WHEN TIPPERARY AND Galway last crossed paths in senior football combat, they served up a madcap eight-goal thriller in Tullamore.
That game in 2014 saw Galway triumph, Tipperary bow out and for one footballer, a long career of unstinting playing service for his county draw to a close.
Paul Fitzgerald left O’Connor Park that night having stood between the posts for Tipperary for the last time.
Despite retiring, his sojourn away from the Tipperary camp was brief. When Liam Kearns was appointed Tipperary manager last winter, he came looking for recruitments to act alongside him.
“He was anxious to get guys involved, selectors that might be interested in doing a bit of coaching,” says Fitzgerald.
“I knew the scene but I was wary enough about getting involved with a lot of guys that I played with. But the more I spoke to Liam, the more he impressed me.
“I’m enjoying it. I miss playing I have to admit but it’s still great to be involved and I’m learning a lot about the management side of things.
“I’m not going to change who I am either. I’m still friendly enough with the lads. Obviously there’s a time for the craic and there’s a time for business.
“You have to keep a certain amount of distance when it comes to game time and training. It certainly hasn’t been a problem. I’m enjoying it anyway.”
Fitzgerald brings with him a wealth of experience. A Munster minor medal winner in 1995, a beaten Munster U21 finalist in 1998. The Fethard club man got drafted into the Tipperary league panel in 2003, made his championship debut two years later and hung around right up until the light went out on that 2014 campaign.
He was a permanent and popular fixture on the Tipperary landscape, but better known as Cracker than the name that adorns his birth cert. Time to sketch out the background of that nickname.
“I used to play a bit of soccer with the local club at home Killusty,” laughs Fitzgerald.
“There’s a family of Coens, three or four brothers, who used to play. They christened me that from the TV programme that Robbie Coltrane was in.
“His name was Fitz in that, the boys used to say I looked like him! You get a name when you’re younger and it sticks.
“Brian who used to play with Tipp and is now down in Wicklow, I think he was the main one of the Coens behind it.”
Cracker’s devotion to the Tipperary cause never wavered during his playing days, despite times when there didn’t seem a tangible reward to incentivize commitment.
“We had dark days early in my career but there was a good few high points as well. John Evans took over, we’d a good bit of success.
“We got double promotion in the league to Division 2. That was a pretty big deal at the time but disappointingly we slipped back to Division 4. We soldiered on for a few years with little or no reward.
“But it’s important that grá for playing for your county and putting on the blue and gold jersey. That outweighs a lot of the stuff.”
The recent conveyor belt of talent that the underage ranks has churned out made it easier to commit.
Tipperary U21 football
- All-Ireland finalists – 2015
- Munster titles – 2010, 2015
- Munster finalists – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014
Tipperary Minor football
- All-Ireland titles – 2011
- All-Ireland finalists – 2015
- Munster titles – 2011, 2012
- Munster finalists – 2006 2008, 2009, 2013, 2015
The statistics make for pleasing reading for Tipperary football fans but the usual caveats apply.
“You’d be foolish to think one minor team will grow into senior success,” warns Fitzgerald
“Minor and U21 success doesn’t guarantee you anything at senior level. What really helps is a steady flow and you build a group of players.
“Back to my own minor days, only three of that team went on to play senior inter county football.
“You probably need a few teams and a few years of success at underage. It’s a different world from minor and U21 to senior.”
They’ve made strides at senior level and then this summer issued a forceful statement, finally taking down one of the Big Two in Munster.
“It was a big, big step,” admits Fitzgerald.
“Going into that game, we felt we left it behind us in Cork in 2014. We had them beaten and we had the chances to put the game away, and we didn’t take it.
“That bit of belief maybe wasn’t there with the whole squad. Definitely we felt we owed them one. That was a lot of the motivation.”
The result commanded headlines due to the turnover of talent in Tipperary in the off season. The lure of hurling and Aussie Rules, the ruinous effects of injury and the natural stage of retirement had drained their squad.
But Fitzgerald is keen to place a light over those that have been ushered in.
“There was never any question of the quality of players that we brought in. Any county that would lose the likes of Stephen O’Brien, Colin O’Riordan and Seamus Kennedy would suffer, no matter who they were.
“But the guys that came in have done really well, the likes of Colm O’Shaughnessy and Jimmy Feehan from the U21s. Even going back to the league, we wouldn’t have stayed up only for the likes of Alan Moloney, Martin Dunne and Shane Leahy, good quality guys that stood up to the mark.
“It’s very important to recognise the guys that are there.”
It was that bunch of players that achieved their breakthrough moment last Saturday, finally smashing through the last 12 barrier to gain entry to the All-Ireland last eight bracket.
It was an evening to savour in Cavan, a warm and happy atmosphere engulfing the small, tight-knit Tipperary football community.
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“It was a big barrier because what would have happened is the Cork game might have been perceived as a flash in the pan,” points out Fitzgerald.
“We mightn’t have got the recognition we got for doing that. This group of players seem to have a bit of steel and resolve where they don’t give up.
“It’s a great trait to have in a team. You can’t coach that, it has to come from within the players. They were special feelings on the field and in the dressing-room. I
“It made a long journey home very short. Tipp football is generally a small group of people, especially the fans that go to our away games. We know a lot of them by name.
“To see people like that crying on the field, is great. They’re very loyal and passionated about their football. They’re very important to the players and to us as a management. Family is the word I’d use.”
For Fitzgerald playing days in Croke Park were rare. A Division 4 league final against Clare two years ago, a qualifier against Dublin when they were soundly beaten in 2010.
Yet there was a moment of triumph, a win in the final of the much-maligned Tommy Murphy Cup back in 2005. Fitzgerald got the man-of-the-match award that day for his efforts as well.
“I robbed it off (Declan) Browne I think,” he laughs.
“Declan was outstanding that day. That was a great day. At the time Wexford were a top team. Guys like Matty Forde were at the top of their game.
“I know the Tommy Murphy Cup didn’t last long but that was a great victory for all the players and Tipp football people to play on a big stage and win a national trophy.”
That was then but the type of goals they have for themselves are different now. The scale of the challenges have also changed.
Galway brought Tipperary’s football summers to an end in 2013 and 2014, games they won with a degree of comfort.
There’s an All-Ireland semi-final place at stake as Tipperary back themselves to close that gap. Time to keep climbing up that football ladder.
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