More than a player with skill and talent

Johnny Doyle’s retirement from inter-county football leaves a huge void in the Kildare squad.

Luke Wade is an 11-year-old from Old Parish, Co Waterford who is entranced by football. So you would expect his favourite player to be Colm Cooper, Bernard Brogan, Seán Cavanagh, Michael Dara MacAuley, Stephen O’Neill, Colm O’Neill or Michael Murphy.

But Luke downloads photos of Johnny Doyle on his aunt’s iPad and has a Kildare jersey with the Allenwood totem’s name above the number 13 on the back. This week, amidst all the hoopla surrounding his retirement, Doyle made the kid’s year by autographing that jersey.