Former Galway footballer Paul Clancy, 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
Paul Clancy won two All-Ireland SFC medals with Galway in 1998 and 2001.
During the following decade, Clancy repeatedly delivered for Maigh Cuilinn on the pitch. In recent times, though, he enjoyed a successful four year stint as club chairman, including a couple of Galway SFC triumphs.
So, how did Clancy transition from decorated player to administrator? “I suppose after I played, I did get involved in the coaching side of things for a while,” Clancy responds.
“Then, I think, it was my own circumstances with work and at home, having kids, with my job, I was travelling for work. I kind of came to a point where I couldn't give the commitment to being on the pitch for coaching. I still wanted to be involved in the GAA in some way.”
The Maigh Cuilinn AGM subsequently occurred. “In my own club, the chairman came up,” Clancy recalls.
“It is like all jobs in the GAA that you get, if you don't say no the first time, it is generally taken as a yes in the GAA. So, I was in as chairman then for four years, and I was able to do that.
“It didn't have the same impact as having been on the pitch has. You can manage the chairman role at night or at the weekends without that tough schedule of being on the pitch.
"It has its own challenges running a club and we were fairly successful for a few years with Maigh Cuilinn.
“Then, the expectations were high. I enjoyed it. I did it for four years and I stepped down last year because you can give it a while and then let somebody else in, to let them have it for a while. Give what you can, when you can, and move on.”
That approach served Maigh Cuilinn and Clancy well. He is a keen observer of all matters Galway football and acknowledges that the landscape is changing in the county. “I think it is tough on some of the rural clubs for numbers,” Clancy says.
Paul Clancy and David Wynne celebrate following Maigh Cuilinn's 2022 Galway SFC success. Photo by Ray Ryan/Sportsfile
“We've been lucky, we are just outside Galway city so we've quite big numbers with a big pool of really talented players coming through. Big numbers has challenges too, getting game time for everybody, but it is fair to say that some of the larger population areas around Galway are doing well.
“Claregalway, Salthill, Maigh Cuilinn, St James', but then you have a big club like Corofin, who have a big parish with big numbers too.
“I think it is a numbers game, but you have to mind the smaller rural clubs. Definitely, the bigger clubs are probably doing better in the last number of years.”
Clancy featured on underage and Galway senior teams alongside Pádraic Joyce, John Divilly, and John Concannon, who are still contributing to the maroon cause. “I think the lads have always been very close,” Clancy says.
“So, they have that friendship and trust. They came through the Hogan Cup teams with Jarlath's and into minor, Padraic and John then into the senior set-up. So, that is one thing about Padraic, he trusts people, he is loyal, and he has brought a good management team together.”
For Clancy it is vital that Galway remain relevant on the national stage. “Getting to the All-Ireland in 2022, I thought we had a huge opportunity to win that one,” he adds.
“Everybody was disappointed after that, but he has built the team. I think he recognises what he needs to win the All-Ireland, he has been building a team and panel over the last number of years. I think we've a lot more strength in depth, that we mightn't have had in 2022.
“When you see the players that have come in this year and developed. Also, I think we've done well out of the U20 team, a lot of those lads are coming through.
“You've mentioned our group coming through from minor and U21 as it was at the time, when you go into a senior panel, and you've a large number of lads that you played with underage, it can translate quite nicely into senior football.”
Joyce, similar to John O’Mahony decades ago, has afforded emerging players opportunities. That will benefit Galway in the long term too.
