The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Battie Foley a man of huge passion
ONE of the people who looks after the club finances is Battie Foley and he has been involved with the club since 1981. A man with a huge passion for the game he was involved with Callinafercy when they started out and with a great love for the game he is still enjoying his role with great relish.
“Having our own facilities is a dream fulfilled for me, but everyone in the club won’t stop at this as more development will occur as time progresses. For a club in a small town we have come a long way in recent years but the journey is not over yet.
“We have very big membership and with three senior teams and a huge underage structure and Academy more space will have to be found to accommodate everyone. It may not happen in the immediate future, but it is on our priority list when the time is right.”
Battie comes from a family of 12 and has been a Liverpool fan since 1977. When Liverpool won the European Cup in 1977 the entire family were watching the game and some of them had to sit on the kitchen table.
“In the early years we had to rent pitches in different locations, but in 1992 I approached local businessman Billy Dodd to find out if he would be willing to sell land to the club,” Foley said.
After a frank discussion he said he would give it consideration. A few days Battie got a phone call from Billy asking him to look at a piece a land in the heart of the town to see if it was suitable. It was like manna from heaven for Battie and after discussing the matter with his colleagues they managed to negotiate a favourable deal with the owner and the rest is history.
“We put a fund-raising committee into place and focused all our attention on raising the money to finance the purchase and development of our newly acquired land. It was located in an ideal place in the heart of the town.”
The fund raising committee was, Chairman Johnny O’Connor, Vice Chairman Frank Mc Mahon, Treasurer Mike Ashe, Secretary Nuala McEnery, PRO’Tim Collins, Committee, Mike Johnson, Pat Foley, Mike Lynch, Do Do Sheahan, James Foley, Jim Donna, Pa Fleming, Sean Sheahan, James Mc Enery.
“Fundraising activities gathered momentum quickly and then we managed to secure some grant aid from County Council. FAI and Capital Sports Grants and then everything began was heading in the right direction. The machinery was brought in and the pitch full drained and sanded. After this work began on the Clubhouse and dugouts and this work was also completed.
“When the new grounds opened many more young people began to join the club and with children numbers increasing also the club put measures in place to deal with the requirements of all the kids. Then we began to get the parents on board and before long everything was clicking into place to push the club forward.”
New coaches had to be recruited to look after the players training and fitness and now everything was snowballing in the right direction and they club were in a much healthier state.
Looking ahead his aspirations for the future is to see the club get bigger, acquire a second pitch and have all the necessary facilities to ensure everyone that wants to play for the club are looked after.
In the meantime he would like to try and recruit more volunteers to become involved in the club and more former players to lend a helping hand.