CONOR GLASS WAS more than happy to return to the Derry set-up just after winning the All-Ireland senior club title with Glen.
Six days after inspiring the Watty Grahams to their first Andy Merrigan Cup title, the talismanic midfielder helped Derry get off to a winning start in Division 1 of the football league against Kerry.
“Nobody forced them,” Mickey Harte insisted after the game in Tralee amidst criticism for starting Glass and his Glen teammates, Ethan Doherty and Ciaran McFaul.
The decision was left to the players involved, and Glass was intent on returning quickly.
“There definitely was a lot made of it,” he reflects. “I suppose had one of us got injured that week, the backlash would have been very, very harsh.
“That was a risk we were willing to take. The momentum that brings… any players that have gotten a bit of success and can bring that into a team, then it’s always going to be good for us. It’s not often you get to beat Kerry in their own patch so it worked out well for us.
“We came back to training on the Thursday night so we had the guts of four days of celebrations. It was more than enough. I was looking forward to getting back to a routine, to training.
“But you’ve got to enjoy it too. Yes, you’re always looking to the next game, but you’ve got to enjoy the celebrations of the final and we did do that too.”
The significance of All-Ireland club glory is only sinking in now. An awards ceremony last Friday night, where Glass was crowned AIB Club Footballer of the Year, hammered it all home.
“The way in which we done it made it even more special. Just being able to get over the line by a point, you seen the scenes after the game, it was just utter emotion and tears, and relief as well.”
The bus journey home is a standout memory; mid-storm, swaying side to side. The next day was the best; a few drinks, a reception at the club, back of a lorry, fireworks, music, the lot.
All while wearing that yellow cycling jersey, of course.
“People actually think that I don’t drink and that I was off cycling the morning after!
“It was just a running joke within the group. We had a theme of the Tour de France for last year. Different stages: the Derry championship, Ulster championship and then the All-Ireland, so we just kind of took it stage-by-stage and used the experiences of different cyclists, like Stephen Roche.”
The last few weeks have surely been a climb, but Glass doesn’t see it like that. Amazingly, he could have added a Sigerson Cup medal to his cabinet, but he ultimately chose a holiday over playing in the final with Ulster University.
Not that the accounting student didn’t consider it.
“My Dad has two Sigerson medals and it would have been purely to get one over on him as well because he quickly lets me know he only has a Sigerson medal over me! That would have been the only reason for me to play in it.
“The Sigerson is a fantastic competition, it’s just unfortunate the way it falls for certain players. The workload it involves. I got a break to Tenerife with my fiancée so that was the reason for missing the final. I just needed to get a bit of a holiday in and the Sigerson final was the sacrifice.”
Side note: Glass proposed to his partner, Neeve, at Adare Manor the weekend of the Kerry game, with wedding planning in full flow for Christmas 2025. The couple run a café together in Maghera.
The former AFL star evidently has a hectic schedule on and off the pitch, but he’s feeling fresh. He was afforded a planned rest as Derry’s 100% league record came to an end against Dublin at Celtic Park two weekends ago, though he would have loved to play. “I have to pick my fights,” he says “Maybe we’ll see them in the league final.”
Glass, for one, doesn’t think fatigue will catch up with him, hailing Derry’s strength and conditioning team as they manage loads and plan peaks. There’s also a kind word for new Derry manager Harte, and his right-hand man Gavin Devlin.
“It’s been utterly enjoyable to be honest. Coming into a new environment, whether it be management, coaches, training, meetings, it’s all been different. You probably become sick of the same old regime. It brought that difference in energy to it, which is good.
“Mickey brings a sense of old school, in terms of how he speaks to the players. Gavin is more so the coach, he does a lot of the coaching in training, most of the pre-training meetings and that, so they bounce off well together and they supplement each other pretty well.
“The main thing is that we don’t want to be playing as robots, you want to go out and play on instincts. Certain boys have better attributes than others, so whatever you’re good at, basically go out and play that way.”
Conor Glass will continue to do just that.
He’s more than happy to be thriving in the chaos on and off the pitch.
John West are proud sponsors of the GAA’s U15 annual Féile Peile na nÓg (football) and Féile na nGael (camogie and hurling) competitions.
