Even now, 21 years after he kept goal for Meath in 1990 All-Ireland football final against Cork, Donal Smyth is as involved in the GAA as ever. Since bringing the curtain down on a medal-laden playing career in 1998, he has been keeping himself busy as a referee and a team manager.

Last December, members of Navan O'Mahony's 1985 SFC and SHC-winning teams reunited to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of their famous double. Among them was Donal Smyth, the former Meath goalkeeper who is now better known as a referee on the local club scene.
One of only five players to win both senior football and hurling medals for the Brews Hill club that year (Joe Cassells, Gary O'Hare, Mick Dineen and the late Ben Tansey were the others), Donal has been refereeing in both codes since 2004 and, while many view the role of a match official as a thankless job, he doesn't see it that way.

"Nothing beats playing, but this is the next best thing to that. It's the closest I'll get to kicking a ball or pucking a sliothar at this stage of my life," says the Navan-based garda, who also managed the St. Ultan's intermediate football team this year.
"Whenever they (the county board) want a referee, whether it's for an under 12 or senior match, be it in hurling or football, I'm usually there for them. I find the hurling easier to referee because the ball moves a lot faster and there aren't as many stoppages as in football. But I get great enjoyment out of refereeing both codes and my only regret is that I didn't get into it sooner."
Had Donal taken up the whistle a decade earlier, the chances are he'd have become an inter-county referee.

"Refereeing was something I always wanted to do, but when I did finally get around to it, I was too old to start refereeing inter-county games. Anyone who's on the inter-county panel nowadays has been at it since they were 19 or 20. You're not going to get inter-county games if you've taken up refereeing at 40," explains Smyth, whose biggest refereeing assignment to date has been the drawn 2008 SHC final between Kilmessan and Kildalkey.
"I did the referee's course with Jimmy Henry and Joe Harlin (of the Meath Referees' Association) seven years ago and have since refereed at all grades in Meath. I'm also a qualified referee's tutor now and have been running the line and acting as a fourth official at inter-county level for the past four years.

"I was fourth official for last year's All-Ireland SHC qualifier between Antrim and Dublin and for last year's All-Ireland club IFC final between Cookstown from Tyrone and Kerry's Spa, both of which were played in Croke Park. It's great to be able to go around the country and see the different players, managers and referees in action at the top level. You'd learn a lot from them."
Married to Bríd, Donal has three sons - Jason, Ronan and Dylan. While all three are into sport, eldest son Jason has followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a referee at the age of just 21.

"Jason had an operation on his knee a few years ago which meant that he couldn't play football any longer, so he decided to take up the refereeing instead and seems to be doing well at it. He has a good attitude towards it and that goes a long way," the 48-year-old says.
Smyth's experience of having played at the highest level has stood him in good stead as both a referee and manager. Originally from Leixlip in Co. Kildare, he moved to Navan in 1977 after his father took up employment at Tara Mines and he began playing football and hurling with the De La Salle juvenile club, which acted as a nursery for Navan O'Mahony's until 1989. Donal enjoyed a hugely successful career with O'Mahony's which saw him garner minor, under 21 and senior and intermediate championship honours, some of which were in both codes. He is the holder of a remarkable seven SFC medals (1981, '85, '87-'90 and '87) and two SHC medals (1985 and '86). He played virtually all of his senior football career in goal, recalling how O'Mahony's had an abundance of talent to fill the outfield positions.

"I played senior football for O'Mahony's for the best part of 20 years and all bar one of those years I played in goal," he remembers.
"It was a fantastic time to be an O'Mahony's player because of all the success we had. I consider myself very lucky to have played alongside great footballers like Joe Cassells, David Beggy, Finian Murtagh and Ben Tansey. The four-in-a-row team was a special team and I always look back on those days with great fondness."

Donal had the bizarre distinction of playing under 16 hurling for Kildare against Meath and for Meath against Kildare before going on to captain the Meath minor football team which lost the 1981 Leinster final to Dublin by 0-9 to 1-8. He had established himself on Sean Boylan's senior panel by 1984 when Meath won the Centenary Cup. That success heralded a golden era that saw the Royals win five Leinster SFC titles between 1986 and '91, and two All-Irelands in 1987 and '88.
Donal was sub-goalkeeper to Mickey McQuillan in those All-Ireland winning years, but was first choice when Meath lost the 1990 All-Ireland final to Cork.

"While it was a big disappointment to lose that final, it was an incredible experience just to be involved. I feel very privileged to have got the opportunity to play in an All-Ireland final. It's what every player dreams of, but only a select few get the opportunity. By starting the 1990 final, it justified the medals I had won in '87 and '88 as sub-goalkeeper," he says.
A hand injury sustained in 1996, which Donal had belated surgery on, forced him to bring the curtain down on his illustrious playing career in 1998. He became involved in management and enjoyed instant success with Clogherinkoe who he guided to a Kildare JFC title at their fourth attempt that same year.

After two years with Clogherinkoe - the club of former Kildare forward Padraig Gravin - he had stints in charge of Moylagh and St. Michael's. He was also involved with the Meath U16s and was a minor selector under Paddy Carr when a Brendan Murphy-inspired Carlow surprisingly knocked them out of the Leinster championship in 2007. In 2010, he was part of the Navan O'Mahony's senior football management team that was headed up by Finian Murtagh.
This year, he took on the task of managing a St. Ultan's team that struggled to cope with the loss of 14 players from their 2008 IFC-winning panel through emigration.

"It was very disheartening for the players as well as myself. St. Ultan's have been hit harder than most by emigration, but there is no point complaining about it and wondering if the lads who are in Australia would have made a difference. In fairness to the lads who were there this year, they gave me everything and I couldn't ask for anymore than that," he concludes. Tweet

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