Darcy Declan

NAME: Declan Darcy

DATE OF BIRTH: 14/5/70

HEIGHT: 6’

WEIGHT: 13st 7lbs

CLUB: Aughawillan

COUNTY: Leitrim

HONOURS: All Star nomination; Connacht Under 21 medal; All-Ireland B Championship; represented Rest of Ireland and Connacht teams

INTER-COUNTY DEBUT: Leitrim versus Fermanagh 1988

PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: O’Rourke Office Supplies, Cavan town

TOUGHEST OPPONENT: Val Daly (Galway)

FAVOURITE GROUNDS: Croke Park

FAVOURITE POSITION: Centre half back

SPORTING AMBITION: To win an All-Ireland medal

DO YOU PLAY ANY OTHER SPORTS: Hockey, badminton, swimming

BOYHOOD HEROES: Jack O’Shea, John Egan, Kevin Moran

FAVOURITE PLAYER: Martin O’Connell

ANY GOOD SPORTING YARN: One of our players eating grass in front of his opponent before a championship game to try and frighten him in 1990, it didn’t work!!

BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON CAREER: Frank D’Arcy, Terry Leddy, Aiden Sweeney

WAYS OF IMPROVING THE GAME: Offer more achievements for players who put so much into the game, whether they are from Leitrim or Dublin

DISLIKES ABOUT THE GAA: Lack of effort put into the people that make the GAA and that’s the players

BEST GAME SEEN: Dublin versus Meath 1991

PLAYERS WITH A PROMISING FUTURE: Derek Duggan, Gerry Holahan, Peter Canavan

HOPES FOR 1992: To beat Roscommon

TIP FOR THE FUTURE: My younger brother Kenneth

CAN LEITRIM OVERCOME THAT ROSCOMMON HURDLE IN 1992? Eventually we will, we have crawled for the last 2-3 years, now it’s time we walked

AND WHAT ABOUT ONE TONY MCMANUS? One of the greats and that’s all I’d like to say

WOULD YOU PREFER TO BE PLAYING THE GAME IN CARRICK OR AT DR. HYDE PARK? It makes no difference, a football pitch in Roscommon is no different to a pitch in Leitrim

YOUR OPINION OF PJ CARROLL? Great trainer, motivator and great dedication. All in all a good manager

DO YOU REGRET NOT DECLARING FOR A CITY CLUB AND THE DUBLIN SENIOR TEAM? Yes, I do, because it was always my dream to play for my home county and still is

DOES THE TRAVELLING UP AND DOWN TO LEITRIM FROM DUBLIN EVER GET TIRESOME? It is very tiring, but the will to succeed keeps you going

SOME SAY YOU ARE MORE A MIDFIELDER OR AN ATTACKING HALF BACK. IN WHAT POSITION DO YOU FEEL MORE AT HOME: Centre half back. You see everything that’s going on in the game, plus the fact that there isn’t a huge amount of good centre half forwards

LEITRIM HAD A FANATICAL FOLLOWING THESE PAST TWO YEARS, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR SUPPORT? Brilliant. Sometimes shy, but otherwise invaluable

CAN YOU WIN THE CONNACHT TITLE THIS SUMMER? If I didn’t think we would win I wouldn’t be playing

Taken from Hogan Stand magazine
7th February 1992
Vol 2 No 41