Clonmel enjoyed a great level of success in the 1980s winning county senior football finals in 1982, 1986, 1989, and continuing the success into the nineties with a further victory in 1990.
The success in 1982 signalled a return by the club to the glory days of the sixties, when they won three-in-a-row 1965-1967, and had further wins in 1969 and 1971. Then followed a period of ten years during which Commercials failed to qualify for the final. Ardfinnan, Loughnore-Castleiney, Fethard and Galtee Rovers were the dominant teams during these years.
By 1982 Commercials were starved for success. The county championship was played on an open draw basis and they qualified for the semi-final. It took them two games to defeat Loughmore-Castliney The final against Fethard was a poor affair in which the two teams could muster only a point between them in the opening twenty-five minutes. They led by 1-2 to 0-1 at the interval and were in front by 2-3 to 1-2 at the final whistle. According to Micheal O’Meara’s account ‘Paudie and Seamus O’Neill, Michael Hanly, Franny Kelly, Gene McGrath, Mick Boland, Ben Keane and Sean Lonergan were the men who played leading roles in that success and all won their places on the county panel for the NFL.’
The counth champions were as follows: Michael Hanly, Hugh Daly, Paudie O’Neill (capt.), Mark O’Connell, Ben Keane, Seamie O’Neill, Michael Lynch, Michael Boland, Sean Lonergan, Donal O’Keeffe, Owen Sinnott, Philip Johnson, Felix Kavanagh, Gene McGrath, Franny Kelly. Subs: Willie Peters for Philip Johnson, Joe McNamara for Felix Kavanagh. Others were: Pat Redmond, Frank Farrell, Tari O’Neill, Michael Friday, Sean McMahon.
The later addition of the separate South title gave the club further cause for celebration.
Change in System
The system for running the championship reverted to the old one of two teams from each division in 1983. Commercials failed to make it to the South final. In 1984 they were beaten by Fethard in both the South and county finals..In 1985 Commercials lost the South final to Fethard and to Galtee Rovers in the county quarter-final.
The club returned to winning ways in 1986. They defeated arch rivals, Fethard, by 1-15 to 0-6 in the South final ‘with eye-catching displays from captain, Mick O’Connell, Donal and Sean O’Keeffe, Joe McNamara, Peter Kilkenny and Franny Kelly.’ They got a bye in the county quarter-final, because of the withdrawal of the North’s runners-up, Lorrha, and defeated Loughmore-Castleiney in the semi-final. The final, against Fethard proved a very one-sided affair as Commercials confirmed the form of the South final success with a 1-12 to 0-2 victory, having led by 0-7 to 0-1 at the interval.
The winning side was as follows: Philly Ryan, Michael Lynch, High Daly, Mark O’Connell (capt.), Derek Pyke, Seamie O’Neill, Sean O’Keeffe, Ben Keane, Donal O’Keeffe, Peter Kilkenny, Gene McGrath, Joe McNamara, Franny Kelly, Sean Lonergan, Willie Peters. Subs: Padraig Kavanagh, Stephen O’Flynn, Pat Burke, Tony Smith, Garrett Condon, Cristóir McGrath.
A Double
Commercials completed the decade with a double. In 1987 They won the South final again with a close victory over Fethard. Ably led by their captain, Joe McNamara, others to impress were Franny Kelly, Billy Peters, Donal O’Keeffe and Gene McGrath. They defeated Moyne-Templetouhy by 0-18 to 4-3 in the county quarter-final. They survived by a point, a last-minute effort by Joe McNamara, when they defeated Arravale Rovers by 0-6 to 0-5 in the semi-final The final against Loughmore-Castleiney at Cashel on November 15, ended in a draw, 2-8 each.
The replay caused problems. The Munster club championship was already fixed for November 29 and could not be re-arranged. Tipperary were fixed to play Wexford in the league on November 22 and they wouldn’t agree to a postponement. So the replay had to go on, depriving the county panel of many of the first fifteen. The replay was fixed or Holycross with Loughmore coming through by 3-2 to 2-3.
In the 1988 South final Commercials informed the board they were unable to field a team and looked for a postponement. It was refused but they failed to field against Fethard. who were awarded the final. and the club was fined £500. The sides met in the county final and Fethard upset the odds when they won by 1-11 to 1-10 against a fancied Commercials side.
Back to Open Draw
The county senior football championship reverted to an open draw system in 1989. Commercials defeated Loughmore-Castleiney in the county quarter-final and Nenagh Eire Óg in the semi-final. Thyey met Fetard in the final, which was a repeat of the previous year. Played at Kilsheelan on August 27, two goals by Commercials coming up to the final decided the contest. They led by 2-3 to 0-2 at the interval and had a winning margin of 2-7 to 0-9. The winning side was: Philly Ryan, Padraig Kavanagh, John Kerins, Sean O’Loughlin, Ben Keane, Mark O’Connell, Peter Kilkenny (capt.), Donal O’Keeffe, Tony Gleeson, Willie Peters, Cristóir McGrath, Anthony Wall, Franny Kelly, Jim Kyne, Dermot O’Shea. Sub: Joe McNamara for Dermot O’Shea. Commercials also won the South, when they defeated Moyle Rovers by 3-11 to 0-9 in the final.
Twenty-four teams played in the 1990 open draw senior football championship. Commercials defeated Fr. Sheehy’s by 1-11 to 1-10 in the quarter-final.. They had no difficulty in accounting for Cappawhite by 0-23 to 0-12 in the semi-final at Cashel on August 12, having led by 0-14 to 0-6 at the interval..
The final wasn’t played until October 14 and took place against Loughmore-Castleiney at Cashel on October 14. Commercials outplayed a struggling Loughmore-Castleiney side by 3-10 to 1-5. The winners, who had key performers in Willie Peters and Franny Kelly, led by 2-5 to 1-3 at the interval. The ball was thrown in by a member of the Tipperay team of Bloody Sunday 1920, Bill Ryan, Laha, Castleiney. The winning side was as follows: Philly Ryan, John Kerins (capt.), Rian Forrestal, Mark O’Connell, Sean O’Loughlin, Ger Deeley, Peter Kilkenny, Donal O’Keeffe, Tony Gleeson, Dermot O’Shea, Cristóir McGrath, Martin Quinlivan, Joe McNamara, Franny Kelly, Willie Peters. Subs: Ben Keane for Quinlivan, Anthony Wall, Anthony Wall for Cristóir McGrath, Padraigf Kavanagh for Joe McNamara.
Commerials were hot favourites to take the South title the same year as well but were defeated in the final by St. Patrick’s/Grangemockler, 1-10 to 1-7. The victory led to great rejoicing in both parishes as Grangemockler hadn’t won a senior crown for 69 years and St. Patrick’s had last won 37 years previously.

This work by adminGAA is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported