A sport without the fun element
In his new Gaelic Life column last week, Kevin Cassidy regaled a few yarns about a bygone era in the Donegal set-up — or any set-up — when abstinence was encouraged but hardly enforced.
Former Kerry defender Tom O’Sullivan looked forward to winning games because it meant he could have a drink or two afterwards. But it wasn’t always about alcohol, sometimes just the opportunity to have a laugh.
Cassidy and O’Sullivan, both of who played into their 30s, are reminders of a dying breed of inter-county footballer who know when there was, as the former puts it, spórt in our sport.
Recently-retired Redmond Barry thinks the culture change has been predicated by a new breed of footballers and a desperation to replicate the top counties.
“There’s a younger generation that seem to be more into gyming and training, that 20 to 25-year-old age group,” says the Wexford man. “They’re mad keen on their gym work.
“Us in the 25 to 35-year-old group, we were kicking football before anyone went to the gym. The younger players were introduced to the gym from minor level and they’re more familiar with it. It’s natural to them.
“They’re the ones putting on the pressure. Them and the need to do what the top three or four counties are doing. You’d swear they’re training eight times a week!
“It’s all about keeping up with the Joneses. You’d be training and training and just going, ‘f**king hell, is this all needed?’
“You look at rugby and soccer players and they would have a pre-season of four to six weeks tops. By the time a ball is kicked in the league, there aren’t many counties who haven’t 12 or 13 weeks’ work under their belts.
“You’d be flogged at training having already been training for three or four months. Surely we’d enough fitness by that stage. It made you wonder if it was more of a hindrance than anything else when lads weren’t fresh.”
The appearance of a wedding ring or a crib now usually spells doom for an inter-county career when in the past they would have been taken in stride.
Fermanagh footballer Barry Owens noticed the difficulties when he married Caroline in 2008. He hasn’t yet made a decision on his inter-county future. He still enjoys it but a large part of that last season was because he was given an extended break over the Christmas by then manager Peter Canavan.
“You get home from work, might have a drop of tea and sandwich and next thing you’re out training. Some might say that time away from the wife is a good time but in all seriousness it has become more or less a job.
“You have no time to yourself but it’s toughest on wives and girlfriends because you’re training for nine months of the year. You’d have a brother or sister getting married but you can’t drink because of a game or training the next day. I’ve done the same at the weddings of a lot of friends, a lot of good friends. I’m not saying you need a drink but later on in the night and everyone’s well on it’s hard.
“When I first started, you’d have a few pints after a league match. Now you can’t because you’re training again on the Monday or Tuesday. You’re going full tilt, professional nearly, and it’s unthinkable not to be at your best at the next training session. Gym work isn’t the worst, there isn’t as much long running which has been replaced by short interval running and the banter is still there but there’s just a lot more training expected of you.”
Then there’s work.
Owens notices a trend in the professions of inter-county players as he traces the match programme pen pics.
“At this rate, it’ll be students, teachers and maybe bank officials left playing inter-county football. The tradesmen can’t afford the time off. You can’t give up a weekend’s work.
“I’m lucky with work (Quinns). They’re very understanding. I got away with it in that sense but if I had been anywhere else I’d have given it up a couple of years ago.
“People go on about player burnout but it’s the students who are nearly playing all the football. You look at our McKenna Cup panel this year. The vast majority of them are 25 or younger.
“I don’t know what way you could do it. You can’t curtail training. For those few years, everyone was out training before Christmas during the winter bans and everyone knew it. Perhaps another taskforce is needed!” he quips.
Barry’s noticed the same in Wexford: “If you compare the amount of lads playing in their 30s ten years ago to now you’d see a fair drop off. Most of our team last year were in college.
“I’ve been blessed, half-working for myself but also working for two of my brothers who I was subcontracting work from. Whatever work I do I earn it but you can’t put in a full day’s work every day.”
Nobody ever went into inter-county football for the money but few believe they will be poorer for it. Yet as the demands dawn on more people, the net will cast shorter.
