Former Tyrone All Star forward Owen Mulligan has revealed that his relationship with former manager Mickey Harte drifted apart after he was dropped from the team.

Mulligan enjoyed three All-Ireland SFC victories under Harte in 2003, 2005 and 2008, scoring five points in the '05 decider against Kerry, but says there wasn't much communication between the two after he quit the Red Hands in 2012.  

"We never spoke for a while," Mulligan told Newstalk's Off The Ball.

"And then I texted him. It was the last Ulster final and I said, 'Congratulations. Nice to see you smiling again'. I just said to myself, 'I'm not holding a grudge with a man who I respect so much'. I wasn't going to do that.

"Don't get me wrong. Did I hate him for a year? 'Course I did. Every player would go through that. If your body is controlled to play for Tyrone and it was took off you, you go into shock."  

Mulligan made his return to inter-county football this year with London, lining out for the Exiles against Leitrim in the Connacht championship, and bumped into Harte at a fundraiser in the English capital, where the two caught up.  

"We spoke there for the first time in London there on Monday," the Cookstown native said. "We were trying to launch Club Tyrone in London, so we were trying to raise a few pound for the likes of Garvaghy. We shook hands and had a bit of a chat."

He jokingly added: "I asked him if he was ready for Dublin and he said, 'No, they'll destroy us'. I'm only joking!"

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