Jack O’Connor doesn’t quibble with the idea that this year’s All-Ireland final looked to have mattered a bit more around the county. He supplied the context.
“For whatever reason, this one seemed to mean a bit more to Kerry people than some of the others. From where we were six weeks out from the final, after the Meath game.”
The now five-time winning manager was speaking after being named the Football Personality of the Year by the Gaelic Writers’ Association, supported by Dalata Hotel Group.
It has been a wonderful, redemptive year for O’Connor, who at the start of what looked his final season had difficulty even assembling a management team.
RM Block
By the end, everything had been achieved: league, Munster, All-Ireland – and the imminent Footballer of the Year award all but secured. The manager and his selectors were appointed for a further two years – extending his third tour of duty with the county to the longest of the three.
Easy.
Except that the progress was anything but linear. The familiar, underwhelming path through Munster – damned if you do and damned if you don’t, with sufficient conviction – led eventually to Kerry’s biggest championship defeat in nearly a quarter of a century.
That nine-point trimming by Meath was a watershed for O’Connor and his team.
“We were down a good few players going into the Meath game and some of those players are critical to the way we play and critical to the tone we set on the field, so that was a factor.
“Plus, we had a fair old spin up to Tullamore whereas Meath had a nice handy run down the road and all those factors come into it. It is a pretty intense season. Maybe a little bit of lethargy had set in.”
Fortunately for Kerry, O’Connor thrives on the challenges of these mid-championship resets. This was the third of his five All-Irelands to have been negotiated in the aftermath of a sobering defeat – albeit that none of the previous speed bumps along the way were quite so unsettling.
It made little difference to last June’s virtuoso 14 unanswered points in 15 minutes to depose champions Armagh.
O’Connor has long emphasised the importance of Croke Park in modern football. This year, with the Football Review Committee (FRC) rule enhancements, the baked summer track on Jones Road was a perfect stage for Kerry to rebuild their campaign. Once again, he led the county to league success as a preliminary and explains the importance of the spring offensive.
“We almost won the league by default, but it’s never any harm. The big thing for us is that it got us a game in Croke Park under the new rules. We were very anxious to get a run out there because it plays different to provincial grounds.
“It’s harder to defend in Croke Park under the new rules. The pitch plays very big. It can be difficult to cover the spaces.”
[ Jack O’Connor confirmed to stay on as Kerry manager for two more years ]
Throughout the most demanding run into an All-Ireland undertaken by a team, Kerry players delivered many great performances. But the majestic form of David Clifford was nonetheless the light at the top of the tree.
Having beaten Cavan, it was Clifford who issued the rallying cry, calling on the Kerry public to get behind the team.
“David has the standing in Kerry that whatever he says goes,” O’Connor says. “If I had said it they might not have responded, but when David said it they did respond.
“He was playing so well this year there were neutral supporters going to games to watch him perform. Why wouldn’t Kerry come out in big numbers?”
Was it Clifford’s best year − after two Footballer of the Year awards?
“I think it was,” his manager says. “In the last couple of years, he hasn’t got a proper break. After winning in 2022, Fossa [his club] went all the way to the All-Ireland junior final and won it. He didn’t have enough of a break. I know he was rested for a while, but he still didn’t get enough of a break.
“The same was true the following year: we made up our mind that winter that he was going to get a proper break so he got the bones of four months by the time he finished his last club game to playing his first start for Kerry which was above in Pomeroy [v Tyrone].
[ The great David Clifford delivers his most complete performance when it matters most ]
“And that was the first time he had enough time to basically switch off and have enough time to do his own bit of work, to come back and be ready to train properly. So it was no wonder he came back really refreshed.
“His first 2025 start in Pomeroy, he scored three goals. That was a big factor. He is possibly hitting his prime, 26 years of age. He was just in great form this year, in great physical shape. Great mental shape.”
The new rules played their part.
“We kicked 32 points against Armagh in the quarter-final. It suits a lot of teams, if they are that way inclined. We’re not the only ones. It gave a fellah like David Clifford a new lease of life.”
O’Connor stepped down after three years of his first appointment, by his own account, “burned out”. Retirement from teaching and greater delegation within the management group have made his current involvement more sustainable.
“So I said it to the lads during the year that we were privileged to be doing something that we love doing; something that gives such satisfaction to a whole county – sure, that’s a great pursuit to be involved in.”
