While posted in southern Lebanon, Gary White received an email from new Kildare manager Jason Ryan last October.

Midfielder White - a Lieutenant with the Irish Defence Forces - had left the Lilywhites squad the previous February to do a Tour of Duty in Lebanon but Ryan wanted to bring him back into the fold.

"When I was two weeks out there I missed it straight away, especially as Kildare were going well in the league and you were hearing the results," the Sarsfields clubman recalls in The Irish Examiner.

"You would be raging that you're not a part of it and it's always in the back of your mind, you're thinking this could be the year they win something and I'm not there. It was always the mindset of 'Jesus, they'll win something now and I'm not around!'

"For that reason, it was definitely very difficult to listen to the games. Obviously you want them to do well. You wouldn't be playing intercounty football if there wasn't ambition inside you. I think every kid dreams of playing with their county, I'm still no different."

"He actually sent me an email which was great. To realise he'd thought of me while I was over there and with that in mind I was eager enough to get back and train hard. With a new management team it freshens things up and gives everyone a clean slate and a fresh chance to make an impact.

"I wouldn't have played football at all for the guts of nine months last year. To call in a guy like that is a risk to take so I really did appreciate the email from him. I'd really only played six weeks at the start of last year but he was happy enough to bring me in for a trial when I came back from overseas. I was really grateful for him remembering me." Tweet

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