In conversation with... Daniel Flynn

Daniel Flynn announced his retirement from intercounty football last week after twelve years in the Kildare jersey and it was our pleasure to sit down with the Johnstownbridge man and reflect on a career that brought excitement to Lilywhite fans and anxiety to opposing defences.

Pat Costello: So, Daniel, the question on everyone’s lips is Why Now? Why did you decide to retire now?

Daniel Flynn: I don't know, Pat. It feels like it had come to a natural conclusion, a natural end. I probably don't want to make the sacrifices anymore to play football. I was talking about this to a few of the boys and like if I lived in Newbridge, I probably would have played until I was 40. I'm living 45 minutes away from Newbridge. I'm over there four nights a week. I'm working in Dublin and getting married next year. Time is becoming less and less. So that's an awful lot to do with it, you know. Could I still play football? Yes, I could. Is there a part of me that wants to, there is, but I just don't want to give what it takes to play at that level and it's as simple as that.

I kind of thought this last year or definitely the two years before. 2023 and 2024 were tough years for me and coming off the back of that I kind of had in my mind to maybe knock it on the head and then Brian got the gig. A club man, I would have played with him, we were pals so I said, yeah, the right thing to do was to do it again and I'm really glad I got to do it.

PC: Did you consult with anybody before you made that decision? Like your fiancé, Roisin, your family, Brian Flanagan?

DF: It’s funny the way the year went for me. When I went back in, I thought what am I doing going back in again. During the League I wasn’t getting picked, then I got injured and I said ‘Jeez, you’ve really landed yourself in it’. Then it kind of turned a little bit and I threw caution to the wind to put it lightly. I got a bit of fun and started playing again. But all year I was, right just get through the year, see it out and make the most of it. After the Tailteann Cup I had my mind made up. I spoke with Roisin a little bit but sure, she was used to hearing this story for the last five years. As soon as each year was over, I’d say that's me done. She kind of knew this year, though. I sat down with Brian a couple of weeks ago. We were just catching up, really, and it came to it and Brian was fine. He understands me and that goes for me and against me. When it comes to playing football for Kildare, he wants full buy in and full commitment and that's fine when it is training and playing, no problem. We don't fully agree on everything. which is good. Brian was fine and I stuck a message up into the WhatsApp to the lads and left the group. That was very symbolic in itself.

PC: Was that a hard thing to do, to leave the group?

DF: Yes and no. It crystallised it a little bit. Up to the day I was talking to Brian and we came away after having a cup tea, I felt so relieved, really light. I felt glad even as I stuck a message up to the boys. The next morning, I said, this was really kind of happening, you know.

PC: What was it like growing up in the Flynn household in Johnstownbridge and when did the GAA all start for you?

DF: We got going in Kinnegad in Westmeath, where we lived at the time, at U7’s, U8’s. A couple of my uncles played with Johnstownbridge so we moved back there when I was 10. I would have played with Balyna then in the schools and in St Mary's Edenderry but it would have been very social. I was sort of shy, reluctant to go to football up until I was about 16. I never really bought into it. Then, as I got older and a bit bigger and fitter and probably started to get a bit more recognition for it around the place, and that sort of fed it. I kind of thought, ‘Jesus, you could be good at this’ and put a bit more time into it.

PC: You were quite successful at St Mary’s Edenderry?

DF: Quite successful, yeah. It was an academy for football and that was how I viewed it at the time and how a lot of lads my age viewed it. It was football first, it was really good, great fun. I was in there last night; they had their Open Night. There are some great memories in there and that's really where it all started. Luke, who is now in Australia, would have been the same. He could have done exactly as I've done but just chose not to. Growing up, Luke would have always been a far better footballer than me. The girls, Audrey and Erica, played a little bit. One is in Australia and one is just finished in Maynooth.

PC: Luke is a dual player; did you ever play hurling?

DF: I did a little bit, yeah, with Broadford. We did a little bit of everything, gymnastics and things like this. Hurling kind of fell away, played minor, a little bit senior. My Mam, Emily, is from Kinnitty in Offaly so there is good hurling down there.

PC: When did intercounty football with Kildare begin for you, then?

DF: I would have done a couple of Development Squads along the way but never really made any headway with it. Murph (Bryan Murphy) was the minor manager and I was brought in. I played one year minor with Murph, 2010/2011 and that was the first taste of minor football. We had a great crew of us there like David Hyland, Gavin Farrell, Paddy Brophy, Niall Kelly, Fergal Conway, a great crop of lads.

PC: Then you were called into Kieran McGeeney squad in what would have been his last year as manager?

DF: I was called in in 2012. I was in school and we won the Hogan Cup with Edenderry. I can't remember if it was McGeeney or Niall Carew who called me and brought me in on the fringes just after the League. Seanie Johnson was around on the scene so myself, Flanno (Brian Flanagan) and Seanie would have headed over to Newbridge together. That was the first taste of it and that was good. Then in 2013 I made debut in the O’Byrne Cup, debut in the League, debut in the Championship and it kicked on from there.

PC: And yet you decided to pack it all in and head to Australia. How did that come?

DF: It would have come about off the back of the Hogan Cup. There were scouts looking at different minor games and school games. Tadhg Kennelly ran a Draft in DCU and 30 lads went up and tested. I tested well and from that they selected six or eight lads to go over to London to play the Australian minor team. From that I think two of us went over to Australia to do the replica of what Tadhg had done in DCU essentially. I joined Port Adelaide. I was a bit green at the time because I had two uncles in Melbourne and there's not a whole lot going on in Adelaide. Nice place but it's bit quieter but they were the first club that had said we want to give you a contract so I took the hand off them. Alan Richardson was Head Coach at the time. He was leaving and he brought me in and said, you know how this all works now. It's a cut throat business so do you want to come with me. I thought it was a test so I said no, I can stay here. That was silly, like, as the man who brought me into the club is leaving and I’m saying ‘Oh yeah, I’m staying here!’ I ended up with Adelaide for a year. It was great and I really enjoyed it but it was just so far away, Pat.

PC: Was that the main reason for coming back?

DF: It was kind of seen as the done thing to do. Paul Cribbin had gone before and Sean Hurley went afterwards. Three of us from the one club went, which is a bit mad. When Paul went, especially being around school, it was seen as you like you might go to England. There was no real thought in it. When you were picked then that's what you were going to do. When I get over there, it was great but did I see myself there for ten years? No. I got the sense that I wanted to come home and go to college, get a qualification, get a job, be closer to friends, be close to family. I haven’t gone back since but I need to get over and see the brother now, soon.

PC: You come back down to a Kildare scene that had changed considerably because McGeeney was gone. What were your thoughts on that?

DF: I would have been there when he left because I remember the meetings. “Left” would be a funny word for it. It all changed. I was mad about Kieran. He had given me a chance, had managed us at U21’s that year. As far as I as I know, all the players were as well. Would I have liked to see Kieran McGeeney stay? Absolutely but things went the way they did and Jason (Ryan) come in. I came back to Jason; he was in his second year. I would have come back halfway through that and took a bit of a break and reluctantly went back in and joined up again at wing forward.

PC: At that time Kildare were always there or thereabouts but just couldn’t get over the line. You got to a number of finals and then there were changes of manager. You would have played under six managers at this stage, McGeeney, Jason, Cian O’Neill, Jack O’Connor, Glenn and now Brian.

DF: It’s fair going, isn’t it? Like Chelsea!

PC: Kildare were always being touted as Leinster Finalists if not winning it but you came across a Dublin team that was in its prime, that was a challenge?

DF: Yeah, definitely but we dipped a little bit after Kieran left. When Cian came in, we were in Division 3 and got back up to Division 1 by 2018. During that time, I thought we were really in with a chance. Dublin were in the pomp and were completely dominant, blowing teams away so that was the backdrop big time in Kildare.

PC: You played in three Leinster Finals in that time, 2017, 2021 and 2022. When you were going to each of those Finals did you have the feeling that we can win here?

DF: I did in 2017. In ‘17 I thought we were flying. In ‘21 I didn't think we we're going to win. In ‘17, we went with the view to win but ‘21 it was more or less a damage limitation and we kind of set up that way. We always wanted to try and win the game for sure but the way we set up didn't really facilitate that. Definitely under Cian I thought we had a huge chance. We were still playing good football under Jack as well, but never to the same sort of elite level.

PC: Everyone who talks about Daniel Flynn talks about that goal in 2021 and the more you hear about it the more brilliant it becomes! I think at this stage they say you picked the ball up on the on your own 21-yard line, hit four fellas on the way up and then scored! Seriously it was a great goal and congratulations on it but can you take us through that goal?

DF: Oh, thank you. Talk you through it? I can hardly remember it to be honest. I've seen it back but, in the moment, I think I had no other option. Essentially, I looked up, I think Niall (Kelly) was to my left and I thought how am I going to get the ball away from here. I ended up not being able to get the ball away to him. We were that far down, I said, what's the worst thing that can happen here so I pulled the trigger. I can remember seeing the flight of it go past Evan Comerford and then I remember being super delighted but I remember thinking we’re that far back I can't be jumping around the place. Johnny Cooper was there and I had a wry smile and there was a nice sort of moment as he was getting up off the ground and I was passing by smiling!

PC: At that time the Kildare team that took a few heavy beatings in Croke Park. Did that have a psychological effect on you and the other players?

DF: Subconsciously, yeah. We were never afraid to go to Croke Park. We always wanted to play there but I just don't ever think we fully performed once we got there. It's been referenced in different meetings when we talk about it. If you look at the stats of when we play in Croke Park, they're not good which is why when we got there this year it was great to win games there. We still haven't performed there and it could just be a legacy of down through the years. I get the feeling that it’s kind of gone now with the younger boys. They don't really have that baggage, for the want of a better word. We did pretty well against Mayo for a good bit of the game. I think that was our best performance there but we blew up then. It would be great to see that go away and everyone wants to play there but there are bad memories.

PC: You mentioned earlier that maybe the last three years or so have been a little bit frustrating for you with work commitments, injury, maybe not being selected but you took it all in your stride, outwardly anyway. You came back with a bang this year, particularly for the Tailteann Cup. Was that a deliberate decision on your part to say I'm going to give this one last go?

DF: Yes, it was. Three years ago I finished up my training contract in Dublin at KPMG and I had a decision to make whether to stay there or to go into industry and find another job. I did and part of that was travel. It was a conscious decision that I wanted to have a career for the next 30 years rather than three years of football. When I made that decision I wasn't around to train as much and I started dipping into reserves. I still thought I could do a job and I still thought I should be playing but when I wasn't around it gave an opening to say sorry, you're not here, you can't play. There were times when I was away for the week and came back and played at the weekend and that was fine. As soon as I had any sort of dip it was easy to, sorry, regardless. When it came to this year there was similar kind of story. I got a new position in the job and didn't have as much travel so I was around a lot more but I wasn’t getting in. I was a little bit scarred from a year or two before. My confidence was rattled; it really was. Before it had never been questioned and now it was being questioned by people that you would have looked up to and I had an awful lot of time for. It’s different if it’s people you don't care about but when you value someone's opinion, it's hard to shut that out. So, I was a little bit knocked this year and I wasn't probably performing and then I wasn't getting in. So eventually when it came to April or May time or just the championship time, I kind of said, “F*** this and just threw what I was being told out the window and went and played football and did my own thing. I'm really glad I did because it's ended up being a lovely way to finish, and I'm glad it's finished the way it has, and not sort of drifting away into oblivion.

PC: Was that the real Daniel Flynn that we saw during the Tailteann Cup?

DF: It would have been, yeah. A little bit more measured but I would have been as close as I have been to say let’s just play football. Definitely in Tipperary, definitely in Sligo when I was full forward. In the other couple of games, they were grand. I think we played Offaly, it was miserable and I was in the corner. Against Fermanagh, a wash out of a game, again I was in the corner. Definitely there were flashes but the Tipp game this year stood out for me. I got 2-4 and probably could have had 3-6. I just enjoyed myself; I really did. I'm actually really grateful for the lads, because afterwards, they all got around me and gave me a bit of reassurance and that was really nice. But yeah, you're right, flashes of the old Dan when he was younger.

PC: There’s the story, before your time, of the Tony Ward and Ollie Campbell Ireland rugby out half saga when two late greats Willie Duggan and Moss Keane were asked who they preferred to play with. They both answered Campbell as they said they knew what he was going to do but with Ward they didn’t know what he was going to do and they didn’t believe he knew what he was going to do either. So, in a very positive way were you a little bit like that in that? When you got the ball you created a buzz in the stand but nobody knew what you were going to do and maybe you didn’t know yourself what you were going to do?

DF: I would completely agree with that, Pat. I'd be a very instinctual player. I don't overthink things. My view is that the first thought to come into your head is more than likely the right one. As the years went by and as I started to be coached and told what to do, I found that hampered me a little bit. I'd be trying to do the right thing and ended up just making a balls of it. I think I've played my best with Kildare when I have just gone and played off the cuff, because it's easy. Your defender doesn't know what you're going to do. I’m probably a manager's nightmare if they’re trying to build a sort of a structure!

PC: How satisfying was it then to win a national title with Kildare this year, playing in Croke Park and winning a medal?

DF: It was lovely to end the year not losing, finishing the year on a high and not being there the day after and thinking, what if I did this, what if we did that? That was really, really enjoyable. The medal piece and national titles, Pat, doesn't do it for me. No, it doesn't. Now, if we were to win Leinster, maybe, that would be great but am I going to say look at my Tailteann medal? No, I’m not. It doesn't do it for me but the memories were a hell of a lot better this year than previous years. Just a couple of days afterwards and everyone's in good form, everyone's wishing you well, it's just a far nicer place to be.

PC: There are not many players known just as their first name but when people mentioned the name, Daniel, we knew they were talking about Danial Flynn. How did that sit with you?

DF: OK really. I’m conscious of it. I’m also conscious that people who mightn’t know me have a perception of me and I don’t know what that perception is. Maybe that’s me just being in my own head but it always sat fairly fine with me. I don’t really read too many of the papers. I read a few articles when I finished and it’s nice to see what is being said. I wouldn’t read a whole lot on social media. I keep very much to myself. The vast majority of people have been really, really supportive and I would like to thank everyone who has been so kind and supportive to me along the way.

PC: You have always been a fans’ favourite but you gave back to them too. No matter what the result was, no matter what the game was or the conditions were, you were probably the last to leave the pitch, particularly signing autographs, taking photographs with the kids. Again, is that a conscious decision or just the real Daniel Flynn?

DF: Both, I’d say. I have a really good balance with football. When we win, I stay fairly level and when we lose, I stay fairly level. I never get too excited or too upset over football. Some lads do and want to get out of there pretty quickly. I’m quite happy to wait and see my family, look for Roisin or my Mam, my uncles or cousins or whatever. That bit helps but there’s also the bit of kids who are brought to the games that would look up to you and that’s really important. That bit is conscious and it was always in my head that it was more important to stay out there and if a five-year-old was to say can I have your autograph, I couldn’t just ignore them because I was late into a debrief of a game. I was quite happy to stay there and I think that’s more important than going in and listening to why we won the game or why we lost. It means a lot to kids.

PC: It was a good year with Johnstownbridge, even if you lost a quarter final. Everybody talked about Johnstownbridge.

DF: Yeah, definitely. The club had a rejuvenation with all these young players coming through. We won the minor a couple years ago. Those lads are coming through now. We had 30/35 lads training which would be unheard of for the last 30 years. They're all young, they're bringing energy. They have an appetite to get stuck in and play good football and Aidan (Dunne) is really positive that way. He's a forward’s manager and he’s attack minded and that's a really enjoyable system to play under. There's no fear of making mistakes. There's no fear of trying something that's not working out so long as it's done in the right way. If you lose the ball trying to do the right thing going forward, who cares, that's liberating to play.

PC: And it made you, Daniel Flynn, play with a smile on your face again?

DF: That Sarsfields game was the most enjoyable game I played in for a long time. Tom Aspell was probably looking at me because when we were level in the second half I said to him, ‘this is a great game’. Tom was probably saying who is this fella!

It would have been great to come out on top but there is huge encouragement in the club. For a club in North Kildare, we really punch above our weight. Every year there is hope and as long as that stays that way, we’ll be OK.

PC: Finally, Daniel, would there be regrets?

DF: I have thought about this and no really. Anything that has happened it fell whatever way it fell. If you could wave a wand and win every game, absolutely, but life doesn’t go like that. I’m really satisfied with the run I’ve had and I’m proud in a nice way with what I’ve done myself. I’m happy, really relieved, very satisfied. I’ll miss the lads terribly. I don’t think I’ll be part of a group like that ever again in my life. It’s all I’ve known for the first part of my early sporting life and that will be difficult to replicate. That’s life. Time moves on.

PC: All we can say is thanks for the memories, Daniel, thanks for the courtesy to all of us in the media and above all thanks for all the enjoyment you brought us over the last twelve years.