STEFAN Campbell? Rory Grugan? Jamie Clarke? What about Rian O’Neill – the pair have a bit of previous after all. No matter what way you turned, Declan Bonner wouldn’t have been short of options when weighing up where best to station Odhran McFadden-Ferry tomorrow.
Unfortunately for the Donegal boss, though, he won’t have that luxury as the Gaoth Dobhair dog of war has defensive duties of an entirely different kind to take care of over 3,000 miles away from Kingspan Breffni Park.
On Tuesday McFadden-Ferry flew out to Lebanon for a six month tour of duty with the Irish Defence Forces so, instead of getting to grips with an opponent on the field, he will be getting used to new surroundings near the Israeli border.
Having made the county breakthrough last year, missing out on Donegal’s Championship campaign wasn’t in his thoughts but when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, best laid plans were thrown straight out the window.
“If it wasn’t for Covid it would have been a nearly perfect tour because where I might have missed a bit of club, if we’d got that far, I wouldn’t have missed any of the county scene,” said the 22-year-old, who is based at the Finner camp between Bundoran and Ballyshannon.
“That’s why I chose this one about a year ago. There’s always summer and winter trips but I wanted the winter one so I could be back in time for Championship next year with Donegal, but the way everything’s happened, Championship’s in winter now.
“Finner is leading this tour too so all my friends are going… it was just very hard to say no.”
Despite the disappointment of missing out on big days, a career as a soldier is something he has longed for since the earliest of days, with his family connections to the army dating right back to World War One.
“I’d have a lot of family who were involved in the American military,” said McFadden-Ferry, who holds the rank of Private.
“We went to West Point [the US military academy] when I was 10 or 11, one of our relations on my dad’s side had trained up officers for the first and second World War. One of the officers he trained was actually Dwight Eisenhower [34th President of the United States], they were friends, and there was a memorial for him.
“His son, Frank Matone, fought in the second World War, he was a fighter pilot in the Pacific campaign. We were over meeting all of them, and from that point on I just wanted to be in the army.”
On the field, there was a certain military precision in the way McFadden-Ferry went about the man-marking jobs that first brought him onto the radar of Bonner and former Mayo boss Stephen Rochford, now a key part of the Tir Chonaill management team.
Niall O'Donnell, Ciaran Thompson, Leo McLoone and Marty O'Reilly all found him too close for company as Gaoth Dobhair ended a 12-year wait to land the Donegal Championship in 2018.
He shadowed Rian O’Neill on a forgettable day for Crossmaglen in the Ulster semi-final before Scotstown’s Kieran Hughes barely touched leather in the provincial decider.
And even though Gaoth Dobhair lost the All-Ireland final to all-conquering Corofin, McFadden-Ferry added to his burgeoning reputation by holding Micheal Lundy scoreless before the Galway man’s second half black card.
After being drafted into the Donegal set-up, his first game in county colours came on one of the biggest stages of all – the Ulster final against Cavan. Tasked with keeping Breffni playmaker Martin Reilly quiet, McFadden-Ferry didn’t disappoint.
Coming up against a side with such an embarrassment of attacking riches as Kieran McGeeney’s Orchardmen tomorrow, McFadden-Ferry would have relished being sent into the trenches.
“Ah look, we had to isolate at a camp in Wicklow for a couple of weeks before flying out so I watched the Tyrone match on my iPad in my pod. It was weird now... it made me very homesick. I just wanted to be there.
“It was actually horrible to watch, it feels nearly like being injured and you’re watching your team go on, but I’m delighted to see them doing well.
“I still text all the boys, I’d be in contact with them regularly, so I’m still in the loop. And then there’s a few boys from Tyrone here so it was good to have a wee bit of slagging over them.
“But I don’t even know where I’ll get to watch the match on Saturday. My uncle was out in Lebanon last year and he was able to watch the Ulster final when we beat Cavan, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to stream in some way.
“I’ve always wanted to be in the army so this is a big moment for me, my first tour, but it is so hard to leave the football. But then, the way I’m looking at it, what time do I have left playing football? Maybe 10 years?
“It was my decision and I’d rather get my trip done now when I’m younger and after that I can pick and choose when I want to go. Hopefully next time things will work out to plan.”
