Seán Kelly is a perfect example of the shift in attitude and approach that has helped Galway’s lightning-fast summer progress. For the last number of years he was a familiar figure in maroon whose athleticism and adaptability made him hard to categorise as a footballer: he was one of those guys who could slot in anywhere.
This year? He has nailed down the coveted – and, in Galway, tricky – full back position. And he is the team captain. Scroll through the long list of All-Ireland preview shows and podcasts dealing with ‘match-ups’ and many have Kelly penned in as the most likely shadow for David Clifford – easily the toughest job in Gaelic football right now.
In the maelstrom of the Armagh-Galway brawl at the end of normal time during the already famous quarter-final, Kelly’s leadership qualities were illuminated. Far from inciting the row, he clearly behaved in a cool-headed and responsible way throughout, separating rowing players, reasoning, standing his ground.
When he was mystifyingly shown a red card along with Armagh’s Aidan Nugent, he pleaded his case, shook hands with his opponent and left the field. There were no histrionics or overt show of unhappiness. The external calm mirrored that of Galway manager Pádraic Joyce.
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“Obviously at the start – disappointment,” he said when asked about the moment at the squad’s All-Ireland media day.
“These are the games you want to be playing in – an All Ireland quarter-final, extra-time too. It was a tough battle. Once you get that word it is not going to change. You just try to encourage the lads, they have extra-time to play. So I tried not to let it affect them either, just get them ready for extra-time. The next play really. You have to, you cannot change the referee’s mind.
“I knew after I got the red there was obviously disappointment at the start, but the next step really is you have to win extra-time. It was a draw again. Then there was penalties, so you try not to let it affect us.”
The initial assumption was that David Coldrick had chosen both captains in order to punish the teams for the brawl. But that was not the reason.
“At the time he was just like we were an instigator to the melee. Obviously that changed then, it got overturned. There was just so much going on, it is tough for a referee to pick someone. As I said already it is not what you want to see in our game, in fairness to him it was a tough choice for him, but he had to pick someone. I got the short straw, you could say.”
It could be argued that the alarming concession of those two late goals which hauled Armagh back into the match was the best thing that could have happened to Galway. It signalled a clear weakness on which they could work. Their mental fortitude was pushed to the limit. They survived the challenges of extra-time. And they emerged from the penalty shoot-out burning with self belief. Kelly returned for the semi-final against Derry and was excellent, sharp in his defensive duties and repeatedly driving downfield with the ball: he is a sight covering ground at speed.
It was Joyce who identified the possibility of using the Moycullen man at No 3 and on the same afternoon as Kelly spoke, the manager clarified how the deal was closed.
“It wasn’t a long conversation,” admitted Joyce. “He would have played, he would have been a utility player before I came in, he would have been 12, 5. We had a problem at full back and I thought to get someone. Seán Mulkerrin came in and at the time Seán Andy [Ó Ceallaigh] was not playing all that well and he had a lot of injuries as well.
“So we put Seán back there consciously at corner back, we played Johnny Heaney at corner back as well the first year I came in. Because the way the game is going your corner backs are being kind of used as ball players. They did well there the first year. But obviously Seán has survived there and Johnny has moved out since, so there was no big conversation.”
That’s that. Kelly is the eldest boy in a remarkable sporting household. There are three brothers on the Galway senior squad. They grew up in Moycullen, a basketball citadel and home to the 2020 Galway football champions. Their father, the late Pádraig ‘Dandy’ Kelly, was a hugely popular and admired Galway footballer in the 1980s.
Paul, 21, was known around Irish basketball circles as a phenomenal talent from his teenage years; a cool-headed point guard with an uncanny facility for scoring drives through packed defences. He was a regular starter for the past couple of years until an injury squeezed him out. And now Eoghan, 23, has returned from three years on a basketball scholarship in college in Chicago and has been brought into the squad after an outstanding year of club football with Moycullen.
“Exactly, he was away from football for three years playing basketball in college, but he was playing at such a high level over there. The games can intertwine – footwork, lots of similar stuff in terms of defending seeing man and ball. So there is a lot of similar stuff between the sports sometimes.
“Obviously, Eoghan just needed to work on some of the skills – he had been away from the game for three years, but he has had a great year with club and then went into the Sigerson. He had a good year with the Sigerson and then obviously in here now. Still he obviously has major room for improvement and he will relish that opportunity. We are busy enough, all going training together. It is a bit of a family affair with three of us in there, but it is an honour for the family.”
It is that. Kelly is 25: he and his brothers are perfectly placed to help shape the next decade of Galway football. The captain is delighted to be in this position. But he is not that surprised.
“Yeah, in fairness we had belief and confidence, and me personally in our team. Pádraic has tried to instil it since he has come in that we should be fighting for All-Irelands. Thankfully now this year we have kicked on an extra step and we are in one. We are just looking forward to it now.”
