From Man Utd's academy to Louth's converted 'keeper

Former Louth midfielder James Califf had retired when Gavin Devlin tempted him back to play in goal

Wed, 27 Apr, 2022 - 07:00

Paul Keane

It's exactly 20 years since the headline 'Red Devils pick local youngsters' popped up in a local newspaper in Louth.

James Califf was one of the young soccer players who apparently impressed Manchester United scout Walter Murphy enough with his goalkeeping ability to earn a spell at the club's academy.

Gaelic football turned out to be Clogherhead man Califf's true calling and eight years later he was on the bench at Croke Park for the Leinster final loss to Meath.

Califf spent a decade in red all told, mainly as a midfielder, before finally hanging up his boots a couple of years ago.

Then Mickey Harte came along or, to be more precise, Harte's leftfield coach Gavin Devlin, who came up with a brainwave last winter when Louth's regular netminder Craig Lynch retired.

"Gavin rang me on the Tuesday, I think it was after the O'Byrne Cup," explained Louth captain Sam Mulroy recently on the BBC's GAA Social podcast.

"He said, 'Sam, I have the answer. I know who is going to play in nets for us'. I said, 'Right, go on'. He said, 'James Califf'. I said, 'What? James Califf? Like, 'Peach' Califf, who plays midfield for Clogher', are you mad?'

"Honest to God, that's what I said. He said, 'I'm after watching back eight matches since Sunday from the Louth championship...' By the end of the conversation, Gavin Devlin had convinced me that 'Peach' could be the best goalkeeper in Ireland."

Whatever about the best in Ireland, things have certainly gone well for Califf so far. His first match in goals was February's Round 2 draw with Longford in the league and he's started every game since, piling seven wins on top of that draw and conceding just four goals in his time between the sticks.

Louth have been promoted to Division 2 and, after demolishing Carlow last weekend, they will face Kildare this Sunday in a glamour Leinster SFC quarter-final tie in Tullamore.

"The year before Mickey came in I decided to step away, just had other things to focus on, life, job, stuff like that," said Califf. "Gavin came up with the idea then of me coming back in, from watching club games after the 'keeper had retired last year. I'm not too sure what his thinking was but it's worked so far.

"As far as I was concerned, I was retired. I was 30 when I left. I'd picked up about three hamstring strains in a year and a half and I just said, 'I have enough, I need to rest up'. I wanted to go back and kind of contribute to the club and get coaching as well. The way things fell, working from home helped as well. I work in Dublin and the fact that I can work from home now gives me more time so it worked out alright."

It remains a work in progress, with Califf stressing the word 'work'. Saving shots, he reckons, is probably only number two or three on his list of priorities.

"Kick-outs is what it's all about. Shot-stopping is further down the list. There's an awful lot of work that goes into analysing teams that we're playing against, and our own team of course. I've actually learned loads since I came back in and because I was looking at going down the coaching route, when I stepped away, I'm finding I'm picking up stuff from Mickey and Gavin all the time which I'm really enjoying."

Califf still plays outfield with his club, Dreadnots, and reckons this, and his inter-county outfield experience, helps when it comes to nailing his kick-outs.

"I used to be working with the goalkeepers anyway on different strategies so I'm just on the other side of the coin now," he said. "I'm enjoying it so far. It's not somewhere I thought I'd be but I'm happy to be in there helping."

Devlin perhaps sold the idea of Califf the goalkeeper to Harte by referencing Niall Morgan in Tyrone, and how the All-Ireland winning netminder also plays outfield for his club. Blaine Hughes in Armagh is the same.

"There are plenty of other teams doing it now, Armagh, they were probably looking at Niall Morgan in Tyrone, maybe that was part of their thinking as well," said Califf.