John Small has no regrets about hanging up his inter-county boots.

The seven-time All-Ireland SFC winning defender found himself in the unfamiliar role of spectator as his former Dublin team-mates – including younger brother Paddy – opened their Allianz Football League campaign with a defeat to Donegal at Croke Park last Saturday evening.

“I actually enjoyed going to watch it. It was nice to bring Charlie (his son) along, he got to watch his uncle play. He’s starting to ask more about the games now so it was good,” the Ballymun Kickhams clubman told reporters at the launch of ‘Are You in The Guaranteed Irish Club’ community reward programme.

“I thought it was a natural ending, I’d made my decision, I had a good chat with Ger [Brennan] on it, chatted with him twice and he gave me time to consider what I wanted to do.

“I just came back and said, ‘Listen, I think the best thing is – new group, new start.’ I just wanted to retire and get it done very quickly. He was very supportive and good about it all.

“It’s a big decision but I thought about it in depth, I talked to a few people and I was comfortable with the decision I made.

“But my brother is still playing so, of course, I want Dublin to win the All-Ireland this year. I want to see Paddy do well, I want to see the group do well. I have a lot of good friends there, Ciarán Kilkenny is one of my best friends, so I hope it goes really well for them.

“They have a good team, a good squad and I think they’re going to be very competitive. I still think they have an excellent panel and a very strong 15 to go to war with.”

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