“GAA PLAYER AND fashion don’t go together,” Paul Galvin muses as he sits — blazer, red v-neck, shirt with its grandfather collar buttoned all the way to the top. “It’s a little bit unconventional.”
But there has never been anything conventional about Galvin, a man whose public image grew out of his achievements on the field but now is shaped and defined by his interests off it.
Since quitting his teaching job the Kerry footballer has turned more and more towards his love of fashion and now he’s embracing the online world on a full-time basis.
Last November he launched ThisIsPaulGalvin.com, a personal mish-mash of style tips, video clips, music and short prose. At a time when GAA players are criticised for strictly managed public appearances, lacking any real colour or personality, this latest venture gives a closer look at what makes the man behind the green and gold jersey tick.
And though it’s still in its early stages the site is already a success and has led Galvin to his first big advertising deal: with American male grooming company Layrite and their Irish distributor.
“My site has become a full-time job for me really,” he explains. “It’s getting thousands of hits a day now. I’m running that and it has become a full-time job, looking for more advertising.
It’s just creativity and writing. I love to write, I enjoy social media, and I enjoy writing and fashion. You have to have that platform. I’m able to indulge in all the things I’m interested in and I wanted to express my interests a little bit more. It’s turned into a business for me, so it has been good.
Sunday’s Munster SFC quarter-final win against Tipperary, a comfortable opening challenge, marked the beginning of Galvin’s 10th Championship season with the Kingdom. Now 33, he admits that he thought about hanging up his inter-county boots before the appointment of Éamonn Fitzmaurice, his Finuge club-mate and also his brother-in-law, as manager finally settled the argument.
Is he still enjoying his football as much as ever? For sure — and the freedom he has now found in self-employment might be the key to prolonging his career for another few summers and tilts at Sam.
“Three, four years ago, whenever I left teaching, that was a factor as well because I found that around All-Ireland semi-final time, it coincided with Monday morning back to school as well. These opportunities were arising and I thought I’d go it alone and see where I get to.
I found teaching a bit of a routine, and I wouldn’t be great with routine. I find it difficult. With teaching it was 40 minutes here, 40 minutes there, chapter by chapter. I had more interests and I wanted to express them a little bit more.I’ve the freedom to prepare, and I do prepare well and mind my body. What I’m doing allows me to prepare a certain way.
Everything comes at a price though and as Galvin talks about his future, it quickly becomes clear that his passion for Kerry football does not mean that it will define his life. When all is said and done and he finally packs it in, he wants to know that he hasn’t shut too many doors in pursuit of one last taste of glory on the pitch.
“Physically I could go on for a few years but… the physical stuff wouldn’t be the issue. Career-wise I’d have to weigh things up. I would probably put an awful lot of stuff on hold for football that I’ve started to tap into a little bit; this website and the advertising deal would be one of them and there’s lots of other stuff in that field that I would like to develop.
For three years I have really been balancing my life in terms of trying to make a little bit of a living, but being mindful of my responsibilities to Kerry and not bringing too much of that baggage that is there — for better or worse — not bringing too much of that to bear to the Kerry football set-up.For me it’ll be a case of weighing up different things rather than how I am physically.
