For the first time in 13 seasons the Galway football squad is without the services of Gary Fahey. Ciarán de Paor talks to the Killanin full back about a career which included two All-Ireland wins. The scene is July 1999 and it's Connacht football final day in Tuam Stadium, where old adversaries Galway and Mayo meet yet again. Galway come into the game as defending Connacht and All-Ireland champions on what is a rain and wind swept day. The atmosphere is buzzing in anticipation with this latest footballing instalment. Galway race onto the field where the stellar names like Kevin Walsh, Michael Donnellan and Padraig Joyce are greeted with a rousing reception. Mayo are in town as underdogs and the Tribesmen followers expect victory after the previous year's All-Ireland exploits. The teams are announced over the public address system but the name of Galway's steady and reliable full-back Gary Fahey is not mentioned. The whispering around the ground goes into overdrive as to why one of Galway's mainstays is missing from the team sheet. A torn hamstring in the warm-up is the cause and suddenly in the Killanin man's absence Mayo's chances of victory increase. The Green and Red brigade led by Kenneth Mortimer duly defeat Galway in a see-saw battle and the pub talk afterwards laments the loss of Fahey as being crucial to the outcome. This example illustrates the high regard with which Gary Fahey is held in Galway football. He now joins the likes of Niall Finnegan, Ja Fallon, Tomas Mannion, Martin McNamara and Ray Silke from the all-conquering team of 1998 into inter-county retirement after 13 eventful year's service to the maroon and white jersey. In recent year's Fahey was feeling the effects of keeping up with today's astronomical fitness levels where the curse of age was catching up with his body. He bowed out on the hallowed ground of Croke Park in July 2004 after defeat to Tyrone in the qualifiers. "I said in 2003 that 2004 would be my last year," he acknowledges. "I've noticed in recent year's that it's been tougher and tougher to keep the pace up, the body was slowing down a bit so I think it was the right time to call it a day after 13 year's with the team." The old saying that time waits for no-one rings true for Fahey where in today's game the pace of forwards like Michael Meehan was becoming too much to handle: "It's harder and harder to keep at the pace with some of these young forwards now especially being a defender. "An older forward might last another year or two at this level where he might win every second ball coming his way but as a defender the pace of things is just too hot." Fahey's intercounty career began in 1992 when he joined the Galway panel after playing a crucial role for the Sigerson Cup winning UCG team. Seán óg de Paor was captain that year and Niall Finnegan also played when the Galway college defeated a star-studded Queens University Belfast side in Pearse Stadium, Galway. He made his debut in the summer of '92 when he came on as a substitute against Mayo in Castlebar. Galway were defeated on the day and remained in the football wilderness after defeats to Leitrim in 1993 and '94. It wasn't until 1995 that they finally managed to win the Connacht title under Bosco McDermott. They defeated Mayo in the glorious sunshine in Tuam Stadium: "Leitrim won the Connacht title in 1994 where they beat both Roscommon and Mayo along the way but we knew we weren't that far off the pace at the time," he says "1995 was then a very good year for us where we also narrowly lost to Tyrone in the All-Ireland semi-final. "Galway hadn't won a Connacht title for something like seven or eight years so to win it in 1995 was brilliant. "I was on the panel at that stage for three years which wasn't too long and that title was certainly very important." Mayo under the guidance of John Maughan defeated Galway in both the 1996 and 1997 Connacht campaigns where they also lost both subsequent All-Ireland finals. John O'Mahony, who had brought Connacht titles to both Mayo and Leitrim, was announced as the new Galway manager in September 1997 after Val Daly's sole year in charge. The Mayo native then presided over what was to be a glorious period in Galway football with Fahey a central cog in the team. "John had a huge influence on Galway where his traits of professionalism and his positive attitude really came to the fore. "He always had a meticulous approach and he never left any stone unturned in preparing the team. "John brought five or six Under 21 players into an established panel in 1997 and things worked well together after that." Galway football supporters will never forget 1998 when their county defeated Kildare in the All-Ireland final to end 32 years of anguish. Gary Fahey had a great game at full-back that day and his tussle with Kildare's Karl O'Dwyer was a feature of the final. "1998 was an unreal year for us, Galway hadn't won the Sam Maguire for 32 years and to actually achieve it then was unbelievable," recalls the defender. The journey to the Holy Grail and Sam Maguire had started with a pulsating contest against who else but Mayo in Castlebar in May '98. It was here that the seeds of success were sown for a Galway team that badly needed to overcome their arch rivals to silence the doubters: "The first round in Castlebar and that defeat of Mayo was hugely satisfying and was the highlight of the year,"' he recalls Fahey had soldiered on the panel for six year's before that magnificent All-Ireland victory and in the next 4 year's he would play in some of the biggest games in Galway's history. In 1999 that unfortunate hamstring injury kept him out of the Connacht Final but he returned refreshed for the 2000 season where the Tribesmen re-claimed the Connacht title after defeating Leitrim before narrowly losing to Kerry in the All-Ireland Final after a re-play. "The 2000 final was the one that got away because we had the chances at the end of the first game to take the title. "That was a very disappointing defeat looking back because we let the opportunity slip," he admits Galway began the 2001 championship season very badly when Roscommon ambushed them in Tuam but through the new 'back-door' system they embarked on a sensational run of victories over Wicklow, Cork, Armagh, Roscommon (again) and Derry before clashing with Meath in the All-Ireland final. The initial Roscommon defeat was gut wrenching but with Alan Keane coming in as goalkeeper and Tomas Mannion reverting to centre-back Galway were an invigorated outfit. "We had to re-jig the team after the first Roscommon defeat and as a result we became more balanced as a team. "We also got our attitudes in order after that game so these two factors made all the difference." Fahey took over the captaincy for that glorious run from Kieran Comer where he excelled against the likes of Colin Corkery, Enda Muldoon and Graham Geraghty. Galway trounced Meath in the final by nine points to make up for the previous year against Kerry and in the process Fahey collected his second Celtic Cross. He also had the great honour of lifting the Sam: "It was a fantastic feeling to lift the Sam Maguire that year. "A lot of teams had won one All-Ireland before us but to win two titles really put the icing on the cake for the whole team." Galway managed to win the Connacht title again in both 2002 and 2003 but fell short when it came to All-Ireland glory. Fahey admitted that cracks were starting to appear at this stage: "Things were starting to slide a bit for us to be honest. "Performances weren't what they should be but lads had put so much effort in so mentally it was difficult to keep the hunger going after all the success we had. "The likes of Laois and Westmeath are coming to the fore now like we were in '98 and it's very hard to keep the passion and hunger going," he adds. John O'Mahony departed in 2004 after guiding Galway to four Connacht titles and two All-Ireland triumphs. They also narrowly lost the 2000 All-Ireland final and the 2001 and 2004 National League final's too. Gary Fahey's superb defending at the edge of the square was a feature in many of those games and Galway supporters were always much more confident of victory when he was in the side. His reputation as an excellent full-back in the annals of Galway football is assured and he departs the county scene with five Connacht Senior medals and two All-Ireland medals which is a terrific personal haul. He hasn't given up playing club football with Killanin either with whom he admits; he owes a debt of gratitude for giving him the outlet with which to develop his game. Life moves on for Galway under new manager Peter Forde but for Tribesmen followers everywhere a full-back line without the presence of Gary Fahey is a strange prospect indeed. Tweet

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