“A likeable rogue.”
When Philly McMahon talks about Paddy Christie, the legendary Dublin footballer, a fellow Ballymun man, and a former coach of his, you can just feel the appreciation and gratitude coursing through his veins and flowing through his voice.
Paddy Christie coached Philly McMahon, and many other current Dublin stars, like Dean Rock, like James McCarthy, John Small, Davy Byrne and more right through their underage career.
If there was ever a quote to sum up just how pivotal this man has been in giving the youths of Ballymun an opportunity, in directing them towards something positive, then it came from Philly McMahon on Friday night’s Late Late Show.
“The smart thing about Paddy Christie was that he understood the energy that the kids of Ballymun had, and he could take that energy and put it into a sport, and what that man has done is incredible. He’s saved a lot of lives,” said the five-time All-Ireland winner.
“He played for Dublin, and unfortunately, he never won an All-Ireland, but he has his hand on probably 20 odd medals because of the players that he pushed through,” he continued in a powerful moment of respect.
Christie didn’t just talk about fixing the problems in Ballymun. He went out and got his hands dirty, he coached and encouraged a bunch down the right path, when the wrong path could have been taken just as easily.
These kids were full of energy, full of the joys of life, but sometimes this enthusiasm brought them down the wrong way, the way that Paddy Christie helped steer them clear of.
The former Dublin full back was in the audience on Friday night, and he was asked to give a yarn about this enthusiasm, this likeable roguery in Philly McMahon.
He had no hesitation in journeying back to a run down Ballymun Kickhams team bus on its way to Meath for an underage game.
McMahon is well known for his competitiveness and his determination that borderlines roguery on the field of play, and he had that in him from a young age.
“A likeable rogue is how I would describe him,” began the former Dublin minor boss.
“We were coming back from Meath one day, I think it was Meath, anyway, Philly, you’d remember more than me now I’m getting old,” he recalled.
“We were going to Meath, and one of the lads with him, from the same block of flats, Davy Byrne (Current Dublin teammate), he started getting sick on the back of the bus, which was a great start to the day, you know?
“So there was chaos there, I was trying to clean it all up with a plastic bag. And Coming back, you know, it was hard work with some of these lads,” said Christie.
“We were on the bus, and Philly will tell you all about the bus, it wasn’t great,” he recalled.
“I’m in the back of the bus, trying to control a fight between a few fellas, and I see Philly walking up through the bus, coming from behind, with a Lucozade bottle, and he went and poured it all on the bus driver’s head,” laughed Christie.
“The bus driver turned around and he said, ‘Paddy, he’s after pouring drink on my head.’ I said, ‘It’s just water.’
“Around five minutes later, he shouts back, ‘Paddy,’ and I was trying to be as deaf as possible, because I knew what was coming. ‘Are you sure that was water? Because my hands are stuck to the steering wheel!'”
The Dubs love Philly McMahon. For many others, he’s public enemy number one but one thing none of us can deny is just how much of a role model the man is, and that was shown by his stunningly brave interview on the Late Late Show on Friday night.
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