David Clifford follows us into corporate box 636 in the Cusack Stand, does a quick round of handshakes, then sits with his back to the window over Croke Park.
He’s fresh off a SuperValu photo shoot below and is dressed in a navy Columbia fleece top and beige cotton shorts, still bigger in person than expected and utterly unassuming in manner. Straightaway his right hand goes over part of his face.
There’s some small talk about Kerry’s win at the weekend (they beat Tipperary by 20 points), and the Munster football final against Clare on Sunday week. “We always get a tough test from Clare,” he says, “any time we’ve played them. So yeah, we’ll be expecting the exact same again this time around.”
David Clifford is now a first-time senior All-Ireland winner, Kerry’s victory over Galway last July at least taking that weight off his young shoulders
Then the conversation turns to David Clifford; the greatest footballer of our time — hero, idol and superstar. Tell us how it feels?
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It reminds me of the press conference scenes in DA, Pennebaker’s seminal cinema verite documentary Dont Look Back where Bob Dylan is asked repeatedly about being the spokesman for his generation.
“I’m just a song a dance man,” he replies
Still only 24, already a four-time All Star, Clifford is now a first-time senior All-Ireland winner, Kerry’s victory over Galway last July at least taking that weight off his young shoulders.
“It was brilliant, yeah. Just from being from Kerry, and not having won the All-Ireland in so long, there was a pressure on us. And I suppose having had a lot of the near misses in the previous years it made it all the sweeter, so yeah, it was nice.”
Like the young Dylan, the accolades are just a sideshow of sorts, nothing too real and certainly nothing too serious. His parents Dermot and Ellen, both grounded in Kerry football, always made sure of that.
“No, that washes well over my head. You have so many different games and different things to focus on that I don’t really have time to be getting involved in stuff like that. I suppose, look if you started to think like that then you’d probably change as a person.
“So I suppose I am very conscious that you are still trying to be the same as you were. My parents would have also tried to get that across, to try and be as humble as you could, never try and come across in an arrogant way, or anything like that, so I try as best as I can not to.”
You probably can’t give as much time as you want to every child because you’d just get burned out
— David Clifford
Still, that superstar status is soaring, not just with Kerry, but even more so perhaps as Clifford starred for Fossa and East Kerry through the winter months, the attraction there touching on Beatlemania.
“It’s great to see. I suppose it’s great there was people at Fossa games that weren’t even from Fossa or in many cases weren’t even from Kerry. I suppose that’s the beauty of the club campaign, there isn’t the restrictions of not being able to enter the field and stuff like that.
“So, it’s enjoyable like. You probably can’t give as much time as you want to every child because you’d just get burned out. It’s just about trying to behave in the right way when you do meet kids because you know you are going to have to say no to a lot of kids as well, which is tough, so yeah.”
Asked how he switches off from football, Clifford concedes he doesn’t often feel the need. An avid Celtic supporter, he attended the Old Firm derby a couple of weeks after Kerry’s win and was greeted by Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou, “a bucket list thing for me”. But Gaelic football is his game.
“I play a bit of golf. I watch any sport really. I follow a lot of soccer. I follow a lot of snooker and stuff like that.
“I suppose I don’t see it in a sense of having to get away from football. I go to watch a lot of club games in Kerry. Fossa games or whatever, other clubs, because if I wasn’t playing with Kerry that’s what I would be doing. I would never see it in a sense of having to get away from football.
“Obviously when you are going to a game you are not really thinking about your own game so I suppose that’s enough of a release for me I think.”
I actually probably have an understanding now of how difficult coaching is … my respect has gone up even more for coaches
— David Clifford
After graduating from the University of Limerick last year, he’s now teaching at his old alma mater, St Brendan’s in Killarney, his coaching involvement there also brings a new insight into the game.
“We have big numbers so it can be tricky at times. It’s funny to see it from their side. You’re trying to organise training or a game and they have about 10 other things going on. It kind of takes you back to when you were doing it, playing soccer or football and you just remember how enjoyable it was at the time. I actually probably have an understanding now of how difficult coaching is. We’ll call it the management side of things but to actually go out and run a session, you’d actually forget how difficult it is. Probably my respect has gone up even more for coaches.”
When David Clifford comes to town! Inspiring the next generation. #listowelemmets #davidclifford #fossagaa #kerrygaa pic.twitter.com/jT6ttYDlfg
— Mark O'Connor (@geroconnor82) September 19, 2021
His son Óigí, born in September 2021, takes care of that outside-of-football business too.
“I’m very lucky with the family that I have around me that everyone is very supportive. It’s not easy in a time management sense, but it’s also a great release then when you do come home and Óigí, is there. He’s not really worried about how Kerry are getting on. It’s nice to be able to have that bit of a release as well.”
