Niall Grimley of Armagh with his GWA Football Personality of the Year award at the Gaelic Writers Association Awards, supported by the Dalata Hotel Group, at the Iveagh Garden Hotel in Dublin. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
This week summed up what’s been a strange year of incredible highs and devastating lows for Armagh footballer, Niall Grimley.
On Tuesday there was a one-year anniversary mass for his brother Patrick, sister-in-law Ciera, and family friend Ciara McElvanna, who all tragically died in a car accident returning home from Patrick’s surprise 40th anniversary.
The following day, Niall flew out with the rest of the Armagh panel to Miami for the team holiday they earned for their All-Ireland SFC Final triumph last July.
It’s not easy to wrap your emotions around two such different days in quick succession, and Grimley counts himself fortunate to be surrounded by supportive people he has been able to lean on in the last 12 months.
“It was a tough week but only for my wife, my family, my friends, work, Armagh management, Geezer, the impact they have had on me in the past year and stuff I am very thankful,” says Grimley.
“For me it’s been a roller coaster year, the lows have been so low and the highs have been so high. Unusual year. Unusual year.
“We are meeting all these anniversaries and stuff for the first time. Once you get over them you feel a wee bit...and obviously to be able to give my family and community and Armagh the joy of being able to bring the cup back to Madden, my club, it has been a distraction if that makes sense, and it’s kept people busy.
“And it’s brought joy to people when there was sad days and there was dark, dark days. Proud and privileged to be able to bring the cup back.
“You be meeting people now and they be in tears, even at the thought of seeing Sam Magurie, the Cup and even at the thought of being able to hold it and stand beside you and get a photo, people, the joy that it brings, I didn’t realise it. I honestly didn’t realise the joy this cup would bring. It’s beyond anything I ever imagined.
“I never imagined it being this huge. It’s honestly brilliant, unbelievable. I don’t even have a word in my vocabulary, it’s that good.”
Darragh McMullan, left, and Niall Grimley of Armagh lift the Sam Maguire Cup after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Final match between Armagh and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile.
Due to the Armagh team holiday to Miami, Grimley will be unable to attend the Gaelic Writers Association Annual Awards function which is supported by the Dalata Hotel Group this evening, but his parents Brian and Frances will be there in his stead.
They’ll collect the Football Personality of the Year award on his behalf, an honour that’s very well deserved.
He showed great strength of character to channel the grief of his brother’s death into something positive by becoming a powerful advocate for road safety awareness.
And on the pitch he was a colossus, turning in a series of influential performances in the Armagh midfield that played a big part in their All-Ireland success.
That too is a testament to his ability to overcome adversity because he broke his neck in 2022 and then when he finally recovered from that he was sidelined by a ruptured medial collateral ligament in his knee last year.
He didn’t start a single match in this year’s Ulster Championship, but when he was given a chance to impress in the first round of the All-Ireland group phase against Derry he grasped the opportunity with both hands and never looked back.
“In terms of the last couple of years, limited game time but obviously as a footballer you sort of have to keep believing in yourself," says Grimley. "That was my whole thinking. Just keep believing in who you are and what you do and some day it will change.
“We picked up a couple of niggles going into that Derry group game, Ciaran Mackin, who was brilliant for us all year, and Andy Murnin.
“Geezer gave me the nod that day and I am very thankful. He easily could have looked around for someone else. Everyone knows at this stage the competition for places within our squad is quite high, like most squads.
“That’s what drives the standards and stuff. Going in against Derry that was my All-Ireland final and thankfully he gave me the chance. Thankfully he gave me a chance the next day and the next day for the remaining five days.”
Armagh players Mark Shields, right, and Niall Grimley celebrate after their side's victory in the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Final match between Armagh and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.
Now 30, Grimley made his senior debut for Armagh back in 2016. Did he always believe his generation of players had the ability to deliver the Sam Maguire Cup to the Orchard County for only the second ever time?
“When I was 21 and 22, starting off your Armagh senior career, obviously we were up and down in Division 2, Division 3,” he says.
“You always at the back of the head thought, some day that will be us, and you believed it, but when it happens you are in disbelief, ‘nah, I don’t believe it.’
“And the whole time in the back of your mind you are thinking this is really something I want so bad and you are seeing the likes of Tyrone winning and the likes of Dublin and Kerry and stuff and you are thinking ‘Oh my God, will our day come?’
“Then I suppose when we beat Kerry in the semi-final, finals are there for winning.
“They are not there for looking around you and soaking in the atmosphere. Ultimately, you are there to do a job and that was the key message leading into the two week period to put in a performance and have no regrets.
“That was obviously amazing, that feeling at the final whistle, walking up the Hogan Steps with Forker and you visualise it all year and the week leading up to it and then it happens and you are in disbelief.
“Nah, it has been unbelievable, unbelievable moments that I will never forget for the rest of my life.”
It'll be interesting to see what sort of title defenc Armagh mount in 2025. Will their largely unexpected success this year sate the ambition of the group, or will it give them the belief and drive to do it all over again?
“There’s one side of it where you are excited to get going again,” says Grimley. “The other side of it is where you have a target on your back.
“In the same way, Man United, when they were winning all those trophies year after year, every game for us next year is going to be huge and they are going to want to beat the All-Ireland champions.
“One way it is obviously exciting to get back, All-Ireland champions, but you are only as good as your next performance, and basically 2024 is shut.
“Okay, we have our All-Ireland medals, amazing, but it’s a clean slate basically for every single team and the new rules as well.
“So we are obviously excited to get going and it’s going to be brilliant when we do get back training.
“But in terms of each game, I know it will be hot and heavy and we are going out to stop these boys and we are going out with a target on our back, which is part of being a champion as well.
“That’s why you have to admire the likes of Dublin, when they done it five or six years in a row. They kept doing it and doing it and doing it.
“That’s great champions. We won the All-Ireland once, so there is no point stopping now. You want more. You get selfish. You get greedy. You want more. We are definitely excited for 2025.”
