DERRY defender Liam McGoldrick believes that playing inter-county football long-term has become increasingly difficult because of the length of the season.
In a feature interview in today’s Irish News, the 23-year-old defender reveals that he took the year out in 2017 because it was impossible to manage his final year studies at Queen’s University with playing for Derry.
The Eoghan Rua clubman has played just two seasons in the red and white in total, one under Brian McIver and one under Damian Barton, and has yet to start a championship game.
He admits that the time commitment required to commit to inter-county football was a source of frustration during periods of inactivity on the subs bench.
“I can’t see myself playing for Derry after the next five or six years. The main part of your life is between 20 and 30, in terms of both playing football and doing things.
“There’s so much I’d love to do. You see other people going away, you think it looks class, and you’re sitting at home.
“I don’t think county football is going to be a long-term thing for many people any more, definitely not. I don’t know if Derry’s different to other counties but the turnover of players is huge.
“It’s definitely not a long-term thing. I don’t know what it was like back in the day, but now it’s a 10-month commitment.
“The only time you’re not playing is after you’re beaten in the club championship, and fairly quickly after that you’re getting messages about training again.”
McGoldrick, who is the seventh sibling to play at the senior grade for the county after brothers Barry, Sean Leo, Ciaran and Colm, and camog sisters Gráinne and Meabh, feels that the general public still has a lack of appreciation for the level of commitment required.
“There’s no way people understand the training, but it’s not even the training, it’s the lifestyle. It’s fairly natural [to me] I suppose, standards are fairly high at Eoghan Rua.
“Playing for an inter-county team is seriously intense. People think the season starts in January but you’re maybe training from early November or before it.
“To go from Belfast, you maybe leave at 5pm and you’re not back until 11pm. That’s maybe Tuesday and Thursday, and you’re playing at the weekend, but then Monday and Wednesday you have to go to the gym and meet up with people in Belfast. That was the biggest reason I didn’t play last year.
“Before I’d played for Derry two years, once with Brian and once with Damian [Barton]. I’d started one qualifier with Damian.
“It looks like you’re throwing the head up because you’re not starting but you’re weighing it up and saying ‘If I go and play for Derry, I’ll not be able to do this as regards uni.’ Then it becomes a risk.
“I’m not throwing the head up. I was involved at 21 and 22, and sitting on the bench, but you’re thinking: ‘If I put this time into Derry and not uni, there’s still a high chance I could be sitting on the bench, it’s not going to be worth it’.
”I’m not a regular Derry starter and never have been, and what happens if it comes and I’ve done all this training and missing class, and I’m only a sub?
“You have to weigh it up. I’ve never been a Derry starter. Uni was the main reason I didn’t play. It was a bit annoying people thinking you didn’t want to play because you just wanted to play for the club.”
