LGFA FINALS PROGRAMME: AGNES GORMAN (OFFALY)
By Daire Walsh
When Offaly defeated Tipperary in an All-Ireland senior ladies football championship final replay at Portarlington in 1979, it was Tullamore man Brendan Martin who handed the trophy over to his native county – captained on the day by Doreen Daly.
This is unsurprising given the competition’s coveted silverware was first bought by Martin at John J Cooke’s jewellers on Fownes Street in Dublin and was subsequently named after the quantity surveyor. Yet when the same two counties clashed in the first All-Ireland SFC showpiece at Durrow in Co. Laois five years earlier, the post-match presentation was markedly different to what has now become custom within the LGFA.
Having seen her side falling short by a single point (2-3 to 2-2) in a groundbreaking game, Offaly skipper Agnes Gorman was tasked with presenting the Brendan Martin Cup to Tipperary captain Kitty Ryan-Savage.
“Brendan Martin, I suppose his thought was just to take the disappointment off it. He was just a gentleman that he thought it would be nice for a lady to hand the cup over to a lady,” Gorman recalled of presenting the trophy to her on-field counterpart.
While she was naturally disappointed to come out on the wrong side of the result on the day, Gorman and her Faithful colleagues recognised that this was only the beginning of a long journey for both the Offaly team and ladies football as a whole.
Following a 4-6 to 1-5 reversal at the hands of Kerry in a senior final at Littleton, Co. Tipperary in 1976, they squeezed past Tipperary at the end of the aforementioned two-game saga three years later. The Leinster side also claimed the Brendan Martin Cup at the expense of Cavan in 1981, before a Kerry outfit that were about to embark on an unmatched period of dominance got the better of them in a decider at MacDonagh Park, Nenagh 12 months later.
By that point, Offaly had become a more mature and confident team in comparison to the one that first reached the concluding phase of the All-Ireland SFC in 1974.
“It was so new to us that they were just giving girls chances. We didn’t mind that much because there was only just family and friends, and a few people that believed in us, that travelled to the match. We were a very young team. We wouldn’t have the same abilities as when we were playing in subsequent finals. Like in 1976, 1979 and 1981.”
While that 1982 showdown with the Kingdom was her last one for Kerry, Gorman did play a prominent role in an All-Ireland final after that point.
On October 12, 1986, she acted as match referee for the junior championship decider between Waterford and Wexford at Croke Park. This was the same day that Wexford’s first-string team met Kerry in the first All-Ireland SFC final bout to take place at the Jones’ Road venue and despite the best endeavours of the Slaneysiders, it proved to be a Munster double on an historic occasion for ladies football.
“I think I was pulled out of a draw to referee! I was playing club football at the time as well. In fairness, it did take up a lot of my time. I didn’t have much recreational time or socialising. I would prepare for a match. I wouldn’t just give it the slip, I would be dedicated in that respect and I hope I was appreciated,” Gorman added.
“I can’t remember the guy’s name in the Irish Press, he wrote a little piece about me refereeing. I think it was the first time that girls took charge of a major game in football.”