By Cian O’Connell

“I have loved every minute playing for Mayo,” Kevin McLoughlin says reflecting back on almost two decades representing green and red teams at various grades.

“When I was young - everyone wants to play for Mayo - but I never thought that far ahead when I was that age. I obviously wanted to get on the Mayo minor team, I managed to do that. In time when you're a little bit older, I really wanted to get on the U21 team.”

A call from Mayo manager John O’Mahony in 2009 ensured McLoughlin was added to the senior panel.

“In a way when John O'Mahony rang me to go up training it came as a bit of a shock,” McLoughlin reflects. “I was only 19 when I was asked to come up, it came at a young age when I wasn't really expecting it.

“I didn't even realise it was on the radar, but at the time I had been playing well with my club and the U21s. It has really been a part of my life when you add up all of those different years together.”

Ultimately the past week has been a time for reflection. “First of all, it has been lovely getting messages, people texting and calling,” McLoughlin says. “So that is something I really didn't expect, I've enjoyed in one way.”

McLoughlin, though, is content. “In one sense it looked like it came out all of a sudden, but my decision to call it a day happened really 12 months ago,” he reveals.

“I wasn't 100 per cent sure at the end of last year whether I was going to go back after the Kerry game up in Croke Park. I suppose after reflecting on the year that had just gone, a few ups and downs, probably chatting to Kevin (McStay) a bit, what he would want from me.

“I said I'd give it one more go to see how it goes. This decision it wasn't a rash decision, it wasn't made up in the last two weeks. In reality it was made up 12 months ago.”

In recent years several Mayo players have retired so McLoughlin was ready, willing, and able to assist the emerging talent in McStay’s panel.

“There is a strong bunch of younger fellas coming through,” he replies. “Obviously part of the reason going back was I felt I could help them with the experience and whatever. At the back of it all I really wanted to play, I wanted to get on the team, I wanted to get minutes.

“Any day I didn't get those things I always had to think what can I do better personally - stay fit, improve my training, whatever. That was my mindset when I went back.”

During his Mayo career McLoughlin has fulfilled various roles on the field of play. Did the ability to embrace challenges come naturally to the Knockmore clubman? “Possibly, at the end of the day when you're a player, particularly at county level, you just want to get playing,” McLoughlin replies.

“Typically, players have certain positions, but I'd say if you ask the majority of players on a given day to play a different position, if it meant they were going to start, I'd say the majority would be happy to fill out that role. It doesn't always happen for different reasons.

“Some players are better at very specific things. I was adaptable and it was probably in relation to my youth, probably coming from a relatively rural club.

“We do have a strong senior team, but our underage teams aren't always typically very strong. So even within my own age group I had to be adaptable.

“Some days I was a midfielder, some days I was a back, some days I was a forward. Maybe that is where the versatility came from or originated from.”

McLoughlin’s inter-county career was during a time when Mayo were serious All-Ireland contenders from 2011 on. “When I came in around 2009, in those two or three years ‘09, ‘10, and ‘11 there was a massive turnaround of players, probably even more so than the last two or three years even though it seems like there has been a turnaround,” McLoughlin says.

“I feel ‘09-‘11 there was a mass exodus of that group of players from the noughties. A lot of young guys came in at that time, nearly all at once.

“In 2011, even though it turned out to be quite a significantly big year, it could have stopped before it even started. We had a close one against London. Thankfully we got over that, we managed to pull some good performances together throughout the year.”

Lessons were learned in Ruislip. Mayo survived and subsequently thrived. When asked whether any campaign lingers in the memory, McLoughlin’s stresses the value of 2011 in his Mayo journey.

“The only year that I feel was very significant for my time there was probably the year of 2011,” he says.

“Just because we finished on quite a whimper in 2010 losing to Longford. Probably morale within the group and morale from the supporters was maybe at an all time low.

“I think the run we went on in 2011, even though we came up short against a very strong Kerry team, it lifted the spirit of not only the players, but the county.

“We just got a lot of confidence from that. Fans started attending more, confidence grew over the years. It was a strong team, but very youthful, and the inexperience maybe played to our advantage to a certain extent.”

With three children under the age of three McLoughlin, a teacher at Rice College in Westport, remains busy. “The last two years, in particular, really wouldn't have been possible without my wife, Deirdre,” he says.

“She has been the rock at home, particularly this year. Having three kids, all of them under three. It has been very busy. It has been busy for me, but it has been at least double that for my wife.

“In order for me to commit I needed my wife to be onboard and needed both of our families to be onboard for helping. They were willing to put in the sacrifice, I know I had to put in a sacrifice to play, but they had to put in equally as big a sacrifice, if not more.”

McLoughlin’s passion for football and Knockmore isn’t diminishing. “Maybe in our parish there is very little to do, except football,” he laughs.

“It definitely something we take great pride in - representing Knockmore with our senior team. We have been lucky with some good young players coming through in the last four or five years.

“There is always room for improvement, we are always trying to get better, we are always looking for new talent and different ways to try to win.”

That attitude and approach served Mayo well.