Cassidy: Family and football all that counts

KEVIN CASSIDY’S last outing for Donegal in championship football was drawn out like a funeral procession with the same unavoidable conclusion.

In last summer’s qualifiers, a shapeless and splintered Donegal were chasing shadows. For Cassidy, his closing chapter was going to be a depressing one. He called it a day.

“I had made my mind up that would be it,” he said.

“We had given Down a decent game in the Ulster championship but were disappointed to lose. I felt as though the qualifiers was where it would end, wherever that was. We went to Crossmaglen in the first round and we never showed up and were beaten inside of 10 minutes. I felt it was time for the likes of myself to move on and let the young fellas come on through.”

When Cassidy rolled up at home he knew life’s priorities were already shifting as he and his wife Sarah were expecting twins in autumn.

“There was no way I could come back and do the same level of training that I’d been doing for the best part of 10 years.

“I didn’t want a situation developing with Jim [McGuinness] coming in with fresh ideas and new plans and me quitting. I just wanted to give him a clean slate.”

As McGuinness began to sift through the debris, he considered his options. Although there was an undercurrent of talent, he also knew the importance of bedding the youngsters in gradually with the more experienced players.

“When Jim rang first and told me what was happening, of course I listened but it was a decision that would have to be discussed,” Cassidy recalled.

“That was last July or August. It took me maybe three or four weeks before I really tied it down and I spoke about it with Sarah, who was expecting twins at the time.

“She needed a little persuading as we both knew what was coming down the line.

“I had one or two telephone conversations with Jim and he told me what was happening and what his plans were. Those conversations were up to an hour and a half long on occasion and we talked a lot about what he could do for me and what I could do for him.”

With daughters Nia and Aoife joining the Cassidy household he is just concentrating on two things — family and football.

“I’m delighted that I chose to give it a rattle. It’s only approaching a championship game you get the real feel for it.

“If I was going to be coming to Ballybofey to watch Donegal playing Antrim, then I would have felt the regret had I decided not to come back. The championship is why you play football.”