'Good friend' and die-hard Antrim fan intervened to keep Davy Fitz in inter-county management
Davy Fitzgerald pictured as Londis launch their sixth year as lead sponsor of Ireland’s Fittest Family. Picture: Naoise Culhane
Davy Fitzgerald opens his phone and presses play on a video that was sent to him.
The recording is from this past weekend when Antrim combined a challenge game against Limerick in UL on Friday with training and team bonding the following day. In it, the panel dedicate their singsong version of Vance Joy’s “Riptide” to their new manager’s two-year-old son Daithí Óg.
“The boys sang this song after training one day,” explains Fitzgerald. “Daithí Óg every night in bed has to hear the song.” Antrim have embraced the Fitzgeralds. His wife Sharon and Daithí Óg travel up with him for training every second weekend. On occasions, his older son Colm helps out at sessions.
“We had a meeting in Limerick over the weekend. He (Daithí Óg) came into one of the meetings and he heard me saying something about, ‘You're not fucking tight enough’, right? Next thing, in the middle of the meeting, whatever came to him (he said), ‘Dad, they’re not tight enough’. I’m enjoying that side of him and getting to include him a bit.”
Saturday was a chance for Fitzgerald to see his new set of players in a relaxed environment. “In all our lives, there has to be balance and maybe I’ve learned that the hard way where I was constantly pushing the one way all the time fucking killing myself. There has to be balance.
“It was the same way with them the other night, a few hours off. The entertainment we had was good. We went go-karting before we had our dinner and a few drinks and a few songs but they were only mad to nail me in the go-karting so they were and I wouldn’t blame them. There was an initiation for a few of us and I wouldn’t be good at that.
“A lot of my family were there because we ended up in Sixmilebridge and it felt kind of nice. We have to remind ourselves that it can’t be once you start the National League or three weeks before ‘that’s it now, no drinking, we’re finished until the championship’. They have a fucking life to live as well and you have to remember that as well. Yes, we can be very serious for a lot of it but no matter what fucking happens they have to have a bit of off time themselves and we have to let the hair down now and again. It’s important.”
Only for the deep appreciation he has for a pal, a diehard Antrim hurling man he chooses not to name, Fitzgerald would have been happy to pack in inter-county management after Waterford last year.
“My good friend approached me who has been very good to me for a long time, even when I was in trouble in various parts of my life, be it business or whatever, this fella was always there for me. He puts across his story and his side of things and what he sees, another fella or two with him and they nearly convince you that anything is possible here. Like it's very hard to say ‘no’.”
The underdog tag appealed to him too, of course. That and the respect Antrim have shown for him and their genuine love of the game.
“The second thing would definitely be the way they've always treated me anytime I've gone up to train teams or done whatever up there they've been passionate. Like they're fucking very passionate about what they do up there, and I love that.
“And I don't know if that can make a difference, but fucking imagine if you could do something in two or three years' time, if you could get them to a place where we could get to a final or get to a quarter-final or semi-final. Imagine if you could. Like, it would fucking rock the whole thing up there.”
Is too much lip service paid to Antrim hurling, though?
“I think you know the answer to that. A lot of people have said over the years they've had great time for them and they're brilliant, hard-working people, but they haven't gone up to train them, have they?”
It's only now that the 52-year-old realises the geographical difficulties faced by Antrim hurling.
“The logistical nightmare for Antrim to be involved in top tier hurling is frightening.
“The last few years Darren [Gleeson, Fitzgerald’s predecessor] had them driving down a lot of the way to a lot of the games because the bus times meant they could be looking at three and a half hours, or four hours easily on the bus, to say Carlow. Hopefully, we will have a transport partner soon that will make things a small bit easier for us.”
As Antrim count down to their Division 1B opener on Saturday week and remaining in the division is the manager’s goal, Fitzgerald confirmed Neil McManus will not be coming out of retirement and will continue in his role as performance coach with the group.
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