WHEN asked what football means to him, former Antrim captain Kevin O’Boyle references the famous quotation by Bill Shankly: ‘Some people think football is a matter life or death, but it is much more important than that.’

The Cargin and Antrim man said that he shares that sentiment because ever since he was a young boy, going to matches with his father, football has not only meant everything to him, but it has also guided a lot of his life choices.

He battled a tough osteitis pubis injury late in his career, just so that he could return to the county as a player, and finish his career on the field.

And in the same year he kicked two points in extra time to help Cargin win a historic third championship in a row.

That battle with injury illustrates just how much football means to him, perhaps better than any quote from a former soccer manager.

O’Boyle said: “It’s (osteitis pubis) worse than a cruciate in that it is nearly more a mental thing.

“Mental strength is a huge part of my game. It took all my mental strength to get over it. I got an operation, I had steroid injections, I had yoga through winter months.”

O’Boyle said that the physical work helped, but it was his mindset that made the difference.

“That mental resolve that I built throughout the years stood with me. It was like hurdles and hitting the last one and stopping. I had to keep going.”

So where does that mindset come from?

O’Boyle explained that it comes from having a strong support unit, and also a deep love of the game of Gaelic football.

“When I was growing up everything got put to the side for football. My wife would say the same
happens now.

“I just got so much fulfillment from football.”

That love came primarily from his father who inspired him to be the best he could be.

“I grew up in the country side and all I had was a ball and a wall. My brothers and sisters are all a lot older than me, but my dad was my foundation.

“My father was a stereotypical country man in that he loved his family, he loved farming and he loved football.

“He would have went out and milked the cows and when he came back he would have talked about whatever the football session was like.”

His father passed away in 2013 but O’Boyle explained that the mark he made on his life was so important.

“He was very astute and he impressed upon me that you had to work hard and show people you were good enough. For example, I am small, and when I was younger I was trying to be a corner-forward. So we used to go to Croke Park and we would have studied Mike Frank Russell or Peter Canavan and watched how they moved, how they turned and how they played.

“We were doing analysis back then like they do now. That was him setting those foundations for me.

“He kicked every ball with me. If I had any questions or any issues with football. I always ask myself what he would have said. It was always the right thing.”

O’Boyle is the youngest of five. He has two older brothers and two older sisters and his mother is 71 and still goes out to milk the cows. But O’Boyle managed to get away from farming unlike his siblings.

“The rest of them had to work the farm, I did my bit but Daddy let me away with it because of the football.”

And he says he has no romantic notions of being a farmer.

“I am happy to be a teacher. I worked hard at school so I didn’t have to cap cows.”

While farming is not important to him, family certainly is.

“I have a picture in my house of my family around the Antrim Championship trophy. I always have their support.”

Winning the county championship last year was important to O’Boyle as it marked the achievement of battling back from injury.

His club career isn’t over. He still feels that there are more titles to win. But his proudest achievement was actually winning the U21 Championship with Cargin early in his career.

“We beat St Paul’s in the final. I was proud that I was able to finish my underage career successfully. We brought a team through underage and won a lot of things. We didn’t win the Minor Championship. But we finished it successfully and that was a big thing to have a successful group coming into the senior team.

“For the seniors the biggest win was the one in 2006. That was a big thing for me because it was my first year breaking onto the senior team.

“It was big because I remember my dad shaking my hand on the pitch. He said ‘well done’. He would never have praised. It wasn’t that he was critical, he was constructive. He was basically saying that this was something we had worked towards to achieve. That was a big thing for him and for me.”

The detail that his dad would go into was well ahead of its time.

“He would go over ever detail of the game with me. When Cormac McAnallen was growing up he kept a diary about every detail of his game. We were doing those things up to the point of writing it down. I was doing that with my dad. We were reviewing all the good and bad facets of play, and of how the team was doing. And also talked about how to improve. Then I would go out into the garden and roleplay the scenarios.

“It was the foundation of him and his support and what he encouraged that made me enjoy it. I just continually pushed at it. There were probably scenarios later on when I wasn’t getting on in school teams. But I always believed that I was smart enough, and I worked hard enough that I would get my rewards. That perseverance stuck with me.”

The lesson that he learned from his father was that with the right attitude and with hard work great things could be achieved. But he adapted it so that a positive attitude could help him in many situations.

“I might have been in a game and because I am small I might not get on the ball. I had to think about how I could use my speed to impact the game.”

The early years of his career were spent trying to be a corner-forward on the county team. But size was always going to be an issue.

“I was a diminutive corner-forward. Tomas (McCann) used to kick me the ball, I would win it, give it back to him and then he would score. So I was a good ball winner. But I wasn’t prolific enough to maintain a position there at county level minor squads.”

He stopped playing for academic reasons at minor level. In his first year as a senior footballer with his club Cargin, in 2006, they won the championship. He played corner-back that year and based on the performances that year he was called up to the Antrim squad and his first start was the Ulster Championship game against Derry in 2007.

He didn’t have the chance to play McKenna Cup or National League, but was just propelled into one of Antrim’s favourite derbies.

Jody Gormley was the man who gave O’Boyle his first chance at county senior football.

“It was exciting because it was the unknown. I had never been on the county stage. I had not been a central figure on the county stages. I probably didn’t expect to play. I was going up there to learn, and to try to benefit from the experience.

“I went in green about it, but I wanted to take on whatever I could. I wanted to get the best out of myself, and I was lucky to get the opportunity.

“I just grabbed whatever opportunity I got as quickly as possible, and was propelled into the team for Ulster championship.”

He explains that in the early days he wanted to do his very best, and from the lessons from his father he made sure he took in as much as he could.

“I was very studious. I was like a sponge. I wanted to learn from everyone who was there. Damien Gault was playing, James Loughrey was there too. Gavin Bell was there. There were lots of people to learn from.

“I wanted to see what it was to be a county footballer.”

He said that one of the things that he enjoyed about the early days was the style of the game.

“You were coming up against people who were very physically imposing.

“It was a different type of defending. In 2007, you were there to stop your direct opponent. That’s what I thrived off and that’s what I continue to thrive off.”

One of the things that his father had taught him was about setting goals.

With Cargin, the goal was to win titles, but at county level, trophies were an unrealistic initial goal. So O’Boyle adapted his approach.

“For me, I was always looking to better myself. When I played county football I might set the goal of keeping my man scoreless. If I achieved that goal I would get fulfilment.

“With Cargin, trophies have always been a target, because we won a lot when we were growing up. But when I went to Antrim trophies were not a realistic target. We were just trying to improve the team. Our targets were different.

“Having small targets are good as they are something you can build towards.”

O’Boyle said that putting pride in the Antrim jersey was a big thing for him.

“I can say that I always did my best. I was able to stop and retire after 14 years that I had given it everything to better the culture. I went through the process of being the younger one, to then being in the transitional phase to be a driver, to then be in a situation to bring through the newer players, knowing that I had given everything to the team.

“You have to set an overall goal. but then you have to set smaller goals to get to that overall goal. Within that you have to set your own goals.

“At the start I set individual goals, but as I got older I moved away from that and I had team goals.”

His first venture into inter-county was under the management of Jody Gormley and they actually did achieve a title in the form of the Tommy Murphy Cup.

“Jody set the platform for success because of the Tommy Murphy win. As much as it is disrespected and disregarded, if you look at the teams that won the Tommy Murphy they all went on to have success and win championships in the years that followed. So that gave that group who won the Tommy Murphy massive confidence in the following year.”

His next manager was Derry’s Liam Bradley.

“When Liam Bradley came in in 2009 there was a different attitude.

“The ‘Baker’ had a different agenda. He had a group who had a winning mentality. He drove that on to the next level. You could see people buying in.

“There was buy in before that but it stepped up a notch.

“St Gall’s had been successful too, so there was a feel good factor. Teams were playing for the manager. The results came easy.”

The 2009 campaign was a whirlwind.

“The 2009 campaign was great. We got promoted from Division Four. We had no fear. We played teams like Dublin and Mayo and we had no fear in those challenge games.

“That set us up for the Ulster Championship.”

They beat Donegal and Cavan in the provincial competition which were huge scalps for Antrim to take.

The Ulster final against Tyrone was a huge event with throngs of Saffrons filled with hope and optimism. They gave Tyrone a game, but in the end, didn’t win.

“After we beat Cavan in the semi-final you could see the euphoria but my highlight game was the backdoor game against Kildare.

“Dermot Earley’s father had been buried the morning of the game. So there was real emotion around the game. It was a time when Kildare were at the peak of their powers. They were trying to push into the top bracket. Kieran McGeeney was in charge.

“There was real emotion around the stadium. It was the game that I felt we went toe to toe with a team and it was proper championship. It was high standard football.

“We went into the changing rooms and neither team would come out. I remember ‘Baker’ saying ‘we’re not moving, they are going to buckle first’. He was going down to every win is a win. It was a real stand off.

“He was galvanising us to go and give it a shot. It finished a draw after extra-time but that was a period when we were mixing it with the best. We had no fear whoever we were coming up against.”

The experience was an important lesson for O’Boyle and Antrim in that it proved what could be achieved with hard work and buy-in. It also backed up what O’Boyle’s father had taught him about not giving up.

Yet, the aftermath of Bradley’s tenure did not go as well. In the years after Antrim slipped down the rankings.

“We went from Division Four to Two but then went backwards. We didn’t maintain it. The team broke up. Not for anyone’s fault. We have always have good teams but not all the best players all the time. Some come some years, some come other years.”

O’Boyle has a theory as to why Antrim did not maintain a standard.

“The years after 2010 were disjointed. There were different managers who came in with different approaches. You would have one person coming in doing strength and conditioning, then another year there would be a different person. There was nothing built on. What you hope to see now is progression, and the message being built upon.

“In other counties, Tyrone, the All-Ireland champions. They go back in all the time. It easy to go back when you are winning. But it is hard when you are in Division Four. You are training as hard as the top tier teams. You are giving it the same effort but it is hard to do.

“If we can maintain a certain standard and maintain the buy-in then it would be huge.

“You have to build the foundations and drive from there. The prime example is the work that Peter Donnelly is doing in Tyrone.”

Donnelly is the coach in Tyrone and he is well respected throughout Ulster. The work he has done with the Tyrone teams is replicated throughout the county.

O’Boyle said: “That seeps down into development squads and schools. It is so much more than one team. You have to reach down into those teams and create a platform for people to become senior county footballers.”

An interesting development in O’Boyle’s career was his approach to captaincy. He was captain of Antrim on three separate occasions. The first time happened when he was in his early 20s. He said that it was uncomfortable at the start and that he tried to lead the team by making rousing speeches. But as he grew older he learned that leadership isn’t just about making noise.

“I was lucky enough to be captain three times. You realise that it is not about you all the time. There is a big team there that feeds into the positive culture. If you are doing your job and other people aren’t then it doesn’t work as a collective. So it is important that the whole group is driving the same way. That culture aspect became more apparent to me as the years progressed.”

He said that he learned during captaincy that a good leader sets aside their own individualistic, selfish goals and puts the team first.

“At the start I was pounding my chest which isn’t my personality. I wasn’t a big talker or a big shouter in the changing rooms. It brought me out of my comfort zone which was good for me.

“I was doing things that I thought I needed to do. I was doing motivating speeches which I thought was needed. When I got older I realised leadership can come in a number of ways.You learn that shouting in a changing room can be white noise and banging fists doesn’t have a huge benefit.

“Captaincy made me see things in a different light. I tried to set an example. I tried to improve culture.

“Captaincy is being a direct link between the players and the management. You have to make sure that the players are being listened to by the management. You are trying to set things in place that players are willing to buy into. You are creating leadership groups. You have to have a whole group of leaders around you. If you do that you create culture and standards.

“You have your own individual goals but I will sacrifice my game if someone next to me will do better. If you get everyone buying into that then the whole group is more important. You will get more chance of a team success. You will get more fulfilment.

“I wasn’t part of it last year, but they got promotion from Division Four. That was huge for me looking outside. I knew that I had stepped away and the boys were in a better place. I got the same satisfaction if I had been there because they were successful.

“Did I help to try to put things in place? Yes, but that wasn’t all down to me. It is about Antrim and about the collective.”

After the 2020 season, Lenny Harbinson’s final year in charge, O’Boyle knew that he had played his final game for the county. His osteitis pubis condition was the hurdle he had to get over to play one more season.

“There was zero difficulty stepping away.

“I said that to Enda (McGinley) when he came in and asked me to stay on.

“I had a difficult period in my life when I struggled with injury for a long period. It was no fault of my own I played through a lot of those injuries. I wasn’t willing to let anyone down. I wanted to give my best. Sometimes I made the injuries worse. I struggled with osteitis pubis for a couple of years. I had to get an operation. I had to do a rehab programme for a couple of years. I missed a year and a half of football. I was delighted when Lenny called me back to see if was okay and asked if I could go back into his panel. I was lucky enough to go into the team, and I was lucky to finish my career on the pitch.

“We didn’t win against Cavan in the championship but I was able to finish my career knowing that I gave it my best. Anyone who was there I wanted to show them how much it meant for me to play for Antrim, I wanted them to drive it on after I wasn’t there.

“Fourteen years is a long time, not being able to finish something the way you want would have been hard to take. County football is a huge commitment. It takes a huge toll on your body.

“It was time to go back and give my club.”

So now he is back with his club. He played last season when Cargin won their third title in a row, and he was involved this season again, Damian Cassidy’s fourth and final year in charge.

O’Boyle says that he is grateful of being a part of the group in Cargin that has had such high standards during his career.

“I have been lucky to grow up with a talented group of players in Cargin. But that’s Cargin. That’s all we know. It is farming and football. That’s all it is for people who live outside the town.

“We don’t know much else. If you are from Cargin, you play for Cargin. We don’t have huge numbers but we have people in the club who want to help the club.

“We came up against an unbelievable St Gall’s team. They prevented us from winning a lot of championships. They were the kingpins and the benchmark. They played a role, because they were so good they forced us to be better.”

After Cargin won in 2006, St Gall’s won titles from 2007 to 2014. Cargin were then champions from 2015, 2016, and then 2017 to 2020.

“They set a standard. You always need a team to set standards. We came to a time when we were ready to win.

“The goal in Cargin was always to win a senior championship. We did it two years under John Brennan. We won one in 2006 with JC Devlin. Damian Cassidy came in and we won three in a row.

“Damian placed a lot of trust in me. He is an unbelievable manager in terms of what he did for us. Himself and Ronan Devlin, who is now our manager. Damian man-managed me throughout those injuries and trusted what I was doing, and Martin Loughran the physio we had.”

O’Boyle fondly remembers last season when they played their neighbours Creggan in the county final.

“I came back, I managed to score two points in extra-time to get the win. That was not something I expected to happen. It was maybe release of emotion and the product of doing your best for your own team. I’ve not been about highlights or seeing my name in headlines. To be able to score points to win a championship was something that for me was meant to be after the struggles.”

Interestingly, the managers who have had the most success with O’Boyle have been Derry men, precisely John Brennan, Liam Bradley and Damian Cassidy.

“They are different men in the way they go about things. But they share the same fundamentals of hard work, drivenness and being winners. That is something that makes them the same.

“We can see the culture that is in Derry football. Those boys come from clubs that are winning.”

They drove O’Boyle on in the same way his father did. And he also credits his wife as being a driving force as well.

“She pushed me to go back to Antrim and supports me.”

When faced with the decision if he should try to get fit to play for Antrim again, she made it very clear to him what he should do.

“She said to me that you live your life and don’t have regrets. And she said if you don’t go back you will have regrets.

“I am lucky that I have married a wife who has supported me.”

So now, with the injury behind him, or at least with a means to handle it, he is ready for the future and the next few years as Cargin try to win back the title from their neighbours Creggan.

“Under Damian Cassidy we improved every year. I thought this was our best year. but we didn’t win. We have back to back minor winning teams and they are coming through.

“Creggan were the better team on the day. You win or you learn.

“I am fully focused on grasping the trophy back from our dear neighbours who are working so hard.

“I am managing my injury. I am doing my stretches. I avoid the triggers. I loved playing football this year. I enjoyed it and that is thanks to the medical people. I will keep playing as long as the body allows it.”

The advice from his father might be to keep playing, because football is much more important than life or death.