Mullagh resident Paddy Carolan was one of the cornerstones of Cavan football back in the 'fifties. Still an avid follower of the Breffni blues and of Cuchullains GFC, the former attacking ace talks as good a game as he once played it. Just recently Kevin Carney caught up with him to look back on his club and county career and to illicit his views on a series of topical GAA issues. Who was your earliest GAA icon? Cavan's very own Big 'Tom' O'Reilly from Cornafean. I remember seeing him play for Cavan against Armagh in the Ulster senior championship (replayed) final at Croke Park in the late thirties. As a ten year old, I was greatly impressed by his perfect timing in jumping for the ball and his wonderfully safe hands. Do you remember the first football medal you ever won? I played with Cavan as a minor in 1947 but the first medal I won with the county was in 1950 when we won the national league. What was your most memorable game? It would have to be the 1952 All-Ireland senior semi-final against Cork. We were being led by a point late in the second half when a John Joe Cassidy penalty was saved at the Canal End. The ball was cleared down the field and then ended up in our net without a Cavan man touching it. Victor Sherlock was fouled and injured as the ball was being kicked out and with the break in play I asked the referee how much time was left. He said six minutes. As play was about to resume, I told Mick Higgins and Victor the time and said that we would have to do our damndest to keep the ball in the Cork half of the field for the rest of the match. From the resultant free, Mick broke the ball down to me, I took it on the run and scored a point. Cork put on an extra midfielder at that stage and despite being faced by three very big men, Mick and Victor broke the ball down to me four times in a row from the Cork kick-outs and I engineered four fouls running hard at the Cork defence. John Joe Cassidy pointed the frees to put us into a one point lead and as the ball was kicked out, the final whistle sounded. Afterwards, there wasn't a dry eye in the Cavan dressing-room as it was realised that we had reached our fourth All-Ireland final in six years. Most difficult opponent? I played a lot of my football as a half-back and it was only after Mick Higgins retired that I went up into the attack but I remember Antrim had a player called Best - not George Best - who played alongside the likes of Kevin Armstrong and Sean Gibson. He was a flyer, a great one. Who was the most gifted player you played alongside? Mick Higgins, without a doubt. He worked tremendously hard on the field; was a great grafter when we were defending under pressure and was adept at exploiting the speed of Tony Tighe with whom he had a wonderful understanding. He was a great distributor of the ball and gave the man in possession great support. Who was the player you most admired? The most complete player in my time was Galway's Sean Purcell. He could play anywhere, full-back, centre half-back, midfield, anywhere. He was unbelievably versatile, had a great pair of hands and tremendous vision on the ball. I had the pleasure of playing with him on the Combined Universities team when we beat the rest of Ireland team three times in the 'fifties. What game gave you most personal satisfaction? The 1955 JFC final against Lavey when they were strong favourites. It was a game and a win that united the whole parish. Most disappointing game ever? The 1955 All-Ireland senior championship (drawn) semi-final against Kerry in Croke Park. I remember we were leading by two points and I got a chance to box the ball over the bar from 14 yards out but a Kerry defender knocked the inside of my elbow as I was in the act of punching the ball. As a result I didn't make full contact and the ball hit the right upright at the Canal End and rolled across the length of the crossbar and back into play. The ball was cleared out straight away by the Kerry defence up towards the Hill 16 end of the ground. Johnny Culloty eventually got the ball and gave it to Micksey Palmer who fired it into our net for a goal. Luckily Gerry Keyes got the equaliser for us but I've had nightmares several times about not pointing that ball with my fist. Greatest influence on you as a footballer? John Joe O'Reilly was a great inspirational captain and his untimely death was a great loss to Cavan football. The best trainer you ever worked under? Hughie Reilly from Cootehill was a wonderful trainer. Every player had great respect for him and most of us were afraid of him too. He was a man of few words but when he spoke everyone listened and took what he said on board. Which Cavan player(s) from the 'fifties would be stand-out performers in the modern game? Mick Higgins and Tony Tighe without a doubt. What modern-day players would you rate particularly highly? I have great admiration for Tyrone's Brian Dooher - he has a great engine, works very, very hard for his team and wins a fierce amount of breaking ball in the middle third of the field. Positives about the game at present? There's great movement in the modern game and most players are very skilful and flexible in that they can be up in the backs one minute and then in attack the next. And the negatives? The short-passing game is completely overdone by most teams. It's overuse is destroying the game as a spectacle at both club and county levels. Were you for or against the ban on players (up until 1971) playing or attending so-called foreign games? I was never in favour of the ban. I remember being picked to play for Ulster in the early 'fifties. The day before the game in Croke Park I went to see Ireland play England in a rugby international in Lansdowne Road. I went to the match, wearing a cap and covered myself up so as not to be easily recognised. As I was leaving the ground after the match, I met three lads who were due to play for Munster against us the following day. Luckily for me, the vigilantes who were obviously lying in wait outside the ground mistook me for Eddie Devlin of Tyrone. The next day the late Gerry Arthurs, the then Secretary of the Ulster Council, told Eddie, who was sitting beside me fully togged out in the dressing-room, that he wouldn't be allowed to play in the match as he was reported for attending the rugby match and that three members of the Munster team were off for the same reason. Eddie protested his innocence to no avail but was later exhonerated on appeal. What was your view on the opening up of Croke Park to rugby and soccer? I was all in favour of the decision; 100%. Is the Gaelic Players' Association a force for good or otherwise? I think it's a force for good. Players make a lot of sacrifices and incur a lot of expense to play with their counties and they should be reasonably reinbursed for their efforts. A lot of fellas playing with county teams now are students and they need to get reasonable expenses to help them to travel to training and matches. Is a system of 'pay-for-play' inevitable at intercounty level? I don't think it'll ever come to that and I hope it doesn't. Players should play football for the love of it and they should have a pride in playing for the jersey. What's your view of the International Rules series? I was in Australia in 1986 when Ireland played them and again in 1990 and '98. I thought the series a good idea back then and I enjoyed watching them immensely but the thuggery we saw in October 2006 put me off it a lot. I'd like to see it being resumed but I'd have great reservations about the Aussies' approach. It seems to be a 'win at all costs' one and I doubt if their attitude is going to change in that respect. Are you a good spectator? No, never have been. I found it very hard to adjust to just watching matches after I quit playing. Even now, I wouldn't be great. How often would you go to matches nowadays? I go to matches when ever I can. I went to see Cavan play in Crossmaglen this year and to Navan for the Meath game. I couldn't go to the Monaghan game but I was at the Cork game too. If you had a magic wand, what would you add to the Cavan senior team at present? I'd add a few big strong men up the middle, from full-back up to full-forward. The present team needs a stronger spine. We have always had good enough men on the wings but the centre isn't nearly strong enough at the moment. How long will it be before Cavan repeats its 1997 Ulster SFC title success? It'll be a long time, I'm afraid. I don't know whether we'll win it again in my lifetime. Winning and losing is a habit and we've got into a habit of losing too many matches in recent years. And a Sam Maguire Cup win is out of the question then? Well if someone had told me in 1952, after we'd been in four All-Ireland finals in six years, that we'd be still looking to get into our next final by the year 2008, I'd have been sending for the fellas in the white coats for whoever came out with such a statement. And Cuchullains' chances of a blue riband title? I'm not sure. I'd love to see the club win the senior championship but at the moment we just haven't enough of a physical presence in the team. Tweet

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