Former Offaly star - Paddy Fenning Made his faithful debut at Wembley. Few G.A.A. players have their Senior intercounty debuts in more unlikely surrounding than Offaly's Paddy Fenning. Replacing the injured Tony McTague for the game the young Tullamore player kicked his first ball in anger for the Faithful County on the hollowed turf of Wembley Stadium, and marked the occasion by crashing the ball to the net. The Wembley Tournament is long gone but the memories live on. "It was my first game for Offaly and we were playing Mayo. I was marking Johnny Carey, one of their top players, but as luck would have it, I scored a goal", recalls Paddy. Unknown to Paddy at the time the Wembley experience was to mark the start of a long career with Offaly. From 1970 to 1980 he appeared regularly in the famous green, white and gold jersey, winning two All-Ireland football medals, including the mould-breaking success of 1971. Now the Sales Manager with Kilsaran Concrete, covering the Offaly, Laois and Westmeath area, Paddy remains deeply interested in Gaelic games, especially where an Offaly team is concerned. A famous footballer, the Tullamore man is an enthusiastic hurling supporter and will be loudly cheering the midlanders on when they face Limerick in the All-Ireland final. "I was never much good at hurling but I love the game and I am really looking forward to the clash with Limerick, it should be a very good game and it is tremendous to see a Tullamore player Kevin Martin, on the team. Hurling was very strong in Tullamore in the 1960's but it fell away then for a few years but they are working very had to get it going again", says Paddy. Having watched Offaly dispose of Kilkenny, Wexford and Galway, Fenning would be thrilled to see Eamonn Cregan's charges go on and take the McCarthy Cup for the first time in nine years. "I felt at the beginning of the Championship Galway would be the team to beat and now that Offaly have done exactly that, I feel they can go on to take the title. I am very confident they can". Paddy Fenning's eventful career in Gaelic football started with his native Tullamore. By the time he was 17, a regular place on the Senior team was secured and his performances earned him a call up to the Senior panel. Fenning was too young to be part of the Offaly squad which reached the 1969 All-Ireland final (only to lose to Kerry 0-10 to 0-7) but he had joined the fold by the time Offaly played Meath the following year in what turned out to be one of the most amazing Leinster finals of recent times. Ahead by a massive ten points at the interval, Offaly looked to have the game wrapped up with the second half a mere formality but Meath stormed back to snatch remarkable late victory. "At half time we were told if we went out and scored the first point of the second half the game would be ours but Mickey Fay started to turn the tide for Meath. It was a unique game in many ways. There was 40 minutes each half and the match ended with Meath ahead 2-22 to 5-12. It was a really amazing result". Offaly had lost but Fenning had gained invaluable experience and learned a lot about what was required from a player at the highest level. "I was marking Pat Reynolds in the 1970 final and I am afraid he gave me a bit of a roasting, I was too inexperienced for him while he was at his peak at the time but to play in that game was an amazing experience for a young player". While the Offalymen were shattered to lose a contest they had all but won, they were taught an invaluable lesson which stood to them the following year as they won their way through Leinster, going on to their first ever All-Ireland title, defeating Galway 1-14 to 2-8 in the final. Fenning had started the Championship with a place on the starting fifteen but finished the summer on the substitutes bench. "I played in the first round of the Championship against Longford but soon after that game I went on my holidays to Spain and I ended up losing my place on the team. I was brought on as a sub in the Leinster semi final and final and All-Ireland semi final when I scored a point. The team kept on winning and they didn't want to change a winning formula. I played in the final so I was delighted to be part of the winning set up but going on my holidays when I did cost me my place. But I have no regrets at all". Offaly picked up their second All-Ireland title the following year beating Kerry in the final (1-19 to 0-13) with the help of a spectacular lob from Paddy Fenning turning the game in Offaly's favour. "I was a little bit frustrated not to start the 1971 final but the first is always sweetest and that victory will remain a special memory, although in '72 I started the game at corner forward and because I played all through I feel I did my bit that year". Having joined the Offaly panel at the height of their success Paddy came to believe Leinster and All-Ireland finals would be the norm. The medals would roll in with easy regularity. But reality was soon to dawn, starting the following campaign. "We lost to Galway in the All-Ireland semi final. It was a game we could have won but that match was the end of five long years of almost constant football and it had an effect of some of the older players. When you are 20 or 21 you think winning All-Ireland finals would be considered the norm but after '73 we dropped to a very low standard. We came back up again and nearly beat Dublin in 1978 in Portlaoise. That day Dublin brought on Kevin Moran, he was with Manchester United at the time, and he turned the game for them". Fennings last appearance for Offaly was the 1980 All-Ireland semi final, a game Kerry won. Although 30 at the time, Paddy had lost little of the strength and ability that made him one of the most lethal forwards around. "I had a slight difference with the management at the time and although I was asked to go back to train, I decided to call it a day, but I probably retired a little early. At 30 I had a lot more football in me. I played four or five more years with the club before hanging up the boots altogether", he recounts. With Tullamore Paddy won two Senior county titles and while these days he has no direct involvement in football the welfare of the club lies close to his heart. When Fenning gave up playing in the mid eighties, the Tullamore outfit was in need of financial help. "We were nearly insolvent, there was emergency meetings and I proposed we should go on a tour of the United States with 50p of every pound we raised going to the club to pay our debts and buy land for pitches. It was a four year campaign and proved very successful. We raised £60,000 with £30,000 of that going to the club. The tour itself went very well and when we come back we set up a 2,000 club draw and raised a further £100,000. I was Chairman of the club development fund and I was delighted with the way the draws went and the funds they created for the clubs". Fennings skills were not only confined to fund raising activities. He also helped Tullamore to a unique treble in the late seventies, as a selector/player on the Senior team that won the county title and a coach to the Minor and Under 21 teams who went on to win their respective Championships. Married to Kathryn with children Amy and Barry, Paddy remains passionate as ever about the G.A.A. in Offaly. Last year, in his spare time, he produced a book "Offaly, the Faithful County - A Pictorial History of the Football Years". Packed with valuable and nostalgic pictures, the book tells the story of football in the midland county from the early part of the century to the present day. "The book was a labour of love for me", says Paddy. The winner of two All-Ireland football medals (and a novice doubles handball All-Ireland medal won along with Paddy Hope in 1977), Paddy Fenning has many fine moments to look back on, including that unusual debut in the sumptuous surroundings at Wembley Stadium. Written by the Hogan Stand Magazine 2nd Sept 1994 Tweet

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