‘It’s been a fairly interesting few years’ - Sligo’s Pat Spillane is carving out his own path

He’s not fussed whether you go with the suffix or not. Pat Spillane Junior or Pat Spillane, it doesn’t much matter.

A couple of years ago, contemplating his name even appearing on a match day programme in any form for an All-Ireland SFC game against Dublin would have been absurd. Unless it was one of those nostalgic pieces recounting that much vaunted era during which his dad’s Kerry teams danced with the Dubs.

When Templenoe played an All-Ireland intermediate club semi-final against Oughterard in January 2020, Spillane didn’t make the starting team. He had struggled to get his place throughout the 2019 season and mostly featured off the bench. The Kerry champions lost to Oughterard, with Spillane coming off the bench in the closing stages but unable to change the outcome.

But by that stage, life outside of the game had already taken him to Dublin. At the end of Templenoe’s All-Ireland campaign, the plan was to take a break from football and perhaps play some basketball while living and working in the capital, he would blend in with city life and build a career in marketing.

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Playing football in Dublin wasn’t exactly part of the plan, but with a gentle nudge he was persuaded to join the St Jude’s club and just tip away at whatever level he wanted. When games returned in the summer of 2020, after the first Covid lockdown, Spillane played with the Templeogue outfit’s intermediate side, their second team.

“I really enjoyed that time with the intermediates, found myself really enjoying my football,” remembers Spillane. “I was called in then with the seniors for the last two games of the championship that year. It just all kind of went from there.”

The following November he lined out in the Dublin SFC final, and his outstanding performances during that campaign prompted Sligo to explore the possibility of him wearing black. Spillane’s mother, Rosarii, is from Sligo and under the GAA’s parentage rule he was eligible to play for the Yeats County.

After briefly mulling the opportunity over, Spillane linked up with the Sligo squad ahead of the 2022 league campaign and made his debut against Wexford at the end of January. Hamstring injuries curtailed his involvement last year but 2023 has been a breakout season at intercounty level for the 25-year-old.

He is one of only 10 players to have featured in all 14 of Sligo’s competitive games and is the team’s top scorer from open play this season with 3-20.

“It has been a fairly interesting few years,” he smiles. “I wouldn’t have expected three years ago to be saying I’m playing in the Dublin club championship and intercounty with Sligo. The way it has worked out, starting with the intermediates and ending up here, it has been a bit of a whirlwind.”

On Sunday Spillane comes face to face with his rapid progress when Sligo meet Dublin at Breffni Park. One of Dublin’s regulars this season, Tom Lahiff, is Spillane’s clubmate in the capital.

“I’m really looking forward to playing against Tom,” says Spillane. “He’s an exceptional footballer and with the club Tom is also the leader of the group – on and off the pitch.

“He is somebody I’ve definitely learned a lot from over the last few years, he’s a brilliant fellah. It will be a funny one coming up against him, almost feels a bit full circle.”

Growing up, while always aware of his family’s proud footballing lineage, for Spillane the possibility of pulling on the green and gold of Kerry never seemed an obtainable goal. His cousins, and neighbours down home, Killian and Adrian Spillane, featured in last year’s All-Ireland final, as did Templenoe’s Tadhg Morley while Gavin Crowley was part of the match day squad. But Kerry wasn’t on Spillane’s radar.

“No, it wouldn’t have been a realistic option,” he admits. “Even with Templenoe I wouldn’t have been a nailed-on starter, I was coming off the bench in my last year.”

He was always aware of the Sligo connection, but pursuing an intercounty career out west was not something he had actively pursued either.

“When the call came, it was a surprise, it came out of the blue,” he recalls. “I took a bit of time to think about it and then went for it.”

The graph of his football trajectory has been rocket-ship vertical over the last three years and his parents have been on-board for the adventure too – Pat and Rosarii are Sligo match-day regulars.

“They love it, I think they have been at nearly every game this year,” he says.

His dad is one of the game’s most decorated footballers and his family one of the most storied in the history of Irish sport.

But for a certain generation, Pat Spillane Senior is better known as an outspoken, sometimes cranky but invariably engaging, former Sunday Game analyst. And while Spillane Junior might not always agree with his dad’s viewpoint, he can respect it. What he says is what he believes.

And when it came to pulling on a Sligo jersey, it didn’t matter who his father was or what perceived pedigree he had – Spillane was aware he would sink or swim on his own ability.

“It was never really mentioned,” he continues. “You might get the odd dig about it all right, but mainly you are your own player. When I first came in, I was given a great welcome by the players, it wasn’t said to me at all.”

One of Pat Spillane Junior’s key attributes is his athleticism, he has a huge engine and regularly drifts out to the middle third to play a hard-running game for Sligo where he drives at the opposition from deep. If he was a late bloomer, he’s been making up for lost time.

“It has all happened so quickly and to be fair I’d say the biggest catalyst for my development has been Dublin club football,” he explains.

“St Jude’s have been brilliant to me, I’ve learned so much from the players and coaches in the club. Equally with Sligo, I’ve picked up so much and this year especially has gone well, a lot of that has to do with confidence and minutes on the pitch.

“Even getting used to playing with the lads is another important aspect, you get to know what runs guys like to make, all of that comes with time and experience.

“I’ve probably got a bit sharper on the ball too this year, and I’m more tuned in and comfortable with the pace of the game.”

Another cousin, Darragh Spillane – son of Mick – plays for Cuala and has represented Dublin at Under-21 level.

And if Pat Spillane is now proving to be a high achiever on the field himself, it is only mirroring his professional life where he works as a brand manager for Lucozade Sport with Suntory Beverage and Food. Last month he was named 2023 Young Marketer of the Year in the industry’s prestigious All-Ireland marketing awards.

“It was a nice one to take home,” he smiles.

The general consensus is Sligo will be heading home from Cavan on Sunday evening with nothing picked up apart from a significant learning experience. The Yeats County could yet snatch a place in the knockout stages, but is anybody really expecting them to do so?

“We are all relishing the challenge,” adds Spillane. “It’s a lovely position for us to be coming in, externally there are low expectations, there’s no pressure on us as such, but we are still alive, we can still get through.

“The biggest thing we took from the Galway, Kildare and Roscommon games is that we are able to play football against these sides. I don’t think the gap is as insurmountable as we probably thought it was beforehand.

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“Roscommon beat us the last day, but we had some good spells during the game. We are not just turning up for the experience, we are turning up to play and hopefully make an impact.”

Later this summer he will once again be hoping to make an impact in the Dublin senior football championship for St Jude’s, with Lahiff then by his side. The aim is to win the club’s first ever senior title.

“We’ll be playing together again in a few weeks when this all wraps up,” adds Spillane. “The lads have been going really well in the league, so hopefully we will give the championship a go.”

Before all of that, this weekend a son of blue-blooded Kerry football stock will be back in black, representing Sligo and measuring himself against the Dubs. A new spin on an old Spillane family tradition.

Pat Spillane Junior. Pat Spillane. Either way, he’s carving out his own path these days.