Former Armagh footballer Justin McNulty, pictured today for AIB, who have brought back the AIB Volunteer VIP competition for the second year in a row, offering lucky winners the chance to win a money can’t buy experience on the morning of the GAA All-Ireland Senior football Final, as well as tickets to the match. Entry to the AIB Volunteer VIP competition is open now and will close at midnight on July 25th. To enter, visit www.aibvolunteervip.com. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
By Cian O’Connell
As a senior inter-county manager with Laois, Justin McNulty knows about the value, importance, and pressure associated with high level sport.
So, on All-Ireland SFC Final week, McNulty is eager to acknowledge the contributions made by Armagh’s Kieran McGeeney and Galway’s Pádraic Joyce.
Reaching Sunday’s decider at Croke Park illustrates the work carried out for a considerable spell by Armagh and Galway. From a young age McNulty knew about McGeeney’s leadership and sheer love for Armagh. “I played for the same club as Geezer, I know him for a long time, and I'm honoured to call him my friend,” McNulty says.
“I can remember Geezer making his senior debut for Mullaghbawn in Knockbridge in County Louth on a sunny Sunday evening. I was playing U12, he was making his debut for Mullaghbawn seniors as a 14 year old.”
Only a few years later McNulty remembers the impact McGeeney’s words had on impressionable teenagers. “I can remember coming back to the Regency Hotel for the post match banquet after the minors were defeated in 1992,” McNulty remembers.
“I was in the Armagh minor squad, my twin brother was playing. We went back to the Regency, having being defeated in a heart breaking manner against Meath. A senior Armagh player came to speak to a group of us minors after that match when we were waiting for the meal to be served.
“He called us into a room, that senior player was Kieran McGeeney. He said: 'I know you're hurting and that the pain is horrendous.
“For him to have done that as a young senior inter-county footballer, to meet the minors, to talk about the future, to talk about building from that. A number of players from that minor team went on to win an All-Ireland, it was significant.”
So, McNulty’s respect and admiration for McGeeney runs deep. “An ultimate competitor, an ultimate warrior,” McNulty adds. “For him to have held that dressing room for 10 years, despite the doubters, despite the negativity that was directed towards him from numerous quarters.
Pádraic Joyce and Kieran McGeeney before Galway and Armagh's clash in the group stages of the 2024 All-Ireland SFC. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
“It is just extraordinary the strength he has exhibited, the resilience, the mental toughness. That is reflected in his team and the squad that he has built. Hopefully we will be good enough to get over the line, but there are no guarantees.”
Joyce shares some of the same traits and qualities as McGeeney according to McNulty. “Likewise, Padraic Joyce, having played against him, having marked him, I know he is teak tough,” McNulty says.
“He was a lethal forward, a lethal, lethal scorer. I'm honoured to have marked him, I've huge respect for him. I know the Armagh players and the Armagh management team have huge respect for him, the same for (John) Divilly and Cian O'Neill, that is a huge coaching team they have.”
McGeeney and Joyce’s coolness and durability impresses McNulty. “For those guys to carry the pressure that they are under from within their own counties with the naysayers, to keep going, to keep a positive environment, to keep a positive team ethos around that, I think they deserve nothing, but credit,” McNulty says.
“For Padraic Joyce, to bounce back, to drag them back to an All-Ireland final, it is phenomenal, but he won't be happy with that. He knows that they were nearly there a few years ago. The potential little advantage Galway have coming into this, is that final experience.
“You can't underestimate the value of having that experience for a team and players. It doesn't guarantee anything, but it is important probably to have those players in a more comfortable position than the Armagh players coming into their first final.”
In Armagh football is dominating the conversations and McNulty relishes the feel good factor that currently exists. “There is a huge sense of euphoria in Armagh, the county is going mad,” he says. “It is fever pitch, there is an absolute frenzy for tickets.
“There is a real sense of excitement, it is almost like we are all walking on water with the excitement, and the lift it has given the county.
“I can't understate how much a lift this has given, the team and management has given to us fans. That is who I am, first and foremost, I'm an Armagh fan. For the whole county, it is all people are talking about.”
