Colm Cooper admits the demands placed upon modern footballers worry him.

The 29-year-old Kerry ace will commence his twelfth championship season this weekend when the Kingdom host Tipperary, so he knows better than most just how much is expected from an intercounty footballer in terms of training, self-preservation and sacrifice:

"It's a concern for me," he says in The Irish Times. "I just don't know where else it can go. You're talking about teams who train early before work in the morning and train twice a day.

"From my point of view, I'm a single guy at home, don't have kids and amn't too bad in terms of flexibility at work. But if guys are self employed with two kids I really don't know how they combine everything.

"If they get injured and are out of work I'd worry about what they do for wages.

"Sometimes you've to come back and say 'look this is a hobby and you do it for enjoyment.' When I started off playing for Kerry it was fun and enjoyment.

"I still get huge amounts of enjoyment from it but if it keeps going the way it is I think the shelf life will become a lot shorter. The days of seeing the likes of Tomás Ó Sé playing until 35 will be gone." Tweet

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