When news spread of Martin Flanagan's "retirement" from inter-county football late last year it was viewed as the end of an era by Westmeath supporters. But in a rare interview, the man affectionately known as 'Flan' has refused to rule out the prospect of him pulling on the maroon jersey again, while he also looks back on a career of highs and lows with club and county.

Martin Flanagan has refused to close the door on his Westmeath football career, despite reports last November that he had exited the inter-county scene.
After thrilling Lake County fans with his array of skills and match-winning heroics over the past 15 years, the laid-back Tyrrellspass clubman owes Westmeath absolutely nothing. But even at 35 and after a plethora of injuries, the desire to play for his county remains as great as ever.
While accepting that the chances of new Westmeath manager Pat Flanagan - who is embarking on a major rebuilding job with the team - recalling him to the fold are slim, 'Flan' would have no hesitation in making his services available if he felt his fitness levels were up to the required standard.
Regardless of what the future holds, Flanagan has already assured himself of a special place in the hearts of Westmeath supporters. A brilliant footballer who never really got the recognition he deserved on the national stage, he is an icon and inspiration for every up-and-coming footballer in the county. Many long-time observers of Westmeath football consider him to be the most naturally gifted footballer the county has ever produced. What other Westmeath footballer could have scored that breathtaking individual goal, when a mazy solo run from midfield saw him ghost past several defenders before he blasted to the corner of the net, in the Lake County's 2000 Leinster championship victory over Laois in Tullamore?
After first coming to notice with the famous Longford football nursery St. Mel's who he captained to a Leinster Colleges SFC 'A' title in 1994, he quickly graduated to the Westmeath senior ranks and won National League Division 2 medals in 2001, '03 and '08. But tragically, injury forced him to miss the Lake County's finest hour - the winning of the Leinster championship in 2004.
At club level, Martin has won three senior championship medals with Tyrrellspass - 1999, 2006 and '07. He also helped St. Brigid's to two intermediate hurling championship triumphs in 1995 and 2000 after beginning his hurling career in the Castletown-Geoghegan colours. In addition, he won under 16, minor and under 21 football championship medals with Clann Braonain, who are a combination of Tyrrellspass, St. Mary's and Milltownpass.
A native of Lowertown, Kilbeggan, he now lives on the outskirts of Mullingar with his wife Theresa and sons Gary (16) and Aaron (10). The two boys play underage football with Shandonagh.
The following is a 'Questions and Answers' style interview conducted with the Westmeath legend:
How did you become interested in football? I first kicked a ball in Rahugh National School. From there, I started playing underage with Tyrrellspass. I trained with Kilbeggan a couple of times, but never played for them. After I finished National School, I spent a year in Tullamore CBS before heading off to St. Mel's where I was a boarder for four years. That's where my interest in football really started to grow. We won the Leinster Colleges titles in 1994, beating a very good Mullingar CBS along the way, before losing to a star-studded St. Jarlath's of Tuam in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Tell us about your underage days with Westmeath? I played minor for the county in 1993 and '94. We had a very strong team in '94, which some say was better than the '95 team that won the All-Ireland. The likes of Brian Morley, Neil Dolan, David McKinley, David Mitchell, Damien Healy and Damien Gavin were all on the team. Both after beating Louth easily in Castletown-Geoghegan, we came a cropper against Carlow down in Dr Cullen Park. We kicked something like 20 wides and were beaten by a point.
I was with the county under 21s for four years - 1994, '95, '96 and '97. We lost the '95 and '97 Leinster finals to Offaly and Meath respectively. Meath also beat us in the '96 semi-final after a great game, while Laois beat us after a replay in the '94 semi-final. At the time, Westmeath were still awaiting their first Leinster under 21 title and it felt like the breakthrough was never going to happen.
When did you make your senior debut for Westmeath? It was against Cavan in a National League game in Breffni Park in February 1995. Mattie Kerrigan brought me onto the panel for the start of the campaign the previous October, but that was the first game I started. Cavan beat us by a couple of points, but we won the rest of our games, with the exception of a draw against Longford, and were promoted to Division 2.
That was our second successive year to win promotion and hopes were high going into the Leinster championship. I made my championship debut in the first round win over Wexford, but we then suffered a disastrous 0-9 to 0-3 defeat to Wicklow in Athlone. I'll never forget that scoreline!
What were the highlights? There were many, but our eight-game championship run in 2001 tends to stick out. It was Luke Dempsey's first year as senior manager and we had built up serious momentum by the time we beat Cork in the National League Division 2 final at Croke Park. But then we lost to Meath in the first round of the Leinster championship by a point after leading by six at one stage.
Thankfully, the backdoor was there for us and we made the most of us with wins over Wexford, Limerick Louth and Mayo. We beat Mayo, who were the National League Division 1 champions at the time, after extra-time in Hyde Park. That was one of the most memorable games I played in. There must have been 20,000 Westmeath supporters in the ground that night.
We met Meath in the All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park and they beat us after a replay after we had been nine points up in the drawn game. We were playing great football at the time and banging in lots of goals. I'd say we were at our peak then. But our downfall was our naivety. We should never have allowed Meath back into those games.
We also won the National League Division 2 title in 2003 and '08. We had a great win over Dublin in the '08 final and beat some very good teams on our way to the final. We still haven't received our medals yet, mind you.
We were very well organised defensively and got over Longford and Offaly in the championship before losing to Dublin by two points in Croke Park. We missed a lot of chances that day and should have beaten them.
It was the same against Tyrone in the qualifiers, we had the chances to beat them, even when we went down to 13 players, but didn't take them.
With the club, I've had some great days also. We lost the 1994 senior final to Mullingar Shamrocks, but came back five years later to win our first at Athlone's expense. We won back-to-back titles in 2006 and '07 and reached the Leinster club final in the latter year when we lost to the eventual All-Ireland champions St. Vincent's.
I also appreciate the various individual awards I've won, which include GPA and Vodafone Player of the Month awards.
And the lowlights? The biggest single regret I have - and this may come as a surprise to people - was losing to Meath in 2003. It was gut wrenching not to win the first day in Croke Park when Dessie (Dolan) missed that free in the last minute. I was named RTE Man of the Match, but it was no consolation to me. We lost the replay down in Portlaoise and I genuinely felt we missed a great chance to win out Leinster that year. It was going to happen, but unfortunately for Luke Dempsey, it didn't happen under his tenure.
I felt sorry for Luke because he had built up that team from minor level and deserved to win a Leinster with those players. He left a very strong base for Paidi O Se who, of course, won the Leinster the following year.
Surely you regret not being part of the 2004 Leinster championship-winning panel? I do, but I wouldn't swap a Leinster medal for the senior championships I've won with Tyrrellspass. It was terribly disappointing and you're always reminded of it when you see the photos up on the wall of pubs and houses. But that's life and I've gotten over it a long time ago.
The fact of the matter is I wasn't fit to play in 2004. I had hurt my left ankle when playing for Tyrrellspass in the previous year's senior relegation playoff against St. Mary's and I had to have surgery on it. I knew once the ground got hard that I wouldn't be fit to play so I went for surgery in March. I had further complications after that and twisted my other ankle in an inter-firms game for Van Nelle just before the Derry game (the All-Ireland quarter-final). There was a possibility that I could have rejoined the panel for that game, but the injury put paid to that.
You've had your fair share of injuries down the years. Were they difficult to cope with? At times, you'd get frustrated but I've always managed to come back from them. Obviously I missed out on a Leinster medal in 2004 because of injury and I hardly kicked a ball for Westmeath in 2005 and 2006 either. I made my comeback in the 2006 county quarter-final for Tyrrellspass against St. Malachy's and we went on to win the championship that year. That was the sweetest of the three championships I've won given the injury problems I had over the previous couple of seasons.
I stayed relatively injury-free until 2008 when I did my cruciate against Offaly in the Leinster championship in Tullamore. That was a big setback because I was probably as fit as I'd ever been and playing the best football of my career at midfield.
I've never found it too hard to get back to full fitness because I don't carry weight. If anything, I tried to put it on to give myself a greater physical presence around midfield.
Can you explain why you are such a hit with the fans? It's probably because I used to be drinking with them in the pub after games! Seriously, though, I think they took to me because I tried to do things out of the ordinary and would never shy away from a goal chance when it came my way.
On the negative side, it annoys me when players are verbally abused by fans. I wouldn't go and watch Westmeath play because of that. I'd rather listen to the games on the radio. I'm not a good spectator, especially when I know I could be out there playing myself.
Do you believe you can still offer something at the highest level? If I can get myself fit over the next few months and stay injury-free, I think I could still do a job for Westmeath. Unlike other players, I never officially announced my retirement. It was all paper talk. I definitely want to play on for Tyrrellspass and we'll see what happens regarding Westmeath. Never say never.
What are your views on the current state of the Westmeath football team? Pat Flanagan obviously has a big job on his hands to try and get the confidence going again. People have been critical of the defensive game he is employing, but you can understand why he wants to batten down the hatches after the terrible run of results Westmeath have had over the past two years.
Replacing five or six players who had been there for the last 10 years isn't an easy task, but knowing Pat from his time with Tyrrellspass, it's a challenge he will relish. We've got some great under 21 players at the moment and the future looks bright. But it's going to take time. Tweet

Most Read Stories