As the current Armagh team try to write themselves into the history books on Sunday, Brendan Crossan takes a trip down memory lane with 2002 All-Ireland winning forward Stevie McDonnell and finds the Killeavy man still misses his playing days but remains in love with the game, warts and all…
Brendan Crossan: Is there a more fanatical group of supporters in the country than Armagh?
Stevie McDonnell: They are absolutely brilliant. I get to see it from a different perspective now [from when I was playing]. You see the colour all around the county and it’s great for our generation of kids to witness it… My daughter, Cliona, was six-months old the day we won the All-Ireland in 2002. It’s great for my four kids to experience this now. When we reached the All-Ireland final, I realised it was massive and what we were doing for people in general was important. As a player, I took a lot from that.
BC: Did you think you’d embrace being an Armagh supporter as much as you have done since your playing days ended?
SMcD: I’m not going to say that I go to every Armagh game - I don’t, but I watch every Armagh game. Before I had the honour of playing for Armagh, I was a supporter, and it was always going to be the case I’d go back and support them when I finished playing. I managed the U21s for a couple of years, so Armagh is very much ingrained in me.
BC: What were you thinking during the first half of the All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry?
SMcD: I don’t think Armagh were at their best; even in the second half. I still think there is improvement in those players. I was concerned they weren’t getting the ball up the field as quickly as they should have been doing and maybe weren’t taking opportunities.
But we were only four points down at half-time. What I have learned about this team over the last number of games is that they don’t panic – they’re playing with a calmness now.
When they got that goal chance, they took it through Barry McCambridge. After that, Armagh took control of the game… Aidan Forker scored two invaluable points in the second half to keep Armagh in the game. They were probably the most critical scores because we stayed within scoring distance.
BC: Which players do you like in this current Armagh squad?
SMcD: I like all of them, I like the way they’re set up as a team. But when you’re narrowing it down, I think Aaron McKay is a unique full-back. He’s been consistently good for Armagh over the last three or four seasons. I like Barry McCambridge. He’s one of the best man-markers in the game and also puts his man on the back foot by getting up the field and taking crucial scores.
And what Niall Grimley has been through this year and the performances he’s put in, you have to sit back and give him massive credit for the way he’s managed himself.
Aidan Forker deserves huge credit - an absolutely outstanding player, as is Rory Grugan – both of whom have been playing for Armagh for over 10 years.
And when Rian [O’Neill] is on form there is nobody better. You look at them as a team and they’re starting to get what it’s about and what it takes to be successful.
For that, huge credit must go to the management team because they have found a way of taking the right players off and putting the right players on at the right times. That has been crucial to Armagh’s run to the final.
BC: People were calling for Geezer’s head numerous times over the last 10 years. As a supporter, how did you feel about it?
SMcD: I’ve said for the last five or six years that Armagh had the panel to go and compete at the highest level. When I look back what I was saying, there were missing links. ‘Turbo’ [Conor Turbitt] wasn’t in the squad, and he’s made a massive difference. Oisin Conaty has been brilliant this year, and Tiernan Kelly. They are different cogs that have come in. I was probably naïve when I was saying they could compete four or five years ago.
The management team have put together a squad that can compete with the best.
Did I ever lose faith in Geezer? I never did. I was always a supporter of him. He was a brilliant team-mate and he’s a great friend. It’s easy for people in our position to be critical and not know how a player is performing in training...
Listen, Geezer’s got plenty of things wrong, but he’s got a hell of a lot of things right too.
He’s a strong-minded character and many a man would have walked, but he didn’t. Very few management teams have the calibre of coaches of Kieran Donaghy, Ciaran McKeever, Conleith Gilligan. They’ve won All-Irelands at different levels – they’re all winners.
BC: Do you miss your playing days?
SMcD: I miss them like hell. You’ll never replace your playing days. You’re kicking every ball. I must be a nightmare to sit beside.
BC: Did you struggle after you finished playing for Armagh?
SMcD: Yeah, it was difficult. I probably struggled more four or five years ago than I do now. When I finished playing, I did media work and got involved in managing the U21s, so you always had a hand in. I’m absolutely honoured to have managed the U21s. It’s remarkable the number of players have broken through to the senior team.
I had Blaine Hughes, Greg McCabe, Aidan Nugent, Ciaron O’Hanlon, Jemar Hall, Connaire Mackin, Aaron McKay, Ethan Rafferty, Joe McElroy, Niall Grimley …
I knew they were more than capable of going on to play senior football.
BC: When you look at Armagh’s bench it’s like for like in a lot of instances…
SMcD: You look at the calibre of player that’s coming in. ‘Soupy’ Campbell would start in any team. Oisin O’Neill starts in most teams. Ross McQuillan too. Aidan Nugent…
BC: You could have made a case for Ross McQuillan as man-of-the-match when he came off the bench against Kerry…
SMcD: He was unbelievable. The speed at which he took off to score a point and he also caught a crucial kick-out in extra-time as well. That is another part of the brilliant work that Geezer has done – keeping those boys happy and hungry. He has all those boys pulling for the greater good of Armagh football.
BC: When did you finish with Armagh?
SMcD: My last game was 2011 against Tyrone in the Championship.
BC: In hindsight, was it the right time to go?
SMcD: No, I possibly could have stayed on another year because in my last Championship game I still scored seven points – but I always said I wanted to go out on my terms. I wanted to give the club one or two good years. In 2012, I captained the club to the intermediate title. Would that have happened if I was still with the county? I’m not so sure. I know I could have played on with Armagh for maybe two more years, possibly three.
BC: What do you like and dislike about today’s game?
SMcD: You know what, over the last couple of weeks – probably since the Derry-Kerry games – I’ve realised that maybe Armagh are doing a hell of a lot right. And we’re always going to say our own era was better. I think football in the Noughties was outstanding. It was more direct, kicking football, it was brilliant. Today, the game is more possession-based.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? If you watch our games with Tyrone from 2005 you will see a hell of a lot of mistakes in them – you’ll probably see less mistakes in the game now because players are less inclined to make that 40 or 50-yard kick pass – so when they do try it, you absolutely love to see it.
What do I love about the game now? We are often very critical of it but there seems to be more scores. Any game when you’re generating 17, 18, 19 scores, we can’t have much to complain about. Maybe the way teams go about trying to get those scores can frustrate supporters but they’re still getting them.
I also love the fitness levels of today’s players – they are just on a different level compared to when we were playing. They are total athletes, very, very committed. The levels that they go to in order to play county football is something beyond measure.
I don’t think I could play county football now because of the commitment levels. At least I don’t think I could.
BC: Some of the shots that you would have taken on would be outlawed by coaches now…
SMcD: Yeah. Definitely!
BC: Coaches are not interested in how the game looks; they’re interested in executing all the skills – and if that bores the life out of supporters, so be it. They are not interested in that. So, sometimes coaches are the worst people to talk to about today’s game and the opposite end of that are supporters who just want to be entertained.
I do feel that today’s game removes the maverick. Geezer’s Kildare team was shoot-on-sight and kill the ball – fantastic shooters like Johnny Doyle.
You just wouldn’t see a team doing that now and you kind of miss that. While the game is making more rounded players, I think they’re losing a bit of flair in that process…
SMcD: When you look back, I would have hit shots from different angles that wouldn’t be allowed now. Some of the points Stevie O’Neill took wouldn’t be allowed now. The ‘Gooch’. You mentioned Johnny Doyle – some of his point taking was breathtaking. And players like Paddy Bradley. They were players that took a chance; I’m not saying they don’t take a chance now. I don’t think I would have had the courage to take the shot that Rian O’Neill took on against Kerry. That was just ridiculous stuff. So, players are taking risks but probably not the same amount of risks that our generation would have taken.
BC: Who was the best player you played with?
SMcD: Oisin. When you really needed something to happen, he could make it happen. He never shirked responsibility, he demanded the ball and was an inspirational footballer.
BC: Who was the best team-mate you ever played with?
SMcD: It’s hard to narrow it down. ‘Geezer’. [Paul] McGrane and Diarmaid Marsden. They were outstanding team-mates.
BC: What years got away from Armagh?
SMcD: 2005.
BC: Not 2004?
SMcD: Possibly. But the football we played in ‘05 was the best. We went on an 18-match unbeaten run that season. Ourselves and Tyrone were playing outstanding football at the time and if we’d beaten Tyrone in the semi-final, we would have beaten Kerry in the final.
We had the likes of Aaron Kernan, Brian Mallon and Ciaran McKeever coming through – they were crucial for Armagh to evolve. The 2005 team was the best that I played on.
BC: When did you think the opportunity of winning a second All-Ireland was gone with Armagh?
SMcD: I think in 2009 was one of those years where serious doubts were creeping in, even though we’d won an Ulster title the year before. I just didn’t think we were going to get back, although Dublin only beat us by three points in 2010, so we were still competitive.