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GAA

19th Oct 2021

Derry club win county final factfile games with extravagant set of jobs

Lee Costello

One of them said they were a pet food taster.

The match day programmes often provide a bit of light reading before big games, you often spend a fiver on it, read the first page, glance at an article, then it’s used for shelter or to shade your eyes from the sun.

The lads from Magherafelt Rossa however, were determined to give you value for your money, and when choosing answering the question about their occupation, they got pretty creative.

Anton McElhone declared himself to be a ‘Stadium announcer,’ while 19-year-old Declan Martin is a handy man to have in a field giving his experience as a “Horse whisperer.”

In fairness, it makes a change to the usual “Teacher” or “Accountant” professions that would typically be listed next to the occupation questions for GAA players.

A part of you kind of hopes that some of them are true, like why couldn’t Joe Keenan be a “Sheep shearer?” And maybe the goalkeeper Odhran Lynch is a “Little Mix roadie.”

I mean, someone has to do these jobs after all, and fair play to the lads from Magherafelt who are clearly very busy outside of their footballing loves.

The 2019 champions, and last year’s finalists exited from the championship at the hands of Coleraine in a thrilling game that went to extra time.

However, this will now at least free up their time to explore their many talents and career paths, away from the football field.