In conversation with... David Hyland
David Hyland made 136 appearances for Kildare after making his debut in 2013 Photo: ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
of his retirement from intercounty football came as quite a shock but, on medical advice, David Hyland decided that he had no alternative but to step away from the Kildare team. The Athy man, affectionately known as “Hylo” played 136 competitive games with Kildare since joining the Development Squads in 2006. Along the way he won an U21 medal in 2013, a Tailteann Cup medal in 2025 and he captained the Lilywhites for two years. This week David sat down with The Kildare Nationalist and reflected on his decision to retire and on his outstanding career in the Lilywhite jersey.
When we spoke before Christmas, David, I wasn't expecting to be sitting down with you in early January talking about retirement. The announcement came as a shock to me and to all Kildare supporters. How much of a trauma was it for you?
I suppose it came as a shock to myself as well, Pat. Every year you evaluate how the year has gone and what you've contributed and what's coming next. I suppose, for me, this was a big year in terms of me getting married and I had a long season with Athy. The ultimate call came from a bit of medical news I got with wear and tear in the hip so my hand was forced in a way.
Did it start manifesting itself during the year or prior to that?
I felt a bit of pain, maybe two weeks before the Tailteann Cup Final, just to my left hip and throughout the Club Championship but it didn't impact my ability to play or play at a reasonably good level. I got a scan in early November but I parked that until the Club Championship finished up for Athy. Ultimately, I met the consultant and surgeon on Christmas week and the cards were laid out at that point.
Was it news that you were expecting?
Absolutely not, no. I thought there was maybe some tendon damage or something like that which might be repairable. But absolutely I was not expecting to hear exactly what I heard from the professionals.
Who made the decision for you to retire, yourself, or was it the weight of the medical opinion?
I suppose the ultimate decision landed with myself but from the weight of medical opinion across the four or five people that I talked to, it was fairly black and white. I tried to see what way I could fight the science, but ultimately, I couldn't fight it.
How did it affect you? How did you take it emotionally?
On the Saturday I led my club out in Croke Park, probably one of the highest, if not the highest point of my career, and then straight to the Monday, it was all about what kind of state my hip was in. That was probably down there as one of my lows. I was fairly brought crashing down to earth so it probably did take a fair mental toll on me.
Obviously your fiancé Kate was there to support you and your family were there as well but what sort of support is there from the GAA in general or from the GPA for a situation like yours?
I don't know what it's like everywhere else, but every single person I went to was absolutely phenomenal. I couldn't get over how willing people were to work with me and get me the information and professional advice I needed. From Kevin Feeley in the club to Flanno (Brian Flanagan) in Kildare making sure I'm seeing the right people like Neil Welch and Paddy Mulligan, the Kildare Physios. Then ultimately, getting me in front of some of the best consultants and surgeons in Ireland.
How is it sitting with you now just about three weeks later?
I suppose it's still not very real. I don't think it'll be very real until maybe Kildare get going in the League. I’ll go and watch those matches from the terrace instead of being on the pitch.
How would you reflect on your time with Kildare because we might think it all started in 2013 but really you started in 2006 so you had a 20-year involvement with Kildare?
I have nothing but great memories. I have very little regrets. I felt I brought everything that I could to Kildare football. I think people saw the best version of David Hyland. I think I maxed my body out in terms of what I could get out of it and the potential of my body. So, I think down the line and in time, I’ll take a lot of pride in that.
Playing with your brother, Mark, and so many Athy players must have been a nice feeling as well?
I made some great friends. I started off playing with Mick Foley. He was a great leader and someone to aspire to. Playing with Mark anytime was a real highlight, huge, proud moments for my family and those were always great days. There’s a few photos up at home from Croke Park together, so they'll be cherished. Then with Niall (Kelly) and Kevin (Feely), some great days with them, some of your best friends.
What was it like growing up in the in the Hyland household because listening to your Dad, Ray, at your late Mam, Maura’s funeral, it was a real GAA house.
Look, Mam and Dad, you couldn't ask for better parents in terms of the support they would have given you. They dropped all to make sure the five of us were able to do what we wanted and where we wanted to go. I’m sure that was very challenging for them. David had to be in Hawkfield on a Tuesday night, Ray had to be in Athy soccer club or Kieran had to be out with the horses or something like that. I have nothing but great memories because I wouldn't have gotten to where I wanted to be if they didn't provide us support structures.
Maura, your Mam died just over three years ago now. How difficult was that for the family at the time. Did playing sport help in any way?
DH: If you put it in GAA terms, Mam was the captain of our family, in a way. We just looked up to her just something unbelievable so that was a huge knock to us and we probably haven't recovered from it. We're blessed that we're a tight family. Not everyone is lucky enough to have that and the five of us are all still in good contact; still able to have a bit of craic with one and other and have a few pints. I’d like to think that we support Dad as much as well. The GAA community was brilliant around then; everyone just wrapped around us.
You started off playing under but he was one of just six managers you played under.
Geezer was brilliant. He was the first man to give me my chance at inter-county level, even for the U21’s. I was joint captain with Paddy Brophy for the minors and we were going out for a session one day and Bryan Murphy called me over and said Kieran McGeeney wants to play with the U21’s on Tuesday night. This was Saturday morning. I was gobsmacked but obviously McGeeney saw something in me and brought me into the panel that year to make my debut with the Kildare seniors.
You mentioned him there, people talk about the Kildare senior managers but Bryan Murphy had an awful lot to do with the development of Kildare players over the last number of years and it's great to see him back involved again at County Board level again.
Absolutely. You need someone like Murph involved. He leaves absolutely no stone unturned with what he does. If you look at any of those players to play a senior inter-county level, he's had his hands on them all and that's testament to the work he's done. Go and ask ten people out there who worked with Bryan Murphy, I guarantee the ten of them won't have a bad word to say about him.
I’ve talked to you and other players before about inconsistency that was there over the last number of years with Kildare. The fact that there were six managers in about ten years, did that create that inconsistency?
Oh, I don't think so. I think we've been lucky enough to get some really good managers and the cream of the crop at various times. I think a lot of that has to fall down on the players. You could dissect year by year but for whatever reason it didn't happen in terms of silverware but we had many, many days out.
Despite defeats, some heavy, despite the inconsistency, Kildare players never gave up. That white jersey meant an awful lot to you and to them.
Absolutely. I was blessed in a way that I've grown up with working, training and soldiering alongside some of those. Really, really good guys and that's why the frustrations and maybe no silverware doesn't probably sit right with me. How much those lads put in and how talented they are, just doesn't add up to the silverware and that's just something we have to own.
You probably came across a Dublin team that everybody knows at that particular time was probably one of the best that there has been but you did give them quite a scare a few times.
People might call me delusional, but I went into all those games genuinely thinking we can beat them. That's kind of going back to the quality of player and the quality of man that was always going out to go bat beside me. I'd like to thank them for making me feel that way and enable me to give my best on the day. But yeah, it's tough, but I wouldn't change too much in terms of preparation for those days.
You mentioned Mick Foley earlier, who were the players that you might have looked up, either at club or a county level when you were coming into the inter-county scene?
Yeah, Mick would have been a big player to look up to. Daryl Flynn would have been a huge idol of mine, just in terms of the way he carried himself on the pitch and how cemented his position in midfield for Kildare. He always made the man beside him look better. Then up front, I really liked the likes of James Kavanagh and Alan Smith. They were always kind of flashy forwards, just really enjoyable to watch.
You probably have seen the video of Jimbo online recently of that famous O’Byrne Cup Final of 2013 where he was taking on a gang of Dublin players?
Yeah, that gave me goosebumps when I saw that the other day. It was a nice memory to watch back.
You were captain of Kildare for two years; what sort of an honour was that?
Jack O'Connor made me captain in 2020 and ’21. It was probably the biggest honour of my career. There's probably something extra special in that a man came into the fold with five All-Ireland medals as a manager and thought that I was the man to lead Kildare. We took huge pride in that and there was a sense of satisfaction for me that I could give back to my mother and father and those that supported me as they had given a huge amount of sacrifice but it was paying off, in a way.
What sort of a captain are you, a leader by example, or are you hopping the teacups of the table?
I wouldn’t be hopping teacups off the table! My whole philosophy when I was captains at different grades was that you've made captain by what you're doing at the moment, why change? Why change your persona to go shouting and roaring or do anything different. I just tried to keep doing what I had done previously on the pitch in terms of the raw basics that don't require any kind of skill execution. Making sure I made the right decisions and working hard and making sure that your teammate besides could feel that you're beside them.
You decided to step away from Kildare for a while, was that deliberate or did you fall out of love with the game?
No, I think myself and Kate always had an itch that we wanted to scratch in terms of travelling so we went away for six months and really enjoyed it. I wouldn't regret it at all, one of the best experiences in my life. We went to Chicago for the summer then to South America, Asia and then ultimately met brothers, Paul and Mark in Australia. So, yeah, really enjoyable.
While you were away there was disappointment and a lot of pressure on players but you came back to a situation where there was positivity and that bore fruit last year.
I think that's testament to the man in charge and the people he's surrounded himself with. I think Brian Flanagan is really the man to bring Kildare forward. Everything he does, his attention to detail, his willingness to bring lads along with him, willingness to know his players, ability to leave no stone unturned in terms of getting lads onto the panel, in terms of opposition analysis, tactics, etc. That feeds down to players via osmosis as well as just taking the time to chat with all his players. That was a great setup to walk back into, I just felt rejuvenated as soon as I walked back in.
You didn't know it at the time, but it was a lovely way to finish your inter-county career in 2025?
It was a great year. Obviously I didn't know it was coming to an end on the inter-county scene. But yeah, nothing but fond memories from that year. Walking up the steps of the Hogan Stand was brilliant. I've never had that feeling with Kildare, it's just special. Yes, it wasn't a senior inter-county All Ireland but I did get a lot of satisfaction from going up those steps and before I finished as an inter-county player to be able to lift some silverware there.
What are the plans then for the future then, David?
I think this year I've been nearly set aside as chief organiser for our wedding now across January and February, so I need to put a bit of time into that! On the football front I’m after linking back in with the Kildare set up and they've been very good to me, even though I made that decision to step away. They're like, what can we put around you to make sure that you could play a bit of football in the future? They've already put a 7-1 pathway in place for me, getting conditioning done in the gym and maybe getting back onto the pitch around June and target a 3/4-month season from July to September/October with Athy. It's just about making sure that I get as much information out of the body now at the moment and getting as much pain out of the body and seeing what that brings me.
Is that good for you mentally, you seem to be positive about what you’re going to do next?
Yeah, I suppose I'd be positive lad by nature. Kate is a psychologist and she says maybe sometimes that's not always the best approach, you need to feel your feelings or whatever that is. I don't want to mask that huge gap that I have in my life at the moment. I just need to be cognisant not to be too tough on myself for these next couple of months. Do a bit of training, enjoy my training as opposed to target it too much in terms of certain goals. There's going to be tough mental times over the next few weeks when the realisation kicks in, but there's no point running on that because you're probably only just going to mask what's going down the line.
I asked your three Kildare colleagues who retired recently, what was it like putting that last text into the Players’ WhatsApp Group, did you wait for a reply?
Oh, I just looked at Niall’s and copied and pasted!! I wasn't going to match Niall’s anyway. He’s a very articulate, very educated lad. But look, it was tough putting it in there. It's ultimate closure. Yeah, it was tough sitting on the couch there and you probably had a tear or two putting it in. It was just very tough. I don’t know what the reaction was because I knocked it off immediately. A lot of lads reached out to me individually, which I'm really appreciative for, just to kind of acknowledge our relationship that we would have had over the years, even new lads as well. That was nice, a bit of comfort in that as well.
How did your Dad take the news?
Very, very supportive. You could go the length and breadth of the country and you probably wouldn't see a more committed man in Kildare. He’d bring me to Croke Park. I was at All Ireland Final in ‘98 when I was four, standing outside the Merchant pub when the bus was driving past. Nothing but support for me like; when it came to it, long term health for him, just trumped everyone else. That's hard for someone like a traditional man to be able to say that to you. So yeah, I was really appreciative and supportive. The decision was my own but I had good conversations with Kate, with the brothers, with Dad and I think ultimately that science won for all of them.
How have things changed from the time you started off in Development Squads up to now?
I think the main one is probably S&C wise. There's a bit more load management and science-based training now. You bring in the likes of GPS to monitor lads’ loads and that probably will help long term. It's probably not out long enough to make sure that it's better than old systems. For facilities in Kildare, no stone was left unturned. All the managers were really good at fighting the corner for Kildare senior footballers. I'd have no complaints on that. I think it's probably only going in one direction. My the only call out is, and I've probably fallen foul of it, that’s the ability to have an offseason. It's a 12-month season for anyone who's competing at underage, U21, college, senior intercounty. I saw young Colin Moran over in Hawkfield, I think about ten days after the Ballyboden game, and he was getting ready to go onto the pitch. That chap has had no break. He's not going to be the one to say, I need to stop, he's just mad to play football the talent he is. The structures are not in place to protect a lad like him who's performing at the top of his game. And I think there's huge improvements to be made by the GAA right there.
The split season is brilliant for the club player but there's nothing split about an inter-county player that is performing with a high-level club and performing a high level intercounty, you're straight into that 12-month season. So, if someone could tell me where that offseason period is and where it's enforced, I'd be glad to hear where it is.
Final question, then David, if you were starting off in 2006 again, would you have thought that come 2026 you have done all you've done or would you have hoped to have done more?
Look, I'm probably not at that reflection stage yet, Pat. I'm really happy and proud that people have seen the best version of David Hyland and I'm happy enough to be able to stand up somewhere and say I couldn't have given any more in my preparation to play for Kildare. No, we don't have the silverware to show for it but I got so much kicks out of some great days with Kildare. I was trying to think of this over the last few days and I probably got my biggest kicks beating teams that you're perceived from the outside of being that little bit further behind. Beating Mayo, beating Roscommon in 2023, beating Derry in 2018 in Owenbeg. Games like that give you a huge kick. Westmeath, even last year, when people thought the dial was probably turning between Westmeath and Kildare. Without the silverware I think those are probably some of the highs, and I'm not sure even if silverware would have matched some of those highs in those days.
