Jim 'Tubby' Cotter
Focus on an old Cove Wanderer
Jim 'Tubby' Cotter was a man of many parts
who was well known and respected throughout
the town. He was well known as a fine singer
and actor and was a dedicated member of
the Irish Red Cross after his retirement
from the Defence Forces.He was also well
known of course for his work as Sacristan
in St Colmans Cathedral.
He is probably best remembered though for
his exploits on the football field and had
a long and distinguished career both at
local and League of Ireland level. He started
with the local Cove Wanderers and was an
integral part of all their successs in the
1930's. Their Minor team won the coveted
League and Cup double in 1931 / 1932 . Tubby
helped the Wanderers to the final of the
Free State Junior cup in 1933 / 1934 where
B.& I.had a deserved 2-1 victory. Tubby
played brilliantly in the final ,as he had
done throughout the competition, And these
displays brought his name to the attention
of an national audience.
The following season 1934 / 1935 he was
honoured with an international cap for the
Irish Free State Junior team in a game against
Scotland . This was a great honour both
for himself and Cove Wanderers and he was
following in the footsteps of the renowned
centre forward Dick Barry who was the only
previous Wanderers player to be capped.
In 1937 Tubby moved on to play in the League
of Ireland with Limerick,who had only just
joined the league.He made his debut at full-back
against Shamrock Rovers in the Markets Field.
In the next game he was joined in the team
by another Cove full-back Jimmy O'Mahoney.
They were the best of friends and spent
two happy seasons with Limerick before going
their separate ways. Tubby joined the Army
and Cork F.C. and Jimmy went North to play
for Glentoran. One of the highlights of
Tubby's stay was winning the Munster Senior
Cup.
Tubby was known as a tough but skilful back
who enjoyed nothing better than joining
in the attack and firing in one of his long
range rockets. After his League of Ireland
days he returned to his native Cobh where
he gave years of dedicated service to Cobh
Ramblers and also coached them for a time.
He never lost his interest in the game and
was often seen casting a critical eye over
the latest batch of young Ramblers from
his house which overlooked St Colmans Park
.His grand-nephew Eoin O'Sullivan was also
capped at schoolboy level for Ireland while
playing for Springfield A.F.C.and he was
a part of all Cobh Wanderers recent successes
over the last 20 years.
Tubby passed away some years ago but is
still remembered as one of the towns most
famous and popular sportsmen.
