THE KILKENNY FOOTBALL manager says that the wider public is starting to understand the burgeoning popularity of the sport in the county after their victory in Croke Park on Sunday.
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
The Cats were crowned All-Ireland junior champions at the weekend after a nine-point victory over New York in Croke Park to cap off an incredible weekend for the team. They booked their ticket to the final at a semi-final double-header in Abbotstown on Friday, with Kilkenny getting the better of London.
Their opponents New York defeated Warwickshire in the other final-four tie before facing into a 48-hour turnaround to play out the decider at GAA headquarters. The junior final preceded the All-Ireland SFC semi-final between Kerry and Dublin.
Kilkenny manager Christy Walsh says his players were affected slightly by the workload involved in two big games over such a short timeframe, but was thrilled by their overall performance.
“It was a great weekend,” he tells The42 on the back of a few days of celebration in the wake of their triumph.
“Hurling is the be all and end all of everything in Kilkenny and everyone is looking forward to the All-Ireland final this weekend. But it was nice. We only started to prepare really in April when we found out about the competition. We got a great response from everybody really, fellas were ringing up trying to put themselves on the panel. We got a great thing going.
Advertisement
“We were training once or maybe twice a week if it suited. You have to be cognisant of hurling as well and club hurling is starting off in less than three weeks. That comes first whatever way you look at it and you have to be aware of that the whole time.
“Monday was the only night that suited to train, and we trained away, and it all worked out in the end.”
A video of the team’s lap of honour quickly drew attention online in the aftermath of their win, which summed up the closeness of the football community in Kilkenny.
As the players jogged around the area in front of Hill 16, they spotted a lone fan at the top of the terrace, and raised their voices a bar or two to salute him.
“We’re still trying to trace him and it was no doubt a good buzz. We knocked plenty out of it with the lap of honour and everything. The day was brilliant and then the whole atmosphere of Kerry and Dublin coming up after us was terrific.”
Most of the Kilkenny football team playing hurling at club level, according to Walsh, and some have even represented their county at underage in the small ball code. Four-time All-Ireland winner Paul Murphy is playing with the footballers this year after announcing his inter-county retirement last year.
Through their hurling experience, many of the Kilkenny footballers came into the All-Ireland junior final having already played a high-stakes game in Croke Park. Walsh believes that psychological advantage “stood to us” against the visitors from America.
Walsh is originally from Kerry but has a background in both hurling [Kilmoyley] and football [Ardfert]. He kicked football for the Kerry juniors and also reached inter-county level as a hurler, playing as a centre-forward on the team who famously defeated Waterford in 1993.
He moved to Bennettsbridge in Kilkenny some 30 years ago with his wife, and has been a resident there ever since.
“I was asked [to manage Kilkenny] seven or eight years ago when they started up again. They pulled out of the National League and then a couple of years after, Kilkenny was put into the British junior championship where there were seven GAA counties from England and Scotland. We were the eighth and we were back and forth to the UK for four or five years, and we won it three times. That’s where it started.”
Kilkenny football is off the mark now after winning some silverware, but regardless of what’s coming down the line, Walsh is happy that people finally know that hurling has some company in the county.
“More people know today than last week that there’s football in Kilkenny and that’ll help. The structures aren’t in place at the moment – there’s no minor and there’s not enough underage football. The club football is finished and there won’t be club football again until next February. The will has to be there but winning this year is a big help. It has to build from there.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
'Fellas were ringing to put themselves on the panel' - Kilkenny's rise to All-Ireland football champions
THE KILKENNY FOOTBALL manager says that the wider public is starting to understand the burgeoning popularity of the sport in the county after their victory in Croke Park on Sunday.
The Cats were crowned All-Ireland junior champions at the weekend after a nine-point victory over New York in Croke Park to cap off an incredible weekend for the team. They booked their ticket to the final at a semi-final double-header in Abbotstown on Friday, with Kilkenny getting the better of London.
Their opponents New York defeated Warwickshire in the other final-four tie before facing into a 48-hour turnaround to play out the decider at GAA headquarters. The junior final preceded the All-Ireland SFC semi-final between Kerry and Dublin.
Kilkenny manager Christy Walsh says his players were affected slightly by the workload involved in two big games over such a short timeframe, but was thrilled by their overall performance.
“It was a great weekend,” he tells The42 on the back of a few days of celebration in the wake of their triumph.
“Hurling is the be all and end all of everything in Kilkenny and everyone is looking forward to the All-Ireland final this weekend. But it was nice. We only started to prepare really in April when we found out about the competition. We got a great response from everybody really, fellas were ringing up trying to put themselves on the panel. We got a great thing going.
“We were training once or maybe twice a week if it suited. You have to be cognisant of hurling as well and club hurling is starting off in less than three weeks. That comes first whatever way you look at it and you have to be aware of that the whole time.
“Monday was the only night that suited to train, and we trained away, and it all worked out in the end.”
A video of the team’s lap of honour quickly drew attention online in the aftermath of their win, which summed up the closeness of the football community in Kilkenny.
As the players jogged around the area in front of Hill 16, they spotted a lone fan at the top of the terrace, and raised their voices a bar or two to salute him.
“We’re still trying to trace him and it was no doubt a good buzz. We knocked plenty out of it with the lap of honour and everything. The day was brilliant and then the whole atmosphere of Kerry and Dublin coming up after us was terrific.”
Most of the Kilkenny football team playing hurling at club level, according to Walsh, and some have even represented their county at underage in the small ball code. Four-time All-Ireland winner Paul Murphy is playing with the footballers this year after announcing his inter-county retirement last year.
Through their hurling experience, many of the Kilkenny footballers came into the All-Ireland junior final having already played a high-stakes game in Croke Park. Walsh believes that psychological advantage “stood to us” against the visitors from America.
Walsh is originally from Kerry but has a background in both hurling [Kilmoyley] and football [Ardfert]. He kicked football for the Kerry juniors and also reached inter-county level as a hurler, playing as a centre-forward on the team who famously defeated Waterford in 1993.
He moved to Bennettsbridge in Kilkenny some 30 years ago with his wife, and has been a resident there ever since.
“I was asked [to manage Kilkenny] seven or eight years ago when they started up again. They pulled out of the National League and then a couple of years after, Kilkenny was put into the British junior championship where there were seven GAA counties from England and Scotland. We were the eighth and we were back and forth to the UK for four or five years, and we won it three times. That’s where it started.”
Kilkenny football is off the mark now after winning some silverware, but regardless of what’s coming down the line, Walsh is happy that people finally know that hurling has some company in the county.
“More people know today than last week that there’s football in Kilkenny and that’ll help. The structures aren’t in place at the moment – there’s no minor and there’s not enough underage football. The club football is finished and there won’t be club football again until next February. The will has to be there but winning this year is a big help. It has to build from there.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Gaelic Football Kilkenny Football Super Cats New York