Sligo has a rich history and tradition of sport. Sligo Rovers are a successful Eircom League soccer team and only this year Sligo won the Connacht Senior Football Championship. There are also a lot of water sports there because of its location on the Atlantic Coast. Let's look at this tradition in greater depth.
Connacht Champions 2007
July 8th 2007 will go down in the annals of Sligo's history. Why is this date so important to the people of County Sligo? It was the day that the Nestor Cup finally returned home to the Yeats County after an absence of 32 years.
Noel McGuire
Sligo's captain Noel McGuire becomes the first Sligo man to lift the Nestor Cup since 1975.
Image courtesy of Sligo PostNoel McGuire
Image courtesy of Sligo Post
Image courtesy of Sligo Post
Noel McGuire
Sligo's captain Noel McGuire becomes the first Sligo man to lift the Nestor Cup since 1975.
Image courtesy of Sligo PostThe Nestor Cup is the trophy handed out to the winners of the Connacht Senior Football Championship. Traditionally, Galway and Mayo, and to a lesser extent Roscommon have been the powerhouses of Connacht football but 2007 was to be the year of the underdog.
Sligo's campaign for the Connacht title began in the strange surroundings of New York City on a sunny afternoon in May. Hopes weren't that high after a comfortable but not very inspiring win against New York (who are invited to play in the Connacht Championship) of 2 goals and 18 points to 1 goal and three points.
In the semi-final, Roscommon were beaten to set up a Connacht Final against old rivals Galway, who beat Leitrim in the other semi-final.
Connacht Final
The Connacht Final was played at a neutral venue in Roscommon. As expected, it was a tight and nervous first-half which was brightened up by a brilliant individual goal by Sligo's talisman Eamonn O'Hara. The game continued to ebb and flow in the second half before Sligo ran out deserving winners by the smallest of margins. The final score of Sligo 1-10 to Galway's 0-12 was greeted with unconfined joy by the huge support that had travelled from Sligo.
This win was only the third time that Sligo had ever won a senior Connacht Title and the whole of the county celebrated long into the night and beyond. Sadly, Sligo lost their All-Ireland ¼ final to Cork the following month but the memories of that historic day in July will live with the players, management and supporters for a very long time.