Oisín: Bookmaker’s sponsorship ‘not ideal’
McConville was widely acclaimed for the manner in which he disclosed his gambling problems in ‘The Gambler’ and there was considerable surprise when his hugely successful club, Crossmaglen Rangers, the reigning All-Ireland champions, took a bookmakers firm on board as its main sponsor.
Crossmaglen Rangers is one of the most successful clubs in the country, capturing 13 Armagh titles in-a-row up to 2008, before regaining their crown last year and going on to win their fifth All-Ireland club title.
McConville was a key member of all those successful sides but after highlighting the demons he had to overcome with his gambling addiction, there was some surprise when the club took Bar One Racing on board as its main sponsor.
“The initial reaction was that it is not ideal obviously,” he said.
“But from a club point of view, we have five or six hundred members in our club. I am just one person who gambles compulsively.
“Will I pull on that jersey? Of course I’ll pull it on. And in fairness I have had numerous conversations with the bookmaker who sponsors our club and he is not doing it to annoy me, he is sponsoring us because he wants to get behind the club. He is a good fella, Barney O’Hare. I spoke to him recently and he said if you ever feel that it is putting any pressure on you then come and tell me, but it is not.
“But it is not ideal for me out there talking to young people and then pulling on a jersey with a bookmakers on it. It is not ideal but at the end of the day the club is bigger than one individual and the club is bigger than me. As I say he is a good fella.
“I just happen to be one of those people that cannot go out there and have a bet. But if that is the only thing that I have to contend with in my life then I find myself very lucky. I am someone who has come through the whole addiction thing and have come out the other side of it and those small things like having to pull on a jersey it doesn’t matter.
“At the end of the day it is a Crossmaglen jersey and I am proud to pull it on, ” said McConville.
Crossmaglen Rangers have won 38 county titles — the most successful in Armagh — with McConville featuring in 14 of those wins, including 103 consecutive championship appearances up to the 2008 county semi-final win over Armagh Harps which he missed through injury.
McConville captured an All-Ireland medal in 2002, All Star awards in 2000 and 2002 and won seven Ulster SFC titles with Armagh at the height of his gambling addiction.
McConville was speaking after attending an event in Sligo entitled ‘A Sporting Chance: tackling life’s challenge with the GAA’, which was organised by former Leitrim footballer Colin Regan, who is the national co-ordinator of the GAA’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP).
