Michael Murphy loved his time in DCU.
The Donegal man headed down the country to Dublin after a rip-roaring underage career with his club, his county and his school. Coveted by all the big universities, the lure of the North Dublin college turned his head.
Winning a Sigerson Cup with the Glasnevin outfit in 2012 was an obvious highlight for the Donegal man, but college life in general, his course – physical education and biology, and the social aspects of being away from home for the first time all suited him well.
DCU was the place to be for young GAA players around that time. Aidan Walsh came up from Cork, Paul Flynn stayed in north Dublin for his studies. Donie Shine was in that year, too as was Westmeath’s Kieran Gavin.
As is often the case with the colleges that have GAA high on their agenda, the players are put living together – It makes sense. Lads with similar interests and similar habits make compatible housemates.
It builds friendships, bonds and brings lads closer which is absolutely crucial for a college GAA team. Because these lads are all strangers at first, but after training, cooking and living together for a few weeks, they’ll be thick as thieves.
On top of that, it can be crucial for a lads’ motivation as an eager housemate will inspire – much the same way as a lazy housemate will inhibit.
So Murphy was living with Flynn and Walsh, and that was how it was for every year of their time in DCU. He looks back on those memories fondly.
“Ah I loved it. We had a house in DCU, all of us footballers were living in the one house. You got to live with them, cook with them. You got to know the ins and outs of how they live. That was brilliant,” he told us recently.
“Paul Flynn – I was doing the same course as him and lived with him for four years. Aidan Walsh from Cork was there, Donie Shine from Roscommon, Kieran Gavin was there.
“We battered off one another and got through the time there together.”
The trouble with many of the best young players is that they’re being pulled in every direction – by county senior and under-21 managers, by their clubs and then college.
County training often takes precedence which isn’t ideal for the player themselves – as they’ve to travel home from college for training – and the college team – because they’re without some of their key players at sessions.
Thankfully, managers are becoming more understanding with some letting their players train with their college instead of ordering them home. Players just want to get out in the fresh air and play, and though it was times challenging, he always found a way to fit it all in.
“The one difficulty at that time was managing the different teams, you know, the Sigerson, the under-21s, senior and that.
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“All you want to do at that age, just like now, is just play games of football. Unfortunately, the way the calendar is, it doesn’t really allow you to play games all the time.
“By and large, we were always fairly good training with DCU. The type of training we did was always ball-based, it was something we always went out and enjoyed of a Monday night and a Wednesday,” he said.
The magic of college GAA was something that stuck with him. Meeting the best players from other counties, becoming friends with them, learning from them, building a team with them. That was pride.
“You feel a sense of pride for that team (after a few weeks training.) Wherever you’re coming from, you’re still playing under the one umbrella which was DCU, and Jesus, I loved that.
Flynn and Murphy were two of their county’s hottest underage tickets around that time. Two of the heavyweight counties at senior and under-21 level.
This year is worse than ever for college competitions https://t.co/MfhFwa1JAj
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) January 14, 2018
Though they were in competition on the county scene, that never drove a wedge between their friendship. What happens on the pitch, stays on the pitch.
“He’s beaten me more times than I managed to get one over on him. We were good friends. Both of us went hammer and tongs for our county whenever we met.
“You were never going to speak about massive tactical things, it was always more about training, tipping away and going to the pool together and that. Everything was just light-hearted, living with friends. What we were cooking that evening – that was the main thing.”
That’s college. Those are the best days of lads’ lives.
Michael Murphy launched the third Sport Industry Awards which recognises and rewards excellence in the business of sport, while simultaneously highlighting the contribution of sport to Ireland and will be held at Dublin City Hall on 22nd February 2018.
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