Firies won the Kerry Junior Football Premier Championship this year.
By Cian O’Connell
Firies persevered. Tough defeats were endured, but they merely served to make the proud Kerry outfit stronger. That is why the AIB Munster Club JFC journey is being embraced.
Preparing for a provincial decider on and off the field of play, Firies chairperson Tom Kelliher acknowledges the distance travelled by the club in the past decade is significant, ahead of Saturday’s clash against Cork’s Kilmurry. “I've been chairman on a couple of occasions, this is my third time, it is nice when things are going well,” Kelliher says.
“Still, it is the people that keep it going when things aren't going well. That is what paves the way for having days like this. It is always the people that will take a team even though they know at the start of the year that they won't win anything, they'll try to get the best they can out of it.
“As the man says, you keep taking part in competitions all the time. Success comes then. If you throw in the towel the year things aren't going well, nothing is ever going to happen.”
In an ultra-competitive Kerry Premier Junior Championship Firies found a way in 2024. Drama was never far away. “The Kerry Junior Premier is very hard to win,” Kelliher explains.
“In the last nine finals, only one of them was won in normal time, every other one went to a replay or extra-time. So, you know how hard a competition that is to win.
“We were beaten after extra-time in 2017. Last year, fair enough, in the round robin the eventual winners knocked us out on scoring difference - Listowel. This group of players has been very good for us, they were relegated, went to the junior final got beaten, came back in 2022 to win.
“They were the best team in it. Of the team starting the next day, only two of them will be over 25. They're a young bunch.”
Former Kerry player Jack Sherwood has missed a number of recent Firies matches due to injury. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
That provides a source of optimism too. At underage level Firies are beginning to thrive. Numbers are increasing, silverware is being accumulated. It all matters in the long run.
Kelliher highlights the value of a decent minor team in 2017. “We've seven of that panel, five or six who'd be starters, we went on our in own Kerry in the 2017 county minor championship, you'd have divisional teams,” Kelliher says.
“East Kerry were so strong we'd only get about two on the team, max. We made it as far as a county minor semi-final, so there was a lot of work done with those as minors. They have come through and we've people coming through every year.
“We're near Farranfore at one end. We're between four big towns - Castleisland, Tralee, Killorglin, and Killarney.”
Further talent is being developed. “It is a population growth area,” Kelliher adds. “We're talking about fielding a second team at U16 this year, we've done it all along up to U14. We've numbers in the parish, and we've a bunch of dedicated coaches too at underage level. That is showing now with the seniors.
“For the first time our U15s represented Kerry in the Féile, last year they won Division One in the county. They were beaten in a Division One Final this year, but they won Féile and won East Kerry.
“So, they are competitive at the top end of underage. You can have numbers, but if you don't have a coaching set-up for that, it doesn't happen either.”
Kelliher is enthusiastic about the fact that Firies are improving in the juvenile ranks. “We had a team which featured Jack Sherwood, who is injured, and the captain Michael Daly was on, they won an East Kerry minor championship which is very hard.
It has been a very successful campaign for Firies.
“You'd have four or five senior clubs always like Crokes, Legion, Rathmore, Spa, Kilcummin. It would be the strongest division in Kerry for football. We won that in 2009, but the Celtic Tiger blew up, people went everywhere.
“They all probably played at adult level when they were 19, a lot of them, but by the time they were 21, they were scattered everywhere.”
So, Firies are embracing this occasion. The trips outside the county bring joy, while the community and team has forged an important connection, helping to shorten the winter. “It is great,” Kelliher says.
“When we went up to play Fenor in Waterford, one of the players said to me afterwards, that when they went on to the pitch in Walsh Park, the shout and cheer they got, they couldn't get over the amount of people that travelled.
“That ties in every way with the club. You've people going to these games that mightn't normally go, you have the support then for fundraising and various things.
“They will volunteer for other things. This competition is a great competition. It isn't because Kerry clubs have won it or we're competitive, it is just very, very good for junior and intermediate clubs. Fair enough, we know going in we've a chance of winning a Munster junior, but next year we won't be in that competition.
“We're gone up to where we want - up to intermediate. That gives those games an edge too, everyone wants to win because they know it is their one chance of winning it.”
Something else has helped create unity: sky blue jerseys. “We're the only club in Kerry that plays in sky blue, the Dublin colours,” Kelliher laughs. “It is a fabulous colour to have if you're involved in a club here because there is never a clash of colours.
The Firies club is carrying out significant work at underage level.
“Two clubs in the county never clash with anyone, the other is Brosna, they play in saffron jerseys. You've about 10 playing in green jerseys. We played at one stage with a set of green jerseys - it was the greatest curse - because it is nearly always the away team that changes colours, you'd be turning the jerseys inside out and everything.
“There is a massive identity now for us with the blue and white. There is a fierce pride in all the youngsters and players, that we're the only ones in the county.”
Kelliher respects Kilmurry and what they’ve achieved in Cork. “I'd know a few people involved in Kilmurry, they aren't so far away from us,” he says. “We'd know them in a different way, through farming.
“That is the good thing, we're playing a club in Cork, but they are only maybe 40 miles away from us. One of their top forwards, Liam Wall, his grandfather won a junior All-Ireland with Kerry from his mother's side. So, you've those sort of links.
“The Cork junior is very hard to win. What I've seen since the All-Ireland series came in, Finuge and Ardfert went all the way, there has been a massive interest in the junior and intermediate championships in Kerry. Clubs saw that if they won that there was a road forward too.”
Staying on the adventure can be difficult, but Firies have demonstrated admirable battling qualities. “The best thing to say is both Kerry semi-finals went to extra-time and penalties,” Kelliher remarks.
“The best four teams were in the semi-finals, we won on penalties and the club we beat in the final, Ardfert won on penalties.
“It could easily have been the other two clubs in the final, it was that tight. It is a great competition, it is a hard competition to play in, so there is a fabulous sense of achievement when you win in those situations.”
