During his relatively short but eventful playing career, Jim Woods packed in a
lot of action. The former Clare and Newmarket-on- Fergus star gathered his
hurley and kit and headed into the sunset just after he had turned 30 – a time
when many hurlers are still at their prime. But he still had much to reflect on –
four years on the Clare Senior team when he played against some of the best in
the country, a massive ten Senior County Championship medals (and two
Munster club medals) won with Newmarket-on- Fergus during the 1960s and
early 70s, and a lorry-load of memories, most of them good.
In a sense, when Jim stopped playing, he was only at the half-time stage – he
was to go on to enjoy considerable success as a club and inter-county selector
and coach, as well as 19 years as a referee, taking charge of games at every
level. He was also Chairman of his club and was a selector of the Munster
Hurling team for two years in the 70s.
These days Jim is no longer involved directly in the G.A.A. but he maintains a
keen interest in what is happening at club, intercounty and national level. Like
all Clare supporters, he was overjoyed at the Banner County's success in
winning the McCarthy Cup last September and hopes it was merely the first
episode in a new golden era for hurling in the South West. Jim knew plenty
about the disappointments and the near misses, so when Clare finally did hit
gold-dust, he could hardly believe it. "One thing I will never forget is the mass
of Clare people on the Croke Park pitch after the win over Offaly. They took up
nearly the whole area, you could hardly see a blade of grass. It was a very
impressive sight with everybody waving flags and banners, half of Clare
seemed to be there".
Jim runs a construction company – Jim Woods Building Contractors – from
Newmarket-on- Fergus and carries out work throughout the Clare area and
beyond. His work has brought him as far afield as Russia and he has made a
number of trips to the country over the last ten years. "I went out to work with
Aer Rianta constructing their duty free shops. We were also involved in the
building of offices and stores out there. We have carried out work in St.
Petersburg and supervised the building of a duty free shop on the Russian,
Finnish border at a place called Vyborg. Most of our work abroad has been
completed in Russia but we have also done some projects in Germany". These
days his busy schedule prevents him from taking a great role in GAA affairs.
Born in Foynes in Limerick, Jim Woods moved with his family to Newmarket-
on-Fergus at an early age, and growing up, his prowess with the sliothar and
camán soon became apparent. At just 16 years old, he was already on the local
Senior team, well capable of holding his own in a man's world. Soon the county
selectors were having a look at the promising youngster. In the early 1960s, Jim
was selected for the county Minors and moved quickly on to the Under 21's
team as his intercounty apprenticeship continued apace. Invariably, for club and
county, he was posted in at one of the half back positions, providing a solid
bulwark against opposition attacks.
Meanwhile he was embarking on a club career which brought a wealth of riches
as Newmarket-on- Fergus began to dominate Clare hurling. "We were able to
put together a brilliant team at the time and from 1963 to '74, we won ten Senior
County Championships. Altogether between 1963 and '91, we won a total of
thirteen titles and lost out twice at the semi-final stage. When I was playing, I
was lucky enough to be part of two three-in- a-row teams and a four-in- a-row
team as well. We won in 1963, '64, '65 and again in '67, '68, '69 and again in
'71, '72, '73, and '74", he fondly recalls.
Picking up a county medal never became repetitive or mundane. There was
always something special about ending up on top of the heap, but winning the
Muster Club Championship – as they did on two occasions – was something
special. "I enjoyed all the county finals we won but the Munster title itself in
1968 was the high point of my career: there weren't too many Munster medals
of any kind going around Clare in those days. We often regretted there wasn't an
All-Ireland Championship at the time as we felt we could have gone on to
greater things".
Hard work and sheer ability saw the team sweep aside most opposition, both
inside and outside Clare. "We had a brilliant collection of talented, skilful
hurlers and at one stage, about a third of the team had played for Munster
including Pat Cronin, Liam Danagher, Jim Cullinan, Michael Considine and
others. We also trained very hard".
Jim's senior debut for Clare was made in the Munster Championship clash
against Limerick and it was a match he was almost forced to miss. "It was a
very big occasion for me, of course and a sort of baptism of fire as it was my
first competitive match for Clare. Just before the game I had a cold and
wondered if I would be able to play but once the action started I forget all about
the cold and just got on with things. We won the match and I was happy enough
with my performance. I got on OK."
In the next round, Clare were defeated by Tipperary – it was to become a
familiar story. Packed with top class hurlers, Tipperary were to repeatedly
smother their neighbours’ Championship ambitions: it was no different in the
Munster final of 1967 when Jim was among the subs as Clare lost to the
Premier County by 4-12 to 2-6. Once he retired from hurling, Jim Woods was
far from finished with the game. He took up refereeing for 19 years and took
charge of games at all grades, including the National League semi-final in the
early 80s between Cork and Galway. He has no doubts that taking charge of a
hurling match is much more difficult than a football game. "The play moves
much quicker, with some clearances reaching seventy or eighty yards – you
need to be very fit. I enjoyed refereeing to an extent; somebody had to do it", he
adds.
He also turned his hand to coaching and selecting and helped Newmarket to a
county title in the 70s. Jim then became a Clare selector for two years and held
that position when Clare won the National League title in 1976, defeating
Kilkenny by 2-8 to 0-9. The captain of the Clare side that day was Jimmy
McNamara, a Newmarket-on- Fergus man. Also on that team was Ger
Loughnane and Fr. Harry Bohan was manager. "He introduced a new style of
inter-county management which placed a big emphasis on the relationship
between players and management. It was a new, but effective approach," adds
Jim. Winning the National Leagues in '77 and '78 provided a huge boost to
Clare but it proved impossible to translate League success into Championship
glory. "By that stage, Cork had replaced Tipperary as the kingpins in Munster",
he mournfully recalls.
His experience as coach brought home to Jim the special demand the job makes
on somebody. "It is a very exacting job, time consuming. You need to be able to
impart knowledge, to access and understand players. You also have to stamp
your authority, let people know who is in charge. If you don't do that you won't
have the respect of the players and get the response you want".
Hurling these days, Jim feels, is more exact and measured than the past. Much
of the spontaneity has gone out of the modern game. Players are now coached to
feed the ball to their colleagues in what he calls "blackboard hurling". He sees
another sign of growing sophistication in the stylised equipment used, most top
class players now having a couple of their own specially made sticks on the
sideline ready to be thrown in if needed. It wasn't always like that.
Over the years Jim has noticed the disappearance of overhead play, the clash of
the ash as the ball flew through the air. Rarely does he see a player connecting
in full flight. "It is a skill that seems to have died. Players now concentrate more
on getting the ball and controlling it before sending it to a colleague. It is more
scientific. Overhead hurling was not as accurate a delivery but it kept the game
speeded up and kept the backs at a disadvantage. They didn't know where it
might end up".
Clare's achievement in winning the McCarthy Cup last September means the
county can now hold its head up high. The river has been crossed, and inspired
by the confidence gained in the win over Offaly, they can go on to achieve even
further glory. Jim Woods certainly hopes so.
Written by the Hogan Stand Magazine.
16th Feb 1996