Reenavana FC

Reenavana were regular visitors to Rearcross in the seventies to participate in numerous Tournaments and Western League games during that era, players involved at that time were Jody Shanahan, Willie Shanahan, Dan Shanahan, Paddy Shanahan, John Shanahan, Eddie Greene, Jack Ryan(H), Johnny Gleeson and Trevor Mack. Many legendary encounters took place against Crough Rovers, Rearcross, Newport, Bridge Rovers, Glosha and Lucky Numbers to name but a few. The games in Rearcross often turned in to feisty affairs and an encounter against Rearcross on one occasion created some difficulty for match referee when a dispute arose over the validity of a goal as there was no goal nets and to complicate matters further the crossbar was a piece of string! Long before the evolution of Hawkeye, the referee was in a difficult predicament, as a heated exchange ensued between players from both sides. The dispute was eventually settled with no flashing ‘Ta’ or ‘Nil’ signs in evidence but instead evidence of another nature as players left Rearcross with signs of a bruising encounter!
Eleven a-side teams were fielded later on with John Quinlan, Tom Quinlan, John Berkery, Tom Hickey and Mike Hickey to the fore, Dan Quinlan and Pat Quinlan also played for the Reenavana Cross based outfit in the latter years. The team wore a round neck, long sleeve, light blue jersey and funds were raised to buy the jerseys at a 45 Drive held at Tom Carey’s house Foilaclera. Reenavana also played under the name of Foilaclera in the late seventies.

Written by Ger Kennedy (July 2016)