Brian Smyth - Meath's fabulous contribution as dual player and dual administrator. Nobody seems to know when it will happen. Someday, somebody will sit down and start to compile the history of the G.A.A. in Meath. It has been done in most counties, but not in one of the great bastions of the G.A.A. . the Royal County. The early days will be recounted . the long, largely unsuccessful years extending throughout the first half of the Association's existence. And then, the great breakthroughs will be detailed with pride. The success of the Junior hurlers in 1948, the winning of the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time in 1949, the historic Natiional League win in New York in '51, the second All-Ireland in '54 and even last Sunday week's first All-Ireland 'B Hurling title. Hundreds of names, hundreds of faces. Just one will be almost an ever-present in the account of many of Meath's great moments. Since that great Junior hurling triumph in 1948, Brian Smyth has been part and parcel of almost all of Meath's triumphs in both hurling and football. And nobody derived greater satisfaction than the Batterstown native when the Royal County hurlers captured the 'B' title by beating London at Ruislip on Sunday week. As Secretary of the Hurling Board, he was immensely proud but he was also moved when a Royal county exile walked up to him in Ruislip, shook his hand and said, "I haven't seen you since the night you brought the Sam Maguire Cup to Navan for the first time. I shook hands with you then and it's great to do so again after all those years and on another great occasion for Meathmen". Brian recounts the little story as an example of what the G.A.A. is all about. Friendships, recognition, proud achievements and good sport. In the midst of Meath's hearty welcome home to Trim on the evening following the Ruislip success, he missed two very loyal and dear friends: Mick Leonard and Paddy Yore who had done so much for Meath hurling in the bleaker days, but who were no longer around to savour the victory. But he was proud to be involved as Secretary and delighted too for the two 'Senior' members of the team Paddy Kelly and Martin Smyth who have spent many years on the Meath hurling team without reward. "There's little doubt that this has been the most significant victory in the history of Meath hurling. The Junior success of 1927,'48 and "70 were great but this one probably provides a better platform on which to build for the future. There are great hurling people in Meath and although they understandably lack the support of the footballers, their efforts are beginning to pay off. Bord na nOg under T.J Reilly and Des Ferguson's Development Committee are making huge efforts and although there's a long way to go, we appear to be travelling in the right direction". Brian acknowledges that, in a football-mad county such as Meath, hurling will always struggle to come to the fore. "Unfortunately, several of the best young hurlers in the county are also among the best young footballers, and, almost inevitably, they will end up giving their allegiance to football. It's a great pity because the two can work hand in hand. It's really a symptom of the attitude to the games these days. There's an awful lot of pressure on players and a great deal of enjoyment (for the players) has gone as a result. In our day you could certainly play hurling and football with equal commitment. There was much less pressure and far more enjoyment". It's a subject on which Brian Smyth's opinions can confidently be described as "expert." He was one of Meath's greatest dual stars, first representing the county in hurling in 1944. Two years later, he earned selection on the county's football team and throughout the following decade he became a household name, earning his place in Meath's folklore by captaining the team that took the Sam Maguire Cup to the county for the first time in 1949 There are those, in Meath, who believe that the footballer's breakthrough in 1949 was a serious setback to hurling and the opportunity to build on the 1948 Junior hurling success was denied. How ironic then that one of the hurling stars should lead the footballers to glory! "I never looked on it that way and as a player you tend not to view things from all angles. But I suppose there is an element of truth in the assertion. The Meath hurlers could hold their own with most teams at the time, we drew with Wexford in the first round of the Leinster Championship in Trim, we could have won with a bit of luck and we always gave good accounts of ourselves against teams like Dublin and Galway. But once footballers made the breakthrough hurling was, more or less, shoved to one side. It never had huge support but a Leinster Championship success would have put it on the same plane as football following the All-Ireland success. As players though, we took it all in our stride and didn't bother too much about it. We played hurling as often as required . often fielding in both codes on the same day". In fact, Brian won Feis Cup medals in both hurling and football on the same afternoon. It was a great era for dual players in Meath. Brian played alongside the Donnellys, Tony and Pat, Joey Loughran, the Forans, Aidan and Fer, and the great Micheal O'Brien who later became his brother-in-law. Ironically, Micheal and Brian were friendly rivals for the captaincy of the Meath team in 1949. Both were playing with County Champions Skryne and the club left it to themselves to sort it out. They discussed it in the last moments before taking the field for the first round against Kildare with the result that only thirteen players took part in the pre-match parade. It was the beginning of a fabulous era for Meath football. In six years, they won two All-Irelands, were beaten in two Finals and won the National League in the Polo Grounds. "Its was a great team and I was very happy to be a member of it. We could have won another All-Ireland or two, but we played too many games, tournaments were a big thing in those day". Brian, who normally played at centre half forward was generally regarded as the "brains" of the attack. "I remember Fr. McManus calling me aside on one occasion and he said to me" "You can catch the ball all right but I'm damned if you know what to do with it". From then on I tried to ensure that I knew before I got the ball what I was going to do with it. It was a big help" The team that won the All-Ireland in 1954 had grown old together and the end was close at hand. Because of his work commitment on the buses in Dublin Brian was unable to give "his all" and it wasn't until the League campaign of 1956 that he returned to the fold, but Meath were beaten by Cork in the League decider. And the end came when Wicklow defeated the Royal County in the first round in 1957. "That game was played in Athy and we went on to Rathangan to play in a 7-a-side Tournament that evening". One can't envisage today's players lining out in the aftermath of a Championship defeat. Brian hails from the village of Batterstown, close to Dunboyne on the Dublin-Trim road. His first involvement with football and hurling was against Boy Scouts from Dublin, who used to come to the village on weekend camps. He fielded with Batterstown in both football and hurling but when the club was unable to muster enough players, he lined out with Flathouse, with whom he won his first Championship medal, Junior Hurling, as a teenager in 1941. He also played both codes with Ratoath before lining out with Oberstown in hurling and Skyne in football, helping the latter to five Senior Championship victories. He finished his hurling career with Dunboyne where he now lives. From his early days, Brian always displayed a keen interest in administration and was Secretary of the Batterstown club while still a teenager. With a very successful playing career behind him, Brian took to refereeing and was one of the county's most respected referees for many years, taking charge of the All-Ireland Senior decider. But his contribution to the G.A.A. in Meath was to take on a new and fulfilling dimension when he became Hurling Board Secretary in the late fifties and having served for more than twenty years in the past went on to become Chairman of the County Board in 1979. For seven years he was the county's No. 1 administrator. He took the position at a time when Meath's football fortunes were at a low ebb, and although the Centenary Cup was the only trophy won in his period in the chair, the foundations for the glory years of '87-'91 was firmly laid during his term of office. As Board Chairman Brian was also a selector and although he advised Sean Boylan that "he didn't realise what he was getting into ", he welcomed his arrival as team manager at 3 a.m. one morning in Brian's home. "It would have been satisfying to win that much sought after Leinster title but there were many other pleasing aspects to my term in office. The development of Pairc Tailteann and the plans for it, were put in motion, the Centenary Year celebrations were undertaken, a number of amalgamations between smaller clubs were formed and the county won it's first Leinster Under 21 title in 1985. While Brian is reluctant to take any of the credit for the achievements he is nevertheless proud that they occurred under his stewardship. He his still an influential and much respected contributor at County Board level and for several years now, he has been one of the county's two Leinster Council delegates. It's a long time since he first cycled to County Board meetings in the company of such legendary characters as Paddy (The Rah) Doyle and "Shed" McGrath. Incidentally, Paddy's grandson Anton O'Neill is corner back on the Meath hurling team. "I learned a lot from them, but times have changed at County Board meetings and there's an awful lot less humour than there used to be. It's gone a bit too serious nowadays. Having said that I enjoy listening to delegates arguing the case for their clubs and although I argue myself sometimes, I never hold a grudge. I'm a little worried at the seriousness of it all and I believe that the Association is losing touch with the grass roots . the people who keep it going. They're the ones who should be looked after . not the corporate sector. There are people, the same people, looking after our youth at underage level and sticking with them at adult level and they have to go begging for All-Ireland tickets. That should not be the case". As a footballer Brian Smyth was one of the greats. His selection for Ireland against the Combined Universities on two occasions was the equivalent of winning two modern-day All-Star Awards. His achievements with the hurling were not far behind, but his lengthy and loyal contribution as an administrator has made him a man apart. "I'm quite happy to put as much as I can back into the G.A.A. I got so much enjoyment and so many thrills from it. I often think it a great pity that so many former players contribute so little afterwards". If he was seventeen again, would he change anything? "Not too much. I would love to have won a Railway Cup medal and to have refereed an All-Ireland. And I wasn't involved in coaching as much as I would have liked. (Drumree won the Junior Championship in 1959 under his guidance) but maybe I spent enough time away from my family". Family for Brian means his wife Mairead, son Bernard and twin daughters, Dympna and Attracta. Bernard is former county hurler and was Meath's Hurler of the Year in 1981. And Brian's brothers also gave great service to the Batterstown club. He has lost none of the enthusiasm which characterised his played days and last year he was a most deserving recipient of the County Board's Hall of Fame Award. The Award is a particularly prestigious on in the Royal County and it's prestige was further enhanced when Brian stepped forward to receive it. Written by Hogan Stand Magazine 23 /07/93 Tweet

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