Davy Fitzgerald: Clare hurlers had ‘substance’ problems

Clare hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald claims that alcohol and substance abuse was “a problem” in the Clare hurling panel in the middle of the last decade.

He said former teammates “fooled themselves” by drinking and “taking harder stuff than drink” while members of the Clare team.

“We brought in a code of discipline. From the mid-2000s, in Clare, my feeling was that Clare was a social team. I know some of them were even taking harder stuff than drink. I couldn’t understand this. To me I play to win, and if you are doing stuff like that, you’re wasting your time.”