PETER FITZPATRICK Has No Thoughts Of Quitting Football Yet Peter Fitzpatrick is one of the great heroes of Louth football. Almost 16 years he has been on the Senior team without winning anything and yet the appetite remains. Unfortunately, he suffered his first serious injury this summer - a groin one - which has kept him out of action to date. Ironically, he has been helped in his recovery by two All-Ireland medal holders he would have played against. "I went to Pat O'Neill (former Dublin player and manager) and he told me he thought it was a Gilmore groin so he referred me to Gerry McEntee (former Meath player) and he operated on me last October. "It is expected that I will be out for up to 12 weeks. I am back training now and hope to be playing by January. But then I'm not sure that the pressure of business will allow me to. We'll just have to wait and see." Fitzpatrick Electrical Distributors Limited is in its infancy, having been established by Peter in October '94. Providing gainful employment for a workface of eight people, this burgeoning business is going from strength to strength. The early days are the most difficult ones however. Foundations have to be laid and that means working every hour available to him. He argues that if he is always accessible, custom will make its way to him inevitably. And that is now it's working out. "Things are going well at the moment," enthuses Peter. "At least we're being kept busy and you can't complain about that. "We are in the industrial electrical business and the market is definitely there for us to break into." Fitzpatrick puts the fact that his firm is beginning to flourish down to the competitiveness of his prices and his ability to offer an after hors service i.e. he is open 24 hours a day. The dedication of his staff is also a plus point and he feels that his Personnel and Sales Manager, Kenneth Rice, his Technical Sales Manager, Declan Greene and Slaine O'Grady in Accounts are deserving of special mention. Fitzpatrick Electrical Distributors Limited provides a vast range of products for the industrial electrical sector, or as Peter says himself "we stock everything from a needle to an anchor." You'd be mad to deal with anyone else. If the comprehensive service provided by his company wouldn't persuade a potential customer to bring his business to Peter Fitzpatrick's brainchild, then his geniality surely would. A tremendous character, the Dundalk native would talk all day if he weren't so busy. And there are no prizes for guessing that football is his favourite topic. Clan na Gael is Peter's club and they have enjoyed much success in his time as a player. "I made my debut for Clan na Gael in 1978 and since 1979, the club has won 17 Senior trophies. We have gone through a bit of lean period in the last two years, but that has more to do with the fact that things have gone stale than anything else. I would be hoping that the hunger will be back for the coming season." Peter made his debut in the centre half back berth and has filled the No 6 jersey in every subsequent campaign. He is still only 33, even though it may appear that he has been around forever. He expects to be thrown that jersey for another few years yet. A holder of four county Senior football souvenirs, Fitzpatrick regards captaining the victors of 1987 as providing him with the highlight of his playing career to date. "We beat Newton Blues in the final at Ardee. It was an extremely proud occasion for me. It meant a lot because that team had been together for nearly 10 years, Being manager of the team that won it in 1993 was also a great occasion." One presumes that being captain of the successful vintage of '92 also pleased him! Such was the consistently high quality of Fitzpatrick performance from the moment he was given the opportunity to display his wares by the club selectors, that it came as no surprise to observes when the inter-county selectors came knocking on his door, "I made my debut for Louth in the National Football League against Clare, in October 1980. It actually holds sad memories for me because Pat Lennon was on the Louth team and it was the last game he ever played. He was killed the following Wednesday. He was only in his early 20s and yet he was considered to be one of the best footballers in the country. He was fantastic. "The good thing I remember from that day is that the half-back line consisted of three players from Clan na Gael. Gerry O'Callaghan was left half back, Aidan Wiseman was centre back and I was right half back. I was only 17 at the time so it was great to have my team-mates there with me." The chances are that not many cotemporary supporters of the Louth cause know that Peter Fitzpatrick nearly didn't make it to the Louth colours. For he was a very talented soccer player. "The hardest decision I ever had to make was to choose between soccer or gaelic. I also made my debut for Dundalk in 1980, having played alongside Barry Kehoe (currently plying his trade with Drogheda United) for the Leinster AUL Under 18 team. I played right full back. I think the fact that Jim McLaughlin left contributed to my decision to choose gaelic. If he'd have stayed, I might have stuck to the soccer. It was a very tough decision." Fitzpatrick lined out alongside another versatile individual in the Clan's county title success of 1985. Unfortunately for gaels of Dundalk and indeed of the Wee County as a whole, Stephen Staunton chose to accept an offer from Liverpool FC. "He was a brilliant footballer. If he'd have stayed, he'd have been one of the all time greats of the game. He was that good," opines Peter. In fact, Staunton, who was just 16 at the time, scored the winning goal in the '85 decider. At least, Louth followers didn't lose Peter Fitzpatrick as well. He has one medal to show for his years in the county jersey, and that came back in 1981, with the defeat of Longford, 2-8 to 0-6 in the Leinster Under 21 final. That same year, the Clan na Gael clubman was chosen tom play for Leinster in the Railway Cup but the elements contrived to go against him. "The game was called off because of snow, and I never got the chance again." The last provincial Championship campaign seemed to his observer to sum up Louth football. There is no doubt but that the talent exists and when they're good, they're very good. But when they're bad, well .. "We played really well in the first round of the Championship against Kildare, but we didn't do ourselves justice against Dublin. The forwards had an off day. "To be fair, the present Louth forward line is the best we've had in a long, long time. In the past, we were always fairly strong in defence and midfield but just didn' t have the quality in the forwards. Nowadays we do have them but they just didn't click against Dublin. That's football, I suppose." Married to Ann for 13 years, Peter says that his wife has supported him always. "She is a cousin of Seamus, Kevin and Cathal O'Hanlon so she knows all about what's involved in being on a county team. To be fair, she's a great Louth supporter. We have three children, Stephen, Daramay and Grace." At club level, Peter feels that Peadar Branagan, Paddy Dixon and in particular Jim Ryan, had major influences on his career. "Peadar probably kept me playing football. He showed an interest in me. He always called to the house and brought me to games. I am very grateful for that." At inter-county level, Frank Lynch receives most of the kudos. "He gave me my debut in 1980. He went for a youth policy at the time, which was a huge gamble. We got promotion to Division Two in 1981 and have our own there. We always seem to be missing Division One by a point. We need to get up there to improve our standard." Others to receive the stamp of approval are current Dublin manager Mickey Whelan, who managed Louth for two years in the mid-eighties, Jimmy Mulroy and Declan Smyth. And, of course, current county supremo Paul Kenny. "He's after making the whole thing professional. I would be very hopeful for the future. He's after bringing in a lot of young fellas and he should stick with them." Even at his own expense? "I was always proud to wear couty jersey and I don't mind if there's a better man than me now. We should all stick together. I love to see the county team doing well. That's what counts." Having spent almost 16 years in the red jersey of Louth, and been captain for three Championship campaigns, Peter has had a good innings, no matter what happens in the next 12 months. His philosophy is an interesting one which, in truth, should be adopted by all. "I never drank or smoked. That's why I have kept going so long. When I play a game, I take it very seriously, but when it's over I forget about it." Future stars of gaelic gaems, take note. Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 29th December, 1995 Tweet

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