It’s probably inevitable when you have a brother like David, but Paudie Clifford has been making waves for Kerry for the past two years without even being the most famous footballer in his family.
Sunday brought him and the team a first All-Ireland medal with victory over Galway in the final. That evening he was included in RTE’s ‘Sunday Game’ team of the year, a follow-up to last year’s All Star.
The season had throbbed with the pressure of the county needing to win a first All-Ireland in eight years and that is reflected in Clifford’s thoughts on the match.
“It’s a good feeling all right. It’s relief more than anything, really, just to get over the line. We knew how tough the game was going to be and we’re just delighted to get through it. There was a lot of pressure on us this year and it’s great to get over the line.
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“It’ll be easier to go back to training in January as All-Ireland champions than trying to lift it again. We’re delighted.”
The achievement was a chapter of incremental improvement, tightening the game plan and learning to win close matches. There is a particular satisfaction at having beaten Dublin, winners of six All-Irelands since Kerry’s last, and Mayo, four times finalists in the same period, en route to this year’s win.
Having beaten Dublin in a closely contested semi-final, the onus was on the players to go recapture Sam Maguire.
“Yeah, I suppose there would have been nothing worse than losing the final. Dublin was a big game for us. Emotionally it was a big game but we knew we had to get back at it and we knew Galway were going to pose a different challenge which they did. We went back at it, we analysed Galway for what they are.”
His personal performances have been consistent, scoring 0-2 in all matches except the Mayo quarter-final. Up until Sunday, he had played every minute of Kerry’s five championship matches and even then, he wasn’t replaced until two minutes before the end of injury time.
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Although two years older than David, his brother had to wait until 2020 — two years after winning a junior All-Ireland with the county — to make his senior debut, eventually vindicating his patience and commitment.
“Yeah it is, that’s probably a good way to describe it. It’s been a lot of hard work, a lot of years of not being picked and yeah, a lot of failures along the way. But it feels good now.”
He says that his brother was a big help in his persevering.
“He was in fairness and I always enjoyed playing with my club, so that was what kept me going. When I played with my club, I loved it and we had great craic after games and craic at training.
“So there was never anything to say anything like, oh, you’re not going to play football any more? All I had to do was play well, keep doing my thing and just hope that maybe I would get called up.”
His first two years ended in disappointment, the first in an empty Páirc Uí Chaoimh when Cork sprang a winning goal, with just seconds on the clock. Then last year, again after extra time, it was Tyrone who edged them out with David Clifford having gone off and watching, injured in the stand.
All came good at the weekend, which made it a special occasion for the family.
“They’re massive football people so they’re delighted. They’d be going to Kerry games anyway but I suppose it makes it extra special for them. Yeah, it’s great for them.”
