Padraig Hampsey has known nothing but elite level action throughout a highly decorated career with club and county.
But he’s currently battling to save one of Tyrone’s most famous clubs from relegation.
Coalisland were county champions just four years ago, but now they’re struggling to hold on to the senior status they have held
for almost four unbroken decades.
Hampsey was on the championship-winning Fianna side of 2018, and he climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand to lift the
Sam Maguire Cup for Tyrone in 2021, but those joyous occasions seem a world away from the series of relegation play-offs the club is currently consumed by.
They won the first of those crucial battles at the weekend, defeating Moortown by 1-10 to 0-4 to send the lough shore side crashing into Division Two, but they must win another sudden death tie against a promotion hopeful in order to hold on to senior status.
“The future of Coalisland Fianna is about staying in Division One, about the lads coming behind us, the generations ahead of us,” he said.
“That’s what we talked about before the game. That’s what we tried to emphasise over the past number of weeks in training, and thankfully we got a big performance.
“It’s been a while since we pulled away in a game. A lot of our games this year have been nip and tuck, maybe a point or two swing either way, so we were just glad to get over the line.”
Hampsey was delighted with the spirit shown by the team as it faced into one of the club’s most important games in years.
“Whenever things aren’t going your way, you struggle to get a performance, but thankfully the lads showed a bit of fight and character, and that’s what the spirit of the Blues is about in this club.
“We knew what was ahead of us. Moortown are a tough team and have been this last couple of years. Even in the Championship, they put up a great challenge against Errigal Ciaran, but lost out by a few points.
“We knew what was ahead of us, but thankfully, the lads dug deep and put in the good performance that was needed.”
But the job is not done yet, and Coalisland have another crunch game against the team that emerges from the Division Two promotion play-off series.
“Our aim is to stay in Division One, but we know it will not be easy with what’s ahead of us.
“We still have another one ahead of us, out of the Division Two play-offs, so we’re not there yet.”
“It’s looking like three or four weeks down the line now, maybe the 19th of November.”
Coalisland have struggled for form since the early days of the League campaign, never managing to lift themselves out of the relegation zone, and a cloud continues to hang over Fr Peter Campbell Park.
“It’s been a tough year. We had a good enough championship run, losing out to Ardboe in extra-time, but we have had a tough League with injuries and stuff like that.
“But thankfully the lads have stuck at it over this last number of weeks in training, and put their shoulder to the wheel, but we have a tough game ahead of us in a few weeks’ time.”
