engulfed in crisis following revelations over the sale of World Cup tickets.

But the Ballyheane born supremo emerged with his reputation enhanced when he was appointed acting president in the early hours of March 9th following the passing of a motion of no-confidence in the president of the organisation, Louis Kilcoyne.

It was originally envisaged that he would be installed as president at the annual general meeting of the organisation in July. But the F.A.I. Senior Council opted to move the appointment forward, and he was installed as president on Friday night with Waterford's Milo Corcoran taking up the role as senior vice-president.

He has already made it clear that he will be maintaining his grassroots involvement in the game during his term as president.

HIGH DISTINCTION

He made it clear to the Mayo League that he will be retaining the position of registrar for the foreseeable future. He is also a director of Milebush Clubhouse and Grounds, the headquarters of the Mayo League, and a member of the league's disciplinary and executive committees.

He was chairman of Castlebar Swimming Pool Committee when the facility opened in 1985, and also served as chairman of Castlebar Tennis Club during the seventies.

Pat's wife, Eleanor (nee Brady), is a native of Newtown, Castlebar. Their daughter, Patricia, is married to Galway-based bank official Seamus Monaghan; and their son, Shane, is studying accountancy in Dublin.

Away from football, he has been the leading representative, in terms of his sales in Ireland, for Glaxo Pharmaceuticals over a period of 25 years. The company is honoured that one of their employees holds such high distinction in Irish sport.

Before joining Glaxo in 1971, he was a representative for Thompson Cakes.

He also worked in Creighton's, Claremorris, and Rhattigan's, formerly of Castle Street, Castlebar.

A son of Nora and the late Paddy Quigley, Ballyheane, Castlebar, he is a member of Croi, the organisation campaigning for greater facilities in West of Ireland hospitals for victims of heart disease.

Pat, himself, underwent major heart surgery a number of years ago and has thankfully regained full health and fitness.

His appointment has been warmly greeted as a major honour for football in Mayo and Connaught.

Connaught Telegraph - News - May 1996