Sam Mulroy: 'I don't think anybody respected Louth and I hated it'
CHIP ON THE SHOULDER:Â Louth footballer, Sam Mulroy, pictured as AIB announces a five-year extension to its sponsorships of the GAA All-Ireland Football Championship and the AIB Camogie and GAA All-Ireland Club Championships. AIB is extremely proud to be extending their support of #TheToughest championships, as well as the players and communities involved in Gaelic Games nationwide.
Louth captain Sam Mulroy admits he's had a chip on his shoulder for years about people not taking his county seriously.
The prolific forward, preparing for Sunday's landmark Leinster final against Dublin, has never hid an unshakable belief in himself and the team.
In one interview last year, the 25-year-old gave Louth a 'serious chance' of winning the Leinster title within 'five or six years' while, on his own game, he said 'all I ever wanted to be was the best in Louth, the best in Ireland'.
Mulroy says he doesn't care if people interpret this as 'arrogance' because he knows that it comes from a good place, from wanting to see the county do well and, crucially, to be treated with respect.
"It's a funny one and it's something I've probably taken a lot of criticism for over the last year or 18 months, those comments start to get thrown around about you," said Mulroy, who has registered 1-10 in the Leinster SFC so far despite coming back early from a serious hamstring injury.
"I don't think I ever shied away from it — I still back myself to the hilt. People call it arrogance. It doesn't bother me, when you're going well they're calling you this (good things), but if things are going bad you can't shy away from it either. Even reading the comments after our win over Offaly, people are calling for your head after seven minutes, saying you've had a bad game.
"But I think, for me, when the question is asked about myself, or when I speak about myself, it's not for me, it's not for Sam Mulroy. It really is a bigger picture about Louth. I always think back to when I was 17 or 18. When I was 18 I was made Louth captain for the minor team and I hate looking back on it but (I was) probably standing back and not putting...I don't know what the word I'm looking for is...there was just a lack of respect about what we were.
"I don't think anybody respected Louth and I hated it. Even for myself at the time as captain, I definitely felt that. So I always had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder for not backing myself at that age.
"So when I was made Louth senior captain I just thought, 'Well this has to change'. That's what I wanted to portray, that 'Yeah, we are from Louth and yeah, so what'? Why can't we be good? Why can't we have teams that are winning Leinster? Why can't we compete in the All-Ireland series? Why can't we have All-Stars?"
With Mulroy leading the attack, and Mickey Harte on the sideline, Louth have made remarkable progress, enjoying back-to-back promotions and a strong Division 2 campaign this spring. Now after battling wins over Westmeath and Offaly, they're preparing for just a second Leinster final since 1960. Mulroy was at the last one, in 2010, when Louth were denied a famous win by an illegal Joe Sheridan goal for Meath.
"I remember being in the Hogan Stand, bawling my eyes out, crying when that goal was given and the whistle was blown," he said. "You went from ecstasy to serious despair because JP Rooney, my clubmate, had scored our goal. JP was a serious hero of mine and thankfully I got to play with him at the club.
"With him scoring that goal, you're thinking, 'Is this actually real, is this happening?' But for it to be taken away the way it was, it was just very sad. I remember having an angry granddad and an angry father with me and there was a lot of annoyance about what happened. It was the classic 'Poor old Louth' but hopefully we can change that."
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
