Shane Walsh travelled up and down from Dublin to Galway all year but having confirmed his intention to play his club football for Kilmacud Crokes for the foreseeable, he says that the two and a half hour round-trip ‘certainly takes its toll on the body.’
Along with his Kilkerrin-Clonberne club-mate and Galway selector John Divilly, Walsh trekked up and down in the early months of the year but, seeing as he wants ‘to keep playing for as long as he can,’ the 29-year-old has made the decision to transfer from his home club to the Dublin-based club.
“I’m living and studying in Dublin now so it’s the right move for me at this point in my career,” Walsh said in a statement that he released today.
“Kilmacud Crokes are a great club and it would be a wonderful challenge,” he added.
“Thanks to John (Divilly) I’ve got a lift from him to training from Dublin a number of times throughout the season but travel certainly takes its toll on the body. I love football and want to keep playing for as long as I can,” he continued.
Walsh has been living in Dublin for the last while and is studying, in the Portobello Institute, to become a Physical Education teacher. He had worked with Bank of Ireland for a number of years but told us in an interview last year about his reasons for the change in his career path.
“I’m doing P.E in Portobello Institute in Dublin. It’s a change up in career paths and I’m looking forward to it now. I spent a good while with Bank of Ireland there for the last four and a half years and it’s nice to change it up because I do think it’s something that suits me. Down the line, I would like to get into coaching, and I’d like to start it in the grass-roots.
“I think I can help players who, like me, wanted to learn the basics of the game first because, when you get lads at 17/18, they’ve effectively learned all the skills. The skills of the game are the most important thing for me like, and you learn them at a young age, that’s the reason why I’m playing with Galway. I’ve always backed myself then on the back of that there.”
Walsh lit up Croke Park recently with one of the great All-Ireland final performances. He is widely regarded as one of the most skilful players in the country. It’s no surprise then, that his home club would like to hold onto him and their chairman Ian Hynes said that they “are going to fight this all the way.”
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