Matthew Fitzpatrick claims 'balance is all wrong' at intercounty level  

Former Antrim footballer Fitzpatrick said he feels inter-county commitment levels are 'getting too much' and claimed some managers have 'too much of a pull'.

OUT OF QUILTER: Former Antrim Footballer Matthew Fitzpatrick claims "balance is all wrong" at intercounty level. Pic: INPHO/Declan Roughan 

A former Gaelic football star who quit the game to play soccer has claimed the 'balance is all wrong' at inter-county level, arguing that it's '90% serious, 10% fun' and ultimately 'not worth it'.

Ex-Antrim attacker Matthew Fitzpatrick, who starred for the Saffrons in 2019 before leaving the game to play Irish League soccer, says he only realised how out of kilter the training to games ratio is in the GAA after he left.

Fitzpatrick netted against Tyrone in the 2019 Ulster championship and scored two more goals in the qualifier win over Louth that summer.

But the St John's man turned his back on county football that winter and is currently playing in the Irish League for Glenavon.

The 28-year-old still plays Gaelic football for his club but knocked back efforts from former Antrim boss Enda McGinley to recall him and says he won't be returning.

"It's too hard, it's too much, I couldn't do it, there's just too much asked of you," he said. "Someone might turn around and go, 'He's a mercenary' and fair enough, I couldn't care less to be honest. I just think when you weigh it up, it's not worth it."

Speaking to current Antrim hurler Domhnall Nugent on the Let's Face It podcast, Fitzpatrick added: "When I look at how much county teams are training, it's not enjoyable, you cannot tell me that them boys enjoy travelling that much, training that much, putting so much in and playing, if you're lucky....10, 12 matches a year, that blows my mind.

"I play a match, sometimes two matches a week, even three. We play Saturday, sometimes Tuesday. But Saturday every week and it's so enjoyable. The balance is that we train to be ready for the matches.

"It feels like in Gaelic the training is more important than the matches. See the amount of times I hear that so and so did X amount of training. I'm like, 'So?' It blows my mind. Even the drink bans. I see Premier League footballers playing on a Sunday and they'll be drinking on a Sunday night and then go on and be brilliant again the next Saturday. If you were to drink the week before a Championship match in Gaelic, you're public enemy number one."

Fitzpatrick said he feels inter-county commitment levels are 'getting too much' and claimed some managers have 'too much of a pull'.

"They're going, 'We're going to do this and this and this', and no-one ever questions it," said Fitzpatrick, who revealed that he only realised the problem when he left Gaelic football for soccer.

"I think soccer has a much better balance in terms of how serious it is. Gaelic is like, I feel, that if you were to put it in a percentage, it's 90% serious, 10% fun.

"If you mess about in Gaelic training, if you were to joke or be immature, it's like, 'You're not taking this seriously'. In football, when it's time to work, you're taking it seriously but when it's not time to work you can have as much fun as you want.

"That's why if you compare football and Gaelic football players, in terms of characters, there's so much more characters in football who you hear stories about who are funny. I mean top level football, I'm thinking stories about the likes of Paul Merson, Gazza. It's brilliant craic, you end up with memories to last a lifetime.

"I don't look back at many memories playing for Antrim where I was saying, 'That was unbelievable craic'. I just think the balance is all wrong in Gaelic and because of that I'm happy enough only playing for St John's."

Former Meath manager Andy McEntee is currently in charge of Antrim who were boosted by last weekend's eight-point win over Tipperary in Division 3 of the National League.

* The full interview with Matthew Fitzpatrick on the Let's Face It podcast is available here