He may be leaving with no regrets, although his retirement has left one lingering question: just how good a centre-back would Paul Galvin have made?
“Yeah, it was going to be interesting,” says former Kerry team-mate Eoin Brosnan, who frequently played at centre-back, before retiring himself at the end of last season.
“It was certainly well within his capabilities. When Paul came into the Kerry team, in 2003, Jack O’Connor reinvented him as a wing-forward. But Paul was traditionally a wing-back. When I was with UCC, in 1999, he was on that panel too, and was a fantastic wing-back, absolutely brilliant. He got Munster club player of the year.
“I suppose I reinvented myself as a defender as well, had never played in defence, before 2008. Everyone is different. I enjoyed the position, when I went back there, and I’m still enjoying it with the club. Having said that, any good footballer who goes in there, it’s a challenge.
"It was a new position for Paul and, even when I went centre-back, you're saying 'am I filling a space here, in front of the full-back line, or marking your man?' But fellas enjoy that challenge."
The timing
Brosnan, like most people, was surprised by both the timing and nature of Galvin's retirement last Saturday night – given he was originally listed among the Kerry substitutes to face Dublin, and expected to make an appearance at centre-back having been tried out there in pre-season games.
For his part, Brosnan, who at 33 is one year younger then Galvin, won’t be suddenly tempted out of retirement, even if that Kerry centre-back position is still up for grabs.
He is currently preparing for the All-Ireland club football semi-final with Dr Crokes, on Saturday week, against Mayo champions Castlebar, and Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice won’t be ringing up Brosnan.
“Most certainly not. He knows that my mind is certainly made up. But with Paul I suppose it was a surprise to everyone really. It really came from left field. I saw it on Twitter first of all, and it was a bit of a shock. I only met him the week before, and was wishing him well for the year. He probably said he would try it for a month or two, but I’m sure his inter-county career was hindering his personal career. There are only so many years you can do that, because obviously it’s an amateur sport, and you have bills to pay.”
Galvin himself admitted that the centre-back position was something he was “keen on, because half-back was a position where I probably felt most comfortable playing my football” but it all “proved a bit of a stretch in terms of work stuff”.
How much of a loss he proves to Kerry in 2014 remains to be seen. Brosnan suggests the timing is not ideal, especially given his own retirement, and that of Tomás Ó Sé, but that Kerry do have plenty of young players coming through, as demonstrated in Saturday's opening league game against Dublin, even if that ended in defeat.
Very passionate
"One thing Paul brought was a fierce intensity, and I suppose you did see that on the field. He was a very deep thinker, was very passionate. When Paul spoke, you really listened, because you could see that he'd thought about it before, and that he wouldn't speak unless he had something positive to say.
“But I was impressed with Kerry on Saturday night. I thought they were in good physical shape and James O’Donoghue was fantastic in the first half. For an inexperienced team I thought they were pretty competitive against the All-Ireland champions. . . Kerry will be very competitive in the summer. When you have a team with the likes of Declan O’Sullivan, Colm Cooper, Darran O’Sullivan and James O’Donoghue in offensive positions, they are going to take a lot of marking.”
