THE Clonakilty footballers who won the 1996 Cork SFC title were classy operators on the field – and they are classy operators off it, too.
At half time in last Sunday’s Premier SFC final, the Clon county-winning team of ’96 was presented to the crowd, 25 years on from their county final triumph against UCC.
As expected, they received a huge reception from the Clonakilty support that took over Páirc Uí Chaoimh to cheer on the current senior team in their county final against the Barrs.
Touch of class from Clonakilty's 1996 Cork SFC winning heroes to give a guard of honour to current team at the county final in Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Great to see Liam O'Donovan here too.
? @joeyblake79 pic.twitter.com/2wvEpaet4o— Kieran McCarthy (@KieranMcC_SS) November 28, 2021
At half time, outsiders Clon trailed the favourites by 0-6 to 0-4, but Haulie O’Neill’s men were well in this game. As Clon’s footballers charged back out onto the pitch for the second half, the 1996 team lined the tunnel from the dressing-room to the pitch, to cheer on, encourage and give the current crop a rousing reception. It was a touch of class. A brilliant gesture: the heroes of ’96 supporting the class of ’21.
Cork PRO Joe Blake captured the magical moment and Star Sports editor Kieran McCarthy posted the video on Twitter – and it has attracted a huge response. The 33-second clip has been played over 50,000 times and the tweet has been seen over 135,000 times.