David Clifford: Fossa's rise to senior status 'hard to put it into words'

From left: Patrick O’Sullivan, Chairman of Kerry GAA, Man of the Match David Clifford with his son Ogie, Mike Tagney of Kerry Petroleum and Fossa captain Sam Buckley with the cup following their victory over Kilcummin in the Kerry Petroleum Intermediate Club Football Championship final at Fitzgerald Stadium on Sunday. Photo: Tatyana McGough.

Man of the Match David Clifford struggled to explain it. They had come so close before and were so desperate to get over the line. Their small club finally have senior status. Imagine.

Clifford kicked 15 points in Fitzgerald Stadium as Fossa held off a strong Kilcummin challenge in the intermediate club final.

“It is hard to put it into words,” he said afterwards.

“Ten years ago, I wasn't playing, but the lads won the novice, so to see the growth from there is massive. Look, I suppose we had a couple of near misses in the intermediate and while you always have confidence that we'll get back, but get back to a final and get it won… There are just so many tough games to go through between group stages, quarter-final, semi-final.

“It is just such a hard championship and I suppose we don't tend to make the games too easy for ourselves then either, so it is stressful, to be honest. 

"They are tough physically, but they are very tough mentally as well. Look, just to get it over the line, that is an unbelievable feeling.” 

That remarkable run started soon after Kerry’s All-Ireland final defeat against Mayo. While it’s a tough run, he was glad to be right back playing football.

“I was talking to Arthur Fitzgerald, who is involved with Kerry and teaches with me, during the week about how, I suppose, it can be hard if you're not involved with a club; you're still replaying the All-Ireland (in your mind), whereas the fact with us is the Intermediate Championship is so tough, it has to get your full attention.

“That is not as if, like, Jesus, not to say we've put the Mayo game out of our heads or anything, but because this has to get your full attention, your attention moves on from the other one. 

"Obviously, there is stuff you see and it comes back up. That is the beauty of this, the way the GAA is structured. You are able to come back and you always have something to come back to.” 

Clifford has won six All-Stars and will surely clinch a seventh later this year. He is an All-Ireland winner with National League and Munster championship medals. But growing up, the club were miles from ever being in the top tier. It was January 2023 when Fossa won the All-Ireland club junior title in Croke Park. They have been banging on the door to make the next jump ever since.

When he first started playing club football, did he even dream of a day like this?

“Not at all. I think just to see Fossa next year in a county championship draw and maybe you might get a home game against one of the big teams, I just think that is something that, as a young player in Fossa, it was so far from our radar. 

"Look, it just shows young people in our own Killarney, in our own Fossa… it will earn us a bit of respect.”