Eamon McEneaney: Wee Monaghan memories

By Niall McCoy

EAMON McEneaney was scrolling through Twitter recently when he saw a photo posted by ESPN commentator and Louth native Tommy Smyth.

The image was from the 1985 Allstar tour in New York and the former Monaghan attacker had made it to America as a replacement following one of the best seasons in the Farney county’s history.

Tommy Conroy had picked up an injury playing with St Vincent’s in the Dublin Club Championship and McEneaney jetted off for a tour of the States in his place.

The Castleblayney man lined out alongside the likes of Joe Kernan, Plunkett Donaghy, Barney Rock and Larry Tompkins, and he even found the net at Gaelic Park too.

What surprised McEneaney was that he had never come across the photo before. He is a man who enjoys nostalgia, and he has the ability to put his hands on details of games and events even if they are decades old.

He has enjoyed looking back on the good days even more so recently. A spell of ill health and knee and hip operations had made things difficult, but now he is able to swing the clubs at Dundalk Golf Club. The fact that the forthcoming club season is to be so short has also convinced him to join the management team of his local club, the Geraldine’s in Louth.

The last few months have been spent thinking about the good old days. The most famous free in Monaghan history in 1985. Medals aplenty at club and county, and guiding teams to success at Blayney Boys School.

Thoughts of the bad old days have surfaced too. Never getting a hand on an All-Ireland title with club or county and that ill-fated second spell managing his native county when he ignored the warning signs. Some days it rains and some days the sun shines.

Right now? Well the outlook is bright, thank you very much.

He’ll be present at McGeough Park in Haggardstown for the next few months, and the Geraldine’s fans will be glad to see him. This is, after all, a man who has had a huge impact on Louth football as well as his native Monaghan.

That came later in life when the coaching bug caught him, but wee boys don’t dream about managing teams to titles, they dream of kicking the winning score.

McEneaney knows the exact moment when he decided that he wanted to run out onto the Croke Park pitch in the blue and white of Monaghan.

It was September 1967 and an uncle had taken him along to the All-Ireland final between Meath and Cork. The Royals, buoyed by a Terry Kearns’s goal, dominated the second half to win by three points.

A young McEneaney was bursting to get back up the road, back up to get practicing, to learn from the late, great Liam McGrath – a man who would have a massive impact on his career.

It was 11 years after the green and gold of Meath swept Croke Park that McEneaney came onto the radar. In 1978, he made his move.

In the spring, he helped the u-21s to a big Ulster win over Down before their campaign ended at the semi-final stage.

McEnenaey would go one step further with the minors in the summer, but the Fr Murray Cup went to Tyrone despite the player’s efforts. He scored all of Monaghan’s nine points on the day, and despite those around him contributing two goals, the Red Hands still had five points to spare.

“I had played with the minors in ’77 then we got to the Ulster final the next year,” he said.

“Tyrone blitzed us in the first 10 minutes and went into a 10-point lead, that is very hard to come back from.

“We did get it back to a point with maybe nine or 10 minutes to go, but they got another goal and went on to win it.

“We weren’t used to being in finals, didn’t have the experience of them. We scored 2-9 and I got the nine points so I did come onto the radar a bit after that.”

Despite his tender age, McEnenaey was already making a mark with ‘Blayney too and featured in three club finals that season with mixed results.

The u-21s won their county title while the minors fell in their decider. Carrickmacross, like the Tyrone minors, managed three goals to break McEneaney’s heart.

He also started in that year’s senior final in Ballybay as Castleblayney attempted to regain the championship having been dethroned by Scotstown the year before.

It was the holders though who prevailed in a fractious affair. Nudie Hughes was sent off after 15 minutes following an off-the-ball incident with Jim Treanor and skirmishes broke out throughout. A total of 62 frees were awarded and the tackling could be best described as ‘agricultural.’

“We got to the MacRory semi-final with St Macartan’s that year as well and I think St Colman’s beat us 3-2 to 1-7 or 1-6 or something like that. So there was a lot of football played that year.

“I would have been about 18 in the senior final and you were coming up against a very physically strong Scotstown team. ‘Blayney had the edge on them but in that period, ’77 to ’81, Scotstown would have had the upper hand.

“They were a very good side and reached an All-Ireland final in ’79. I can’t remember a whole pile about the final apart from the fact that we lost. You tend to blot out the games you lose.

“Nudie getting sent off was a massive blow. He was playing great stuff at the time and we just didn’t recover. It was hard enough playing Scotstown with 15 men.”

The county call then came from future GAA President Sean McCague who simply couldn’t ignore the reliable place-kicker who could play midfield, centre half-forward or full-forward.

“Sean took me in for the opening of the Cremartin pitch in 1978 after I had played with the minors,” McEneaney continued. “We played Down, who were Ulster champions at the time.

“Sean took me in and played me in the middle of the field against Colm McAlarney, who would have been one of my boyhood heroes. I spent the whole game running around after him.”

McEnaney’s performances were good enough to earn a spot on the 1979 panel, and his timing couldn’t have been much better.

He may not have played in that year’s championship, but wins over Down and Armagh brought the county to their first provincial final since 1952. A 1-15 to 0-11 win over Donegal, when Kieran Finlay ruled with 1-9, brought the Anglo Celt to the Oriel county for the first time since 1938.

The celebrations were as wild as expected, and the player soaked it up as the team toured the five towns – ‘Blayney, Carrick, Clones, Ballybay and Monaghan town. A hammering in the All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry took a bit of shine off things, but it was still a year to remember.

It was when the hype died down in the months after that Kingdom loss that McEneaney started to muscle into the first team.

He wore no. 13 in the Ceannaras Tournament final win over Roscommon in November and managed two points.

“The first games I played with Monaghan was in the Ceannaras Tournament, which was something that took place for a few years right after the All-Ireland.

“They reversed the semi-finals. Now there wasn’t a massive crowd at them but they were fairly interesting games. I played against Dublin and then Roscommon in the final.

“I think it was a big help that we didn’t have to wait until 1980 to get back to winning after that hammering in the All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry.

“That season was great though. A first Ulster in 41 years and the celebrations went on for a quite a while.

“It lifted the hoodoo and it was a massive event for the county to take that step forward.”

McEneaney featured in the 1979/80 National League but didn’t appear in the 1980 Ulster series as McCague’s men took out Down before losing to Armagh in the semi-final.

With no second chances in those days, he would have to wait another year for his first championship appearance and it came at his home club grounds as Monaghan defeated Tyrone 2-9 to 0-6 in the preliminary round. To cap off a fine day, McEnenaey fisted home one of the goals.

“Home crowd, home pitch and I had one of those days when I couldn’t do anything wrong. I think I might have gotten 1-7 that day. We scored 2-9 and Seamie McAleer got the other goal.

“It was a big win because Tyrone had a decent enough side at the time and we were happy to get over them.”

Down ended Monaghan’s season in a replay in the quarter-final and over the next three seasons they failed to get to an Ulster final.

Then came that glorious year of 1985 – a real annus mirabilis for Monaghan.

For McEneaney, who starred as Monaghan claimed he 1981 Ulster U-21 title, the triumphs of that season owed a lot to getting into the winning habit in the couple of seasons beforehand, regardless of the competition.

“We got to the Centenary Cup final (1984) and that was a massive step forward.

“We took a couple of big scalps. People did give it a lot of focus at the time because it was the centenary year, and the open draw was a massive help.

“We played Limerick in Carrick and then Mayo in Mayo. We played Offaly in the quarter-final in Croke Park and then Derry in the semi-final.

“We lost the final to Meath but they were all teams that had been doing really well at the time. Offaly were All-Ireland champions in ’82 so there was a sprinkling of teams that had been at the top.

“We took a lot from that and even the McKenna Cup final win in 1983 in Newry. Down were National League champions at the time so little things, little steps gave you a good idea that you were coming.

“We won the McKenna Cup in ’79, ’80 and ’83 and while it may not have been the big prize, it meant that we were winning things.

“Then there was the Ulster Championship in ’79. Once you started winning things you started looking at other things to win.”

When the new National League Division Two season started in October 1984, it’s unlikely that Sean McCague’s side were dreaming of winning the competition for the first time in the Oriel county’s history.

Those thoughts would have been even further from their mind when Dublin turned them over at St Mary’s Park in round one with only five points registered by the home side.

But it would prove to be their only defeat and four wins and two draws left them sitting top of the pile having earned a return to Division One.

Top-tier opposition awaited in the quarter-final in the form of Kildare, but Monaghan took little notice. The Lilywhites didn’t score in the first half and only managed 0-2 after the break despite having a strong breeze behind them.

Given that the top three in Division One had been Tyrone, Armagh and Down, an Ulster derby was always on the cards – and it was the Red Hands who stood between the side and a league final.

Monaghan were in control the first day but allowed Tyrone back into it with Audie Hamilton kicking a dramatic equalizer. A broken leg suffered by Declan Loughman didn’t help the mood.

The replay at the Athletic Grounds followed a similar path but this time it was Declan Muldoon who kicked the late Tyrone leveller following another attritional battle.

McEnenaey missed a glorious goal chance in extra-time but a strong scoring burst from his teammates got him off the hook and the county were through to their first National League final.

Over 15,000 travelled to Croke Park for another Ulster derby with Armagh also chasing their first league title.

The Orchard county had an extra week’s rest after their semi-final win over Down, but Monaghan showed no signs of fatigue as they earned the county’s first national title at senior level. McEneaney was the best player on the Croke Park pitch and his penalty, blasted high to the right of Brian McAlinden, proved to be the crucial moment of the game. The Monaghan players were mobbed by their fans before the final whistle had even blown. A day of celebration, more would soon follow.

A few months later Monaghan reinforced their credentials with a comfortable Ulster win over Donegal but like the National League, it would take two games to get through the semi-finals.

McEneaney’s goal proved vital in the one-point replay win over Armagh, but should he have finished the game? Press reports at the time suggested that referee Damien Campbell had booked him in the first half before retiring with injury. New official Michael Greenan apparently also booked him, but didn’t show him the line.

McEneaney said that it wasn’t the case and it was a booking and a caution that came his way.

Derry were the surprise packet Ulster finalists but they never got a handle on McEneaney’s roving role. His 2-4 haul was more than the Oakleafers managed between them and having watched on as a young panel member in ’97, the ‘Blayney man was now starring on Ulster final day.

“There’s no question, it definitely means more when you’re playing,” he said.

“If you only win one, and you’re just on the panel, it will still mean a lot. But winning one being out there does mean that bit more.

“We controlled the game without ever reaching the heights of playing great football. We went into it as hot favourites and we did the stuff we had to do.

“I had a laugh after it. Tony Scullion went on to win four Allstars and he was on me that day. I got 2-2 from play out of the 2-4, although the boys put me in great positions to get the scores.

“I haven’t seen him in a while but I used to slag him and say ‘you weren’t ready for it yet Tony.’ It was only a bit of joking.”

That provincial triumph set up a second All-Ireland semi-final with Kerry in seven seasons.

Back in ’79, Mike Sheehy produced magic and his 3-5 haul led the Kingdom to the easiest of victories with 22 points separating the sides.

This was a better team though, and Monaghan fans travelled with a lot more hope. The squad did too.

“We had played Kerry for the switching on of the floodlights in ‘Blayney around the end of April in ’85.

“I think it may have been the first floodlit match in Ireland. Tony Loughman, Lord have mercy on him, was ‘Blayney chairman at the time and had raised money along with other to gets these floodlights in.

“He was very friendly with Mick O’Dwyer and it was pitched as the All-Ireland champions of ’84 against the National League champions of ’85.

“We beat them and it was a very competitive game, probably because it was under lights and it was a special occasion.

“The teams went hell for leather and we won it, and little things like that gave us confidence going into the semi-final.”

The stakes were much higher compared to April but, again, neither side gave an inch. There was nothing between the teams at full-time but it was the Farney fans that walked up Jones Road more jubilant – and that was down to McEnenaey’s right foot.

Forty-seven metres from the Canal End goal and with a stiff oncoming breeze adding some extra distance onto the distance, the player knew his free was the last kick of the game.

Six strides forward and a sweet connection left a soggy O’Neill’s soaring through the air and just inching over Charlie Nelligan’s crossbar to secure a replay. Quite possibly, it is the most memorable score in the county’s history.

He may have entered Monaghan folklore, but regret is still McEneaney’s emotion when thinking back to that wet day in Dublin.

“We led 1-4 to a point and we had another good chance of a goal.

“They went down the pitch, it was coming up to half-time. John Kennedy took a shot and it was going over the post, the very top of the post. It hit the top of the post and dropped straight down, it wasn’t one of those that hit the post and bounced back to someone.

“It fell into Ger Power’s hands and he buried it, so they only went in four points down when they should have went in maybe 10 down. We completely dominated that first half.

“For Kerry to get two scores in one half was unheard of at that time.

“In the second half they clawed it back and we actually equalized it three times at the finish.

“I had that gut feeling that it was our day. I thought we weren’t going to be beaten – and we weren’t – but it wasn’t the result we wanted.

“It was very hard to get over the fact that it was a draw and we should have won it.”

‘Missed the boat’ was the phrase he heard constantly between the drawn encounter and the replay. And in the end, it was accurate.

An Eoin Liston goal moved Kerry 1-3 to 0-0 early on and Ger Power added a second major. It seemed routine, but McEneaney feels that they were closer than people give them credit for.

“People say that Kerry won the replay comfortably. They didn’t,” he said.

“They blitzed us in the first 10 minutes and were 2-4 to no score ahead. By half-time we had it back to 2-4 to 0-5 and it was 2-8 to maybe 10 points at one stage.

“They scored five points in 60 minutes of football. Our problem was that our boys started to go for goals too early. I looked back at the game a while after it and we were looking for goals with 20 minutes to go. We should have done what Offaly did in ’82 and just kept chipping away.”

Another Ulster title came in 1988 before Cork trounced them in the All-Ireland semi-final, but McEnenaey feels that ’85 really was their best chance of ending Monaghan’s long wait for an All-Ireland title.

“In ’85 we went into that Kerry semi-final and Declan Loughman, Gerard Hoey and Bernie Murray all out with broken legs. That was very unusual.

“It just meant that we were short men when it came to our panel for the day. Those three were starters so it had a big impact.

“Declan broke his leg in the semi-final of the National League against Tyrone and then the two boys subsequently broke their legs in other games. To be short those three men was a massive loss.

“We were still strong in ’88 because we made it to four or five National League semi-finals in a row, and that showed real consistency.

“We lost the ’86 league final to Laois and in ’87 we lost to Kerry in the semi-final and the following year we lost to Dublin in the semi-final.

“In ’88 we got Sean back in and at Christmas time we decided we were going to give it everything.

“A lot of lads were getting miles on the clock but when we won the Ulster against Tyrone we fancied our chances against Cork.

“It was a very windy day. We were losing well at half-time but we still felt we could come back.

“I think the turning point in that game was when Brendan Murray was coming out with the ball, he side-stepped Larry Tomkins and Larry put up the arm and caught him.

“Everybody stopped, including ourselves which you should never do, and the ref waved played on. Even the Cork boys stopped bar Larry Tomkins who picked up the ball and gave it into Dave Barry and he stuck it into the back of the net.

“That took it from five points back up to eight and we never recovered after that.”

It would be the last time McEnenaey would play in an All-Ireland semi-final with his county, but luckily he managed to do it once more with the club having already experienced it with ’Blayney in 1986.

Having lost county finals to Scotstown in 1978, ’79 and ’81, McEneaney finally got a county medal in ’82 at the expense of Ballybay.

His second winners’ medal arrived in ’86, and a provincial title would soon follow.

In 1917 the club had won the National Aid Tournament, a predecessor of the Ulster Club Championship, but this was their first taste of the Seamus McFerran Cup.

Liam McGrath, the man who had such an influence on McEnenaey, was in charge as they ventured into the provincial arena and 1-2 from Stefan White saw them leave Cavan with a four-point win over Kingscourt.

Four points was the margin of victory in the semi-final as they defeated All-Ireland Sevens champions Bellaghy 0-9 to 0-5 in Derry.

All-Ireland champions Burren provided the opposition in the final at the Athletic Grounds, and on a horrible day for football it was McEneaney who landed the title-winning free in a 0-4 to 0-3 victory.

“We never played a game at home,” he said. “We won the three of them away.

“We played Kingscourt in Kingscourt, Bellaghy in Bellaghy and then we beat Burren in Armagh.

“It wasn’t easy won and they were great games against great sides.

“It was such a win for the club and such a win for us as players. You never forget that one, your first one.”

Goals from Ciaran Brennan and Stefan White saw ‘Blayney past London side the Kingdom in the All-Ireland quarter-final and suddenly dreams of an All-Ireland title were very real.

“We played St Finbarr’s of Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final in ‘Blayney. We were losing by nine points at half-time and came back to lead by a point with time up.

“There was a ball broke about 35, 40 yards from our goal and Mick Slocum, who was playing with Cork at the time, pulled on it and it went over the bar. We lost the replay in Cork by a point.”

In 1991 Blayney were again crowned champions of Ulster, and the success carried extra significance for McEneaney as he had been appointed captain by Gerry Fitzpatrick.

Wins over O’Donovan Rossa, Kingscourt and then Killybegs in the final brought the Seamus McFerran Cup back to St Mary’s Park.

“I was at the golden end of my career and I was captain,” he said.

“I’m still the last Monaghan man to captain a winning team in the competition.

“It’s unbelievable that a team from Monaghan hasn’t won it since then when you look at the Scotstown teams and Clontibret teams that have come through.”

That ‘golden end’ also provided McEneaney with the perfect launchpad for his managerial career as he guided the club to county titles in 1995 and ’96.

“I took them over at the start of ’94 as a player-manager,” he said.

“It was difficult doing both but I played a good few of the games.

“We lost to Clontibret in the semi-final that first year and I learnt a lot as a manager from that game.

“In ’95 and ’96 we won the double-double, the league and the championship. We won the league in ’94 too so we won three leagues in-a-row.

“We ended up playing Mullaghbawn (1995) in Ulster in a semi-final in Newry and should have won and then we met the start of that great Crossmaglen team (1996). They went on and won the All-Ireland.

“Mullaghbawn was a game we definitely could have won but their tactics were great and it was the first team I ever saw playing an extra centre-half.

“That’s one of my regrets. I’d be good friends with Nial Smyth and he was running the show and I should have put myself onto him with 10 minutes to go and I didn’t.

“Myself and Nial would always break 50-50 when we played, but what can you do? It’s a big regret.”

That success with Castleblayney led to McEneaney joining forces again with McCague, this time as the new Oriel management team from 1997.

After one year together, McEneaney took on the role solo as McCague turned his focus towards the GAA Presidency.

In one glorious weekend in 1998, McEneaney guided the county to only their second ever Ulster U-21 title less than 24 hours after McCague was confirmed as the Association’s 33rd President.

The next year though, McEneaney quit the post following the county’s five-point Ulster loss to Fermanagh. The previous November he had guided the county to an All-Ireland B title win over the Erne county, so it was a sour note to end on.

“It was time to move on,” he said. “I wanted to get involved with the Geraldine’s and give them a bit of time.

“That Fermanagh defeat was very disappointing because we thought we were going to do better than that.

“It was the start of a run for that Fermanagh team and a lot of those players got to an All-Ireland semi-final in 2004. They were better than what people gave them credit for.

“Still, it was a disappointing end to the whole thing. That’s football, you get your ups and downs.”

Understandably doubts crept into McEnenaey’s mind, but the next season he returned to the club scene and enjoyed one of his biggest achievements as he guided big outsiders Kilmainhamwood to the Meath senior final.

Dunshaughlin’s attacking prowess proved too much in the final, but the semi-final win over a legendary Skryne side containing the likes of Trevor Giles, John McDermott and Mick O’Dowd produced shockwaves.

He remained on the club management scene with the likes of Meath outfit Trim, while he continued to help at the juvenile level in the Geraldine’s. He was also chairperson of the Louth club’s youth division.

That work didn’t go unnoticed and it was the Wee county who came calling in November 2005 as they sought a replacement for the departing Val Andrews.

A five-year term spoke volumes of their confidence in the Blackrock resident. He enjoyed four very successful seasons that brought big moments in the form of a National League Division Two title (after a replay win over Donegal) and a Tommy Murphy Cup. There was also an O’Byrne Cup and a Leinster Junior Championship thrown in for good measure.

“The first year with Louth was unbelievable. We won the National League having not won two of the previous 28 games or something.

“It was some turnaround and the start of a great few years for Louth.

“A lot of work and effort went into building the team and they had a lot of good young players, Paddy Keenan being the most well known of all.

“They won the Tommy Murphy in Croke Park which was super too.

“People are very quick to run these competitions down but how many teams get to win a trophy in Croke Park? Not many.

“Teams thought a lot of it and the winners at that time won a trip to Boston to go over and play the pick of the North American teams.

“They got a trip away to enjoy as a team and those experiences are everything.

“People say you don’t get anything out of it. Well we did and the boys still talk about the craic that we had and the fun that it was.

“I really enjoyed working with Louth. The management team I had was exceptional.

“You had Seamus O’Hanlon, a legend with Louth, Stephen Melia, Lord have mercy on him, who was another legend and then Pat Mulligan, another star.

“Those guys were with me and then there were other great men too like Richie Forde who ended up in Monaghan and stayed on with Malachy (O’Rourke) after I left. John Pepper, my liaison man, had everything organised so, so well.

“When you have a great management team it makes it so much easier, and we had a great team of players too.

“We had some great days. We got to the last 12 (in 2007) and Cork came back to beat us. We led with about six minutes to go.

“We won an O’Byrne Cup in 2009 and then a Leinster Junior. That may not seem like much but tell that to some of the boys on the team who hadn’t won a thing, club or county, in their life. It was the county’s first county provincial junior since 1961.”

That spell put him back in the spotlight.

After a brief run with Mayobridge – one of the best clubs he has worked with, he claims – McEneaney made his return to Monaghan. It was not a smooth landing, though.

The Farney county was in disarray. Seamus McEnaney had six great years in charge of Monaghan and looks certain to continue. The Irish Independent even printed that he had been “ratified last night for a three-year term.”

The Monaghan management committee had proposed that term, but days later delegates at a county board meeting voted to open the process up to new candidates.

The Monaghan players released a statement to the media saying that they unanimously supported ‘Banty’s’ continuation in the role, but he opted out and headed for Meath.

McEneaney is a smart man. He knew, and was well warned, that he was entering a combustible situation, but his love for his county was too much of a pull.

“Absolutely,” was his response when asked was he on the back foot from the off.

“The hunger wasn’t there, the appetite. A lot of the players felt for ‘Banty’ and I had to try and win them over.

“I told Paul Curran (the Monaghan chairperson) that I would give him two years no matter what happened.

“I knew it was a rebuilding job and I knew it was going to be very difficult.

“We played most of the (2011) campaign without Tommy Freeman and Conor McManus. I remember in some of the games you’d be without nearly all of your scoring forwards.

“We were relegated two years in a row, Division One down to Division Three, but you weren’t really a Three team.

“Vinny Corey had to get rehabilitated, Owen Lennon had to get an operation on his ankle. When I came in there was a lot of patching up that needed to be done on players.

“On top of that you were trying to get new players through and a lot of those we did get through are still in the current side. Colin Walshe, Kieran Duffy, the likes of Dermot Malone and Fintan Kelly came through the u-21 team. Karl O’Connell, in particular, was a big find for us.

“The biggest disappointment was the 2012 Ulster semi-final against Down in Armagh. We had them beaten and contrived to let them back into it.

“I knew coming into it what to expect and I’d have the utmost respect for Malachy O’Rourke. He contacted me when he came in and we had a long conversation and went through stuff.

“He said that he didn’t need to change a whole pile, he just brought a different approach and tactics and a few different men.

“I have to give him great credit but I just didn’t have that hunger and commitment and I was on a hiding to nothing after ‘Banty’.

“You can be foolish but I wouldn’t have said no to Monaghan no matter what it was. I got so much from Monaghan. People would say you owe them nothing but at the same time I got a lot of enjoyment playing with Monaghan.

“We had great times, won a lot, and when they came asking I couldn’t say no.

“Paul Curran was on the ’85 team with me and I have known Paul a long time and it would have been hard to say no to him.

“I wasn’t under any illusions. Good friends told me that I was on a hiding to nothing, that there was resentment there with how it finished with Seamus.

“I certainly didn’t want to add to that but I said I would help out if I could.”

A Qualifier defeat to Laois brought McEnenaey’s second spell to an end in July 2012. One of the main reasons why he didn’t fight to stay on was because the u-8 team he had coached at the Geraldine’s years earlier were now a senior side, and he became their new manager.

It is a decision that he definitely feels comfortable with. Monaghan got in a great man in Malachy O’Rourke and the Geraldine’s were crowned Louth and Leinster Intermediate champions in 2013.

“That was a massive boost for me because it was a job that I had started 14 years earlier.”

He stayed with the Louth side until 2017 and kept them up in the senior grade.

Now, after a few years of ill health, he is back involved with the team after accepting an invitation from Eamon Dunne.

Over four decades on from breaking into the ‘Blayney senior side, he will be back casting his eye over players aiming to take their own first steps into senior football.

Four decades of playing and managing and having a huge impact on Monaghan and Louth football..

Looking back at the good days and the bad. That’s football. That’s why we love it.

n.mccoy@gaeliclife.com