Aughnamullen Sarsfields' legend Brendan Hamill got his just deserts last January when he was inducted into the county's Hall of Fame. His knees are sore at times and he's in very little doubt but that a touch of arthritus has set in. Despite the pains and aches, Brendan Hamill hasn't one iota of regret about soldiering on the playing fields with Aughnamullen and Monaghan for years and years. He's pretty pleased with his football innings and the glint in his eye says as much. Pointedly it's a glint that competes with the glint of the 2003 Hall of Fame trophy he received at last January's Northern Standard/Monaghan GAA awards night at the Hillgrove Hotel. But back to the knees. One wonders was it his time playing on home ground or during his sojourn across the Irish Sea that did the damage? "Couldn't tell ye," he instinctively answers. "But all I can tell you is that the football wasn't as good in England or as rough as it was in Monaghan back then," Brendan adds. So no cries in Luton of 'play away, never mind the ball' then. Brendan doesn't think the footballers in and around the London area trained as hard as the gaels back home. He reckons it was a long way off being a 'win at all costs' game in England. "The social angle to the games far outweighed the importance of the matches, as far as I could see. "I was a pioneer so I didn't go in for any big sessions but most of the fellas enjoyed themselves BEFORE and after the games in those days." As a so-called 'freelance' footballer in those days in England, the highly-rated Hamill was in big demand, of course. Brendan and the other well-honed footballers from Latton and Scotstown who made the trip to the English capital in search of much-needed work interspersed with a season or three with one or other GAA club there. Brendan went to London and worked on the buildings. He had a brother and two two sisters already ensconced in the city so didn't want for support or advice. However, as things turned out, Brendan was the only one among those named who returned to the old sod. He doesn't deny that Gaelic football was the big draw. Lucky for Aughnamullen, lucky for Monaghan that Brendan returned. One wonders how both parties would have fared without his services as a tenacious, fearless defender. Did he scare the pants of all and sundry in Monaghan and beyond with a 'thou shalt not pass' mantra? He laughs a great hearty laugh and almost makes you feel someone put you astray. "I didn't get near a lot of those fellas to do any harm," he quips. "I played mostly as a corner-back and I was happy to stay in my position. "Luckily the corner-forwards didn't roam then either but there were a lot of dangerous forwards around and you had to be on your toes all the time. "I never counted myself as a dirty player though and I wouldn't say the game back then was dirty either." A jocular man for whom media-friendly would be an apt description, the bold Brendan isn't so much defensive about the game of old as genuinely honest in the way he viewed it and still views it. "I don't remember any matches being abandoned. "The refs let a fair bit go alright but there was no falseness around and everyone was the best of friends after the game, no matter which way it went." A man who played for the pride of the parish and county and love of the game, Brendan wasn't overly decorated during his playing career but what he did win was quality. A product of Laggan National School, Brendan didn't sport the best of football pedigrees but that didn't hold him back. He says his great, great grandfather won a championship with Lough Egish though so he didn't pick up his talent off the ground either. Still, as a youngster he was devoid of any organised football at home 'till minor level. "Whatever football was organised, we organised ourselves," he explains. Great club matches against the likes of Latton and Cremartin were all the rage back then but the glittering prizes somehow eluded him. His first medal of any kind, as such, didn't come around 'till 1956. He was 19 that year and he fairly hit the jackpot. Brendan first donned the blue of Aughnamullen Sarsfields in the same year the club was inaugurated, 1954. He was an immediate hit with the Sarsfields, players and supporters and he gained due respect and admiration from opponents and opposing supporters alike. Brendan's star rocketed almost from the outset of his playing career. He figured on the club team that claimed the county junior championship title when the Sarsfields defeated Cremartin in the 1957 county decider. By that stage, of course, he had provincial and All-Ireland championship medals to his name. The sterling defender was a collousus as he helped Monaghan to the Ulster and All-Ireland Junior Football Championship titles - Monaghan's first national titles the year previous. Despite his tender years, the rookie countyman proved to be a real rock, a veritable pillar in the heart of the Monaghan defence as they proceeded to beat the best of the rest, provincial and countrywide. Understandably, he has really fond memories of '56 and he's glad to say that only four of that team have passed on to date. "It was a great team, the best team I ever played on. The team had a lot of great characters too. "We were all great pals and it was great craic in those days." Fulsome in his praise of the talents of such former football luminaries as Seamus McElroy (Latton), Ollie O'Rourke (Inniskeen), Dessie Ward (Ballybay), Dessie McGuigan (Clones), John Tavey (Donaghmoyne) and Paddy McGuigan (Cremartin), the former Sarsfields hero always played in the backline and he was glad to do so. "I remember playing just once or twice in the forwards. "I scored the winning goal one day against Clones but there weren't very many other good days and I was glad to go back to the defence," adds Brendan who was good enough to be called up for trials for the Ulster Railway Cup team. And then there was his stint up front when Aughnamullen defeated Castleblayney in the final of the Dr. Ward Cup in 1964. All the time though, he was sent for at the back. In that regard, it must be said that many's the day, Brendan was called back to the defence to 'steady the ship' for Aughnamullen. That's not to say the club hadn't its fair share of stars. Indeed when the club defeated Cremartin to win the junior championship final of 1957, Brendan reckons the likes of Peter Ward, Pakie Ward and Ownie McMahon were as good as anything in the county at that time. "That was a sweet one because they (Cremartin) had beaten us earlier in the year in the league," Brendan recalls. After the '57 decider, he set sail for Luton and won a senior championship medal with St. Vincent's in 1962. He returned home a year later though and promptly took up where he had let off in starring for club and county. Trouble with his knees prompted him to retire from the game before sixties were over. But he stayed with the club and helped steer the Sarsfields to intermediate title wins in 1972, '73 and '78. Later he served as vice-chairman of the club. Currently he is one of Aughnamullen's honourary presidents. Deeply honoured by his induction into the Hall of Fame, Brendan says that he is confident that his beloved Sarsfields can reap the benefits of their hard work at underage level in the next few years. "A few of the lads have retired from the team in the last couple of years and new young blood is badly wanted right now," he opines. Now 67 years young, Brendan looks in as good a shape as ever despite the knee trouble which first flared up in a senior game against Cavan in '57 when he came up against mercurial attackers like Charlie Gallagher and Victor Sherlock. Although no longer an active committee man or mentor with Aughnamullen, Brendan remains a very keen supporter of the Sarsfields and likes to attend as many matches as he can. "If they keep up the good work with the juveniles, it'll not be too long before we're back at the top," Brendan insists. Now if only the rank and file in Aughnamullen could bottle that sort of enthusiasm and optimism! Tweet

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