MICHAEL LAFFERTY Serving Donegal for twenty years now New rules, new guidelines and new faces among the line up of star names have all combined to set off Gaelic football on a rollercoaster of never-ending popularity. Add in a spice tinged with a healthy dose of tactical awareness, seeping in from the sidelines, combined with the slightest hint of big-time sponsorship and taking all into account, the G.A.A. certainly has a very tasty dish on it's hands. Gaelic football's ever-increasing popularity is a broth made to satisfy, just in the way over sixty thousands fans were able to leave Croke Park on Saturday 20th last fully reflected and with a taste in their mouths which spelt MORE. Too many cooks spoil the broth, it is said, but in Donegal's case this season especially, the adage couldn't have been further off the mark or wide of the upright, so to speak. Above all other talk about experience, late replacements, reshuffled line outs and track records, the facts of the matter is that, on the day, Donegal clicked, Dublin didn't. On the field of play, the Ulster Champions did their stuff while too many of the Dublin players merely strutted their stuff It's long been a source of great debate about just how much effect pre-match preparation has on a team's performance during a game. Whatever the percentage points allotted to such a theory, one thing's virtually certain: Donegal not alone won the battle on the field of play but just as importantly, in terms of getting the best out of their charges over the course of seventy minutes, the Donegal backroom team were in a class of their own this season. A sizable percentage of the credit for such an accomplished task must go to one Michael Lafferty, esq., one time top notch county footballer and still, as the 1983 Ulster Championship final announced, " a perfect gentleman" Involved at the very heart of Donegal's physical and psychological preparations over the course of the last three seasons, the Sean Mac Cumhaills stalwart has carved his name into Donegal folklore several times over. While in years gone by, the Mac Cumhaills lean, mean machine was the man best avoided by those in fear of a roasting on the football field, recent days have seen him operate in a different sphere but with no less successful results for the Green and Gold clan. Fact is, Michael Lafferty has made a name for himself in G.A.A. circles this year like he could hardly have ever imagined. The ace footballer 'cum coach, along with fellow conspirators, Brian McEniff, Anthony Harkin, Seamus Bonner and Naul McCole, did their damnedest to help work the oracle for Donegal's score and more best footballers. That they succeeded in doing so is a tribute not only to their shrewdness, collective football know-how and tactical awareness but more particularly reflects their sheer dedication and commitment to the cause. Michael Lafferty has every cause to feel proud of his contribution to Donegal's historic success of September '92. As a man who has been part and parcel of Donegal's push for the ultimate prize, the 37 year old schoolteacher is more than worthy of the plaudits streaming his way at present. Currently the man most in demand at Donegal Vocational School, Michael Lafferty goes back a long way relative to the modern-day success story that is Donegal G.A.A. In fact, the super fit high fielding ex-county stalwart first caught the eye on the provincial football front just a year after Donegal clinched their first Ulster Senior Football Championship title in 1972. On that '72 team was one Frankie McFeely, captain of the side, midfield partner to the effervescent Seamus Bonner and a staunch Mac Cumhaill clubman. It was the veteran McFeely who was to make way for his nineteen year old burgeoning clubmate with the long stride, safe hands and astute football brain. A debutant in the Spring of '73 in a hard fought clash versus Tyrone, the Mac Cumhaill teenager quickly earned his spurs from the middle of the park and soon established himself not only as a fair replacement for the veteran McFeely, but as a player of sterling mobility, in his own right. Just how valuable a player Lafferty was to become to his native county was exemplified almost immediately as the men from Tir Connail laid the foundation for their Ulster Championship title success in 1974. For his exhilarating displays en route to helping engineer his own and Donegal's second Ulster Senior success, Michael Lafferty was awarded the Bank of Ireland Player of the Month for June '83 Gaelic football was a sport easily mastered by the superbly athletic sportsman with the penchants for scoring from his midfield berth. In his school days at Saint Macartan's College, Monaghan, Handball was mastered as well and College medals in the court game were duly added to his growing collection. On the downside, however, underage honours were conspicuous by their absence as Lafferty and Co. on their respective Minor and Under 21 county squads failed narrowly to make the breakthrough. Brighter days lay ahead though on the domestic front. The Mac Cumhaills club including 22 year old rising star Martin Griffin in their ranks, rallied to lift the County Senior Championship title in 1977. Amazingly though, it would be another ten years before Michael Lafferty would hang up his boots for the first time. In the interim, the would be Senior county selector set out to sample life in the managerial lane, clinch another provincial medal and become one of the most famous Donegal Senior selectors of all time. A one year stint as trainer of the Donegal Under 21 team in 1982 provided the ambitious schoolteacher with a preview of things to come a decade later. Donegal's achievement that year in scooping the All-Ireland Under 21 Championship title was a huge feather in his cap and rightly afforded him widespread recognition inside his native county and further afield. In addition and in light of things to happen in the years ahead, it was significant and a pointer to the future that players like Ballintra's Matt Gallagher, Ardara's Anthony Molloy, Bundoran's Donal Reid, Charlie Mulgrew of Saint Eunan's, Four Master's Joyce McMullan and Martin McHugh of Kilcar all were afforded the opportunity of working with their future Senior mentor. His involvement as one of Brian McEniff's right hand men over recent seasons maintains a long time alliance between the two guru's on and off the field of play. What Michael described as "some hairy moment" suffered against Cavan in the first round tie also revived memories for him of the 1983 Ulster final clash between the two teams. Then as a 28 year old and the team's captain, the side's centre half played a real leader's role in steering his county to their third provincial Senior Championship title. In fast forwarding thoughts buried in his memory bank, Michael pinpoints Donegal's second half showing against Derry as probably the team's best half hour of the Championship. "Playing into the breeze in the second half of that game really tested us and especially as we had to play up the so-called Clones hill made it even harder for us but the lads were terrific. Without Tony Boyle and John Cunningham, the team still showed their worth to win it in the end" Even at the age of 35, winning an Ulster medal two years ago as a member of the panel doesn't compare with the euphoria generated by All-Ireland success as a selector, Michael confides. He expresses particular delight in the manner of Donegal's series of Championship " We got a lot of criticism about our short passing game but it's a style that suits our type of game. We've always played a positive, attacking sort of game and we've been lucky to have within the panel enough ball players to be able to perfect the running game" Michael Lafferty reiterates the value of team work almost with the rapidity of a referee's whistle. Team work on both sides of the sideline won this All-Ireland for Donegal, he would tell you and no one is likely to debate that point in Donegal. He remembers the hard slog which has been gone through to claim Sam. Like turning out on a miserable Monday night in Donegal town for training, just the evening after Donegal's agonising defeat by Dublin in the quarter final of the National League in Breffini Park. "Meeting that Monday night was another turning point for us. We needed to restore our morale and in hindsight it was a hugely important decision. It also gave us a chance to lay out a new training schedule for the Championship. We ruled out the workouts on the beach and instead concentrated on building up stamina on the pitch in Donegal town". The schedule worked Michael Lafferty and Company can forever delight in the fruits of their labour. Taken from Hogan Stand 2-10-92 Tweet

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