Monaghan whistle blower Pat McEnaney has said that he is ready to retire from inter-county refereeing.

Bar an unexpected call up to referee this year's All-Ireland SFC final, the Corduff man, who is considered one of the top refs in the game, will have officiated his last championship game in Kerry's recent quarter-final win over Limerick and is ready to bow out as he approaches the age of 50.

"It's coming to a stage in my life where the National League doesn't excite me anymore," McEnaney told the Irish Mail on Sunday.

"It's a bit like an inter-county player, when he doesn't want to play the National League, but he'll play championship. Once that begins to happen it's time to look at where you're going.

"It's only the championship matches and the cut grass that gets me. While the thought of going up to referee Derry and Tyrone in the National League might excite a young referee, it takes the championship to excite me at the minute.

"I need to move on. I need to do other things. I'm doing a lot of cycling at the minute, a bit of mountain-climbing, kayaking - stuff that I never had time to do in my life. I've a couple of good juvenile teams I'm looking after. That's going well. Refereeing is a bit of an individual thing; it's a bit me fein.

"I didn't know if I'd like managing players but I enjoy coaching young fellas because I have a belief in the way the game should be played. To me, all young fellas should be naturally two-footed, or if it's playing a pass, left hand, right hand."

As for the possibility of following in the footsteps of his brother Seamus and pursuing a career in inter-county management, McEnaney stated: "It's not beyond the bounds." Tweet

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