FOURTEEN SEASONS ON, there is a sense of it all coming full-circle for Aidan Forker.
Back then, he was poised to make his senior championship debut for Armagh, wearing number 10 – like his boyhood hero Paddy McKeever.
It was a close day. Forker struck an early goal, but Armagh couldn’t prevent Tyrone from claiming the win.
In the week before, he spoke to this writer with a boyish enthusiasm.
About being 10 years old and up on his father Joe’s shoulders on Hill 16 for the 2002 All-Ireland final. About turning Dungannon Swifts down to play for Armagh, how they came back with improved terms and conditions, “But I would always say I wouldn’t be motivated by that,” he explained.
He’s a very different animal now. Naturally. The years have shed the awe he has for the world. He’s a married man with children, studious and serious.
Devoted to his own pursuit of perfection. Indeed, in the way in which he lines up reporters’ dictaphones and mobile phones in front of him in a perfect arc, he has a taste for things done precisely and just so.
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Armagh and Tyrone this Sunday is one of the intensely local affairs that sustain the Ulster championship, but the competition has become an international affair.
Tyrone prepared for the game in their Portuguese training camp, while Forker has gone as far as Chile to source help for his ankle injury that has denied him a proper run of football since Armagh won the 2024 All-Ireland.
He came across Pilates instructor Paddy Coary, who had been based in Sydney but now lives in Santiago, Chile, where he is also the manager of the first GAA club in that country; Los Andes de Santiago.
Naturally, he’s originally from Derrylaughan in Tyrone, just about eight miles from Forker’s home place of Maghery.
“The only way I could get myself right was from what I’ve been reading around was to do Pilates,” says Forker.
“So, me being me, I got a reformer into the house, and I’ve been doing it every day since.
“I’ve been on with Paddy three or four times a week for the last six months, and I think that’s been the big thing to get me over the line. So, shout out to Paddy, he’s not just been a rehab guide helping me learn Pilates, but also probably a counsellor at some times as well.
“Just with the time difference it worked out really well because I had to jump on with Paddy at about 10 o’clock at night and do an hour session with him.”
From the high of being Kieran McGeeney’s successor as an All-Ireland winning Armagh captain, to the lows of playing next to nothing since, Forker declares himself ready to go now.
Aidan Forker and Kieran McGeeney parade Sam Maguire around the Athletic Grounds. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
McGeeney has been a touchstone in his life, but all the same it’s something else when he offers his personal opinion.
Outside my dad, my wife, and my brothers, Kieran could be my next phone call,” he says.
“In anything, work, life, family, problem, issue or a celebratory thing. Kieran could be my next phone call after those people. I think that’s a testament to his approachability, his wisdom, his care for the individual and their needs and wants and their drives.
“Kieran’s a good man for putting the mirror up and giving you something about yourself that you maybe hadn’t thought about. He’s very person-focused and getting the best out of the individual as well as group-focused. I think that’s Kieran. That’s a testament to the relationship he has with his players. That’s built over time.
“I’m not saying we haven’t had a few words, but that’s all a challenge. That’s all natural. It’s a normal part of a performing group, hopefully.”
Aidan Forker follows in his manager's footsteps and lifts Sam Maguire for Armagh.
34 now, the most natural question to ask is possibly the most frustrating for him to hear. But it bears asking. What brings him back?
“I worked very hard, we worked very hard, I suppose, as a core group for many years to get Armagh to this level. I know the quality that we have, and I feel like there’s something there for us in terms of medals again.
“So, the appetite is there from the group, and I think, to be honest with you, the set-up is just second to none. I always remind the boys, especially the older lads, that we’re living our best days, and we probably don’t know it really.”
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For now, it’s Tyrone bursting out of the other dressing room on Sunday. In everyday discussions, this current edition of Tyrone have never been rated as low in the 21st century. Seasoned observers would not agree and it’s precisely at these points that their threat grows.
“It’s an easy one to hopefully get up for. We’ve had some ding-dongs over the years,” deadpans Forker.
“We’ve had some bad defeats over the years and some decent wins, so there’s never anything really in it. No matter how good teams are going or how they’re not going, it doesn’t really count for much when it’s Armagh against Tyrone. It’s exciting, it’s exciting for everyone.”
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'Kieran’s a good man for putting the mirror up' - Aidan Forker on playing for McGeeney
FOURTEEN SEASONS ON, there is a sense of it all coming full-circle for Aidan Forker.
Back then, he was poised to make his senior championship debut for Armagh, wearing number 10 – like his boyhood hero Paddy McKeever.
It was a close day. Forker struck an early goal, but Armagh couldn’t prevent Tyrone from claiming the win.
In the week before, he spoke to this writer with a boyish enthusiasm.
About being 10 years old and up on his father Joe’s shoulders on Hill 16 for the 2002 All-Ireland final. About turning Dungannon Swifts down to play for Armagh, how they came back with improved terms and conditions, “But I would always say I wouldn’t be motivated by that,” he explained.
He’s a very different animal now. Naturally. The years have shed the awe he has for the world. He’s a married man with children, studious and serious.
Devoted to his own pursuit of perfection. Indeed, in the way in which he lines up reporters’ dictaphones and mobile phones in front of him in a perfect arc, he has a taste for things done precisely and just so.
Armagh and Tyrone this Sunday is one of the intensely local affairs that sustain the Ulster championship, but the competition has become an international affair.
Tyrone prepared for the game in their Portuguese training camp, while Forker has gone as far as Chile to source help for his ankle injury that has denied him a proper run of football since Armagh won the 2024 All-Ireland.
He came across Pilates instructor Paddy Coary, who had been based in Sydney but now lives in Santiago, Chile, where he is also the manager of the first GAA club in that country; Los Andes de Santiago.
Naturally, he’s originally from Derrylaughan in Tyrone, just about eight miles from Forker’s home place of Maghery.
“The only way I could get myself right was from what I’ve been reading around was to do Pilates,” says Forker.
“So, me being me, I got a reformer into the house, and I’ve been doing it every day since.
“I’ve been on with Paddy three or four times a week for the last six months, and I think that’s been the big thing to get me over the line. So, shout out to Paddy, he’s not just been a rehab guide helping me learn Pilates, but also probably a counsellor at some times as well.
“Just with the time difference it worked out really well because I had to jump on with Paddy at about 10 o’clock at night and do an hour session with him.”
From the high of being Kieran McGeeney’s successor as an All-Ireland winning Armagh captain, to the lows of playing next to nothing since, Forker declares himself ready to go now.
McGeeney has been a touchstone in his life, but all the same it’s something else when he offers his personal opinion.
“In anything, work, life, family, problem, issue or a celebratory thing. Kieran could be my next phone call after those people. I think that’s a testament to his approachability, his wisdom, his care for the individual and their needs and wants and their drives.
“Kieran’s a good man for putting the mirror up and giving you something about yourself that you maybe hadn’t thought about. He’s very person-focused and getting the best out of the individual as well as group-focused. I think that’s Kieran. That’s a testament to the relationship he has with his players. That’s built over time.
“I’m not saying we haven’t had a few words, but that’s all a challenge. That’s all natural. It’s a normal part of a performing group, hopefully.”
34 now, the most natural question to ask is possibly the most frustrating for him to hear. But it bears asking. What brings him back?
“I worked very hard, we worked very hard, I suppose, as a core group for many years to get Armagh to this level. I know the quality that we have, and I feel like there’s something there for us in terms of medals again.
“So, the appetite is there from the group, and I think, to be honest with you, the set-up is just second to none. I always remind the boys, especially the older lads, that we’re living our best days, and we probably don’t know it really.”
For now, it’s Tyrone bursting out of the other dressing room on Sunday. In everyday discussions, this current edition of Tyrone have never been rated as low in the 21st century. Seasoned observers would not agree and it’s precisely at these points that their threat grows.
“It’s an easy one to hopefully get up for. We’ve had some ding-dongs over the years,” deadpans Forker.
“We’ve had some bad defeats over the years and some decent wins, so there’s never anything really in it. No matter how good teams are going or how they’re not going, it doesn’t really count for much when it’s Armagh against Tyrone. It’s exciting, it’s exciting for everyone.”
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