TWELVE MONTHS AFTER lining out for Crossmaglen GAA club, former England international David Bentley admits he would love to return to the sport more often.
Bentley swapped sports last March as part of ‘The Toughest Trade’ documentary and had his first taste of Gaelic football in a challenge match against Silverbridge.
The 31-year-old, who retired from football in 2014, immersed himself in the culture for a couple of days and came out of the experience hugely respectful of the ethos of GAA, the players and the community.
Advertisement
And those feelings haven’t been diluted in the time since, as he revealed he would be meeting up with some of the Crossmaglen players during a short stopover in Dublin yesterday.
“I loved it, it was a great experience,” the former Arsenal and Tottenham winger said. “It was a great thing to be given the opportunity to do. It was just unbelievable.
“The togetherness, the community, the family, the history. Anyone would love to do that. I’d do it again for sure, just maybe every few months as it was tough,” he joked.
“I keep in touch with some of the lads a little bit. I’m meeting up with a couple of them a bit later.”
Keep an eye on The42 this weekend for an in-depth chat with David Bentley about his career, the reasons why he fell out of love with football and his new business.
David Bentley was in Dublin yesterday promoting live coverage of his former clubs’ crucial Barclays Premier League clash on the Setanta Sports Pack this Saturday at 12.45pm. To subscribe go to www.setanta.com.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
'I'd do it again...but maybe once every few months' - GAA still a charm for Bentley
TWELVE MONTHS AFTER lining out for Crossmaglen GAA club, former England international David Bentley admits he would love to return to the sport more often.
Bentley swapped sports last March as part of ‘The Toughest Trade’ documentary and had his first taste of Gaelic football in a challenge match against Silverbridge.
The 31-year-old, who retired from football in 2014, immersed himself in the culture for a couple of days and came out of the experience hugely respectful of the ethos of GAA, the players and the community.
And those feelings haven’t been diluted in the time since, as he revealed he would be meeting up with some of the Crossmaglen players during a short stopover in Dublin yesterday.
“I loved it, it was a great experience,” the former Arsenal and Tottenham winger said. “It was a great thing to be given the opportunity to do. It was just unbelievable.
“The togetherness, the community, the family, the history. Anyone would love to do that. I’d do it again for sure, just maybe every few months as it was tough,” he joked.
“I keep in touch with some of the lads a little bit. I’m meeting up with a couple of them a bit later.”
Keep an eye on The42 this weekend for an in-depth chat with David Bentley about his career, the reasons why he fell out of love with football and his new business.
David Bentley was in Dublin yesterday promoting live coverage of his former clubs’ crucial Barclays Premier League clash on the Setanta Sports Pack this Saturday at 12.45pm. To subscribe go to www.setanta.com.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
Jack O’Connor missing 4 All-Ireland minor winners for Kerry’s Munster U21 opener
Here are the draws for the 2016 Dublin senior football and hurling championships
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Crossmaglen Rangers David Bentley the toughest trade