GROWING UP IN south Armagh, Tony McEntee and Oisín McConville lived about 200 yards apart.
Their lives and football careers have been forever intertwined, but on Saturday evening, their respective management roles will pit them against each other in Croke Park.
That’s a stadium the pair have performed in before as teammates, but this time, McEntee will be seeking Division 4 honours with Sligo while McConville will be with their opponents Wicklow.
“I would say at this stage that they’ve had a chat with each other to wish each other well,” says John McEntee, twin brother of Tony and Crossmaglen club-mate of Oisin.
“I’m fairly confident they’ll have phoned each other but there won’t be too much talk around the final.”
From underage days, the trio have always played on successful teams locally. They were troubled by few losses as they climbed up the ranks.
That regular exposure to victory at juvenile level culminated in major glories at the senior grade, both at club and inter-county. All three played a hand in their club Crossmaglen’s golden period between 1997 and 2012, capturing six All-Ireland titles in that stretch, serving in either a coaching or playing capacity.
For Armagh, the boys delivered a first-ever All-Ireland senior football title for the county in 2002 after a memorable final against Kerry. Those connections remained as all three ventured down the road of management. John and Oisín were managed by Tony when they captured the 2011 All-Ireland crown. John and Oisín subsequently became co-managers of the club and stepped down in 2016.
Side by side by side all the way up. On Saturday, worlds will collide.
“If you’re playing against your own club, there’s a certain degree of emotion attached to it,” says John.
“But at county level, it’s a professional job. Both of the guys are totally invested in their counties, it’s a job for them and they’ve a task to do.
“Both of them are fairly professional when it comes to doing this type of a job. They’ll want to perform very well for the team that they’re working with. It might be a welcomed distraction for them but they won’t give it too much thought until afterwards. I suppose at county level, there’s a lot less emotion in it than there would be at club level.”
There’ll be no smack talk between the managers, of course, but there is some playful chatter floating over and back adding to the build-up. Sligo’s victory over Leitrim last weekend is a factor in the jibes too as that result helped Wicklow secure promotion as well as a place in the final.
“We’re involved in WhatsApp groups and we have one here in Cross,” says John. “There’d be a bit of banter in it. Oisín is new to Wicklow and it’s his first year. There can be challenges and teething problems in picking up a team like that in the fourth division.
“Wicklow had an early loss and a draw, which probably wasn’t an ideal start, but as you can see, his fingerprints are all over their success ever since.
“Promotion is brilliant for both camps, whether they win the final or not. That’s more of a cherry on top, but the fact that they’ve both been promoted is really brilliant.”
Indeed, Wicklow is new territory for McConville although he has some experience of working with a team in Leinster having previously held a role with the Laois hurlers. Tony McEntee is even more familiar with his surroundings in Connacht. He previously served under Stephen Rochford during his three seasons in charge of the Mayo footballers. Attempts at lifting Sam Maguire dominated that journey, but the prize proved elusive.
The defeats aside, Tony has been able to draw on that experience since taking over in Sligo.
“He’s very familiar with football in the west,” says John. “So, the travelling is fine for him. He knew the football and some of the personalities in Sligo. He probably knew some of the challenges involved in taking on Sligo.
“For Oisín, this is his first foray into inter-county football. And when people do that, they phone up some of their friends. And we’ve been very fortunate in Armagh, there would be a few of the guys who would have had a foray into inter-county management. I have no doubt that he would have had a conversation with Tony as well too, just about the challenges; the expectations of the job; the demands of the job and all that stuff.
“But you can be sure that they’d be quite tight-lipped about what they do in Sligo and what they do in Wicklow.”
A career in coaching was always on the cards for the McEntees and Oisín McConville. John could see those requisite leadership qualities for the job permeating through the playing styles of both McConville and his brother. When he recalls their days of playing football from a young age, he considers those teams as almost belonging to McConville.
“We went to primary school together and the Abbey Grammar in Newry together.
“We would have spent five years in the same bus going over and back to Newry. And we would have played for the same football teams.
“The good teams we were playing all the way up, Oisín was the star player and the captain.
“In many ways, he was there as a hero but also as a supporter to guide us. Being 18 months younger than Oisín, it was his teams that we were taking part in. They were the star players and we were just the young bucks joining his squad. They very much looked after us and kept us right.
“They were natural leaders. When we needed a tackle made, or a score, they were the guys that were always doing it. Oisín was a star forward, but there was many a time when he’d come back and catch a ball in the square. He’d come out with it, an important thing to do and it drove us on. The same with Tony. Some people are just natural born leaders and they’re able to do the simple things really well.
”It’s not as if there’s anything magic about what they do or say. It’s just that they have walked the path and are able to bring people with them.”
Despite the heavy workload involved in inter-county management, Tony and Oisín are still active in Crossmaglen. Tony works on the club executive and is also responsible for overseeing the general coaching structure in Crossmaglen. Oisín works with the U10 boys while John McEntee lends a hand with coaching the U8 and U10 girls’ teams.
The children are obedient, but much of the respect is informed by the admiration that their parents have for the trio who they remember as successful players.
“They haven’t a clue [who we are]!” says John.
“They listen to everything they say because their parents tell them to. People would come up to us to take a picture and it’s the parents who are standing in for the picture. The kids are there like, ‘Why are ya doing that? That’s my coach?’”
John intends to be in Croke Park on Saturday evening for the 5pm throw-in, where he will have an interesting vantage point for the Sligo v Wicklow showdown. And the intriguing McEntee v McConville sidebar.
The only downside is that his connections on the sideline couldn’t score automatic entry into the game.
“Only sad part is I have to buy the tickets,” he laughs. “You’d think with contacts like that, you’d get free tickets!
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