Modest superstar Maguire calls it a day

Interview

Cast your mind back to the LGFA All-Ireland Intermediate final of 2011 and Aisling Doonan is standing over a sideline kick in the shadow of the Hogan Stand.

It’s on the left touchline, the wrong side for a citeog such as herself. She’s not going for it, is she?

If that majestic point – it sailed over the black spot, in case you’re wondering – was the score that catapulted the Templeport woman into the national sporting consciousness, those involved in the game in Cavan had known all about her outrageous ball-striking for a long time before then.

Not that she would be one to shout about it herself. When she decided to call time on her 18 years in blue before Christmas, she wanted the exit to be as low-key as possible but word eventually seeped out and last week, the story made the national media.

“It’s funny how times have changed, I don’t think there used to be any big hullabaloo or fuss when someone retired. I got some shock yesterday when I was getting all the messages,” Aisling, now Maguire, told The Anglo-Celt last week.

“I wouldn’t mind that either… anyone who knows me knows I wouldn’t like the limelight but I suppose it is nice, it was a long time (laughs). It was nice to hear from different girls I played with throughout the years.”

The inter-county landscape is incomparable to when she first got the call-up as a 14-year-old, going on 15, in 2002.

“You didn’t get a phone call, you actually got a letter. It felt like a huge honour getting this in the post, sure it was great,” she smiles now, looking back.

“I was very lucky, the management team that was there brought in a couple of other young girls like Bronagh Sheridan, Aisling Traynor so I wasn’t on my own. It wasn’t as daunting.

“We had John Mulvaney from Virginia, James Lovett, Fr Tom McKiernan, who was actually my underage coach in Templeport, so there was a bit of familiarity there. Training was an eye-opener, as an underage player you just played away and you enjoyed it but all of a sudden you were thrown into a senior team and the training was totally different.

“I remember the 400s around Ramor pitch, thank God I was fit for it then when I was young! The first introduction to hurdles and ladders, I didn’t know what these things were. James Lovett was ahead of his time back then.

“I was very lucky with my parents and a couple of local people from Drumlane and then Fr Tom was from the area so I would have got lifts up with him as well. I was lucky, my parents were great, we were only 14 or 15 so we were playing with the county U16s, the county minors and the county senior team as well as being brought round the county for club games.

“I was very fortunate that my parents were heavily involved in football, my Mam had to get heavily involved dragging us around! I’m one of five kids so there was lots of running the roads with us.”

Starting off, Aisling lined out with the boys team in Corlough before Templeport set up a ladies club.

“When we were in primary school, there was no girls team and you didn’t know there was girls football. You didn’t have those role models. We always had Stephen King, Anthony Forde, from west Cavan, we thought nearly we were going to be playing on the men’s team! We didn’t know any different.

“I would have started off playing with Corlough, I went to school in Corlough and played underage there and then Templeport were setting up a ladies team. At 12 I was actually playing in goals for the Templeprot senior team, I might end up back there yet!

“Again, I was very lucky to have Fr Tom, he was fantastic. He came down from Virginia and he would have played football for Cavan himself and had a lot of medals as well. He was just a great footballing brain and a great teacher and coach.

“We won a lot underage, U14, U16 up with him and Adrian McGovern as well who went on to manage Cavan ladies. I was very lucky with the coaches we had that brought me on and developed me and then being brought into the county team, you might have been strong or skilful at underage but you had to learn to adapt very quickly when you were up against these bigger, stronger girls.

“That helped you adapt your game as well, it wasn’t just skill that would get you by, you needed to be tactically tuned in as well, be in the right place at the right time. I think all of that really helped me and stood to me through the years as well.”

While Cavan had won All-Irelands in the 1970s, the sport had moved on and her group was the one that brought the county up to speed. A brilliant crop came through together and colleges football helped open their eyes to what was needed.

“The team I played county U14 with, there was probably a very strong group of 10 or 12 girls who played right through to senior which is very rare, even now you don’t see that many girls coming through from one team. Even the All-Ireland-winning team [2013], seven of them had played from U14 up.

“I think a big change in Cavan ladies football was a lot of girls going to college and getting O’Connor Cup football, which is the female equivalent of the Sigerson. A lot of the All-Ireland team would have been playing at a very high level in college, you were being exposed to other counties and how they were working and you were being more serious in terms of preparation. So I think that was a turning point for a lot of us, things really made strides then within the county.

“Management teams were in place and they were all doing great work but it came down to the actual players, a mentality shift, ‘if we want to win something, we need to be serious here’.”

The ascent from the foothills to the summit – that intermediate triumph in 2013 propelled Cavan to senior, where they have remained since – was an arduous one.

“It was a journey. You have to remember we were playing Division 3 football in ’07, ’08 and when I started, we were playing junior football. I’m very fortunate now to be able to say that I’ve left the jersey and we’re in senior now. I’d love to be able to say that we are in Division 1 but I think we have really made strides, especially in underage and schools football, there’s a great conveyor belt coming through.

“There has been a lot of work behind the scene by the county board, by the schools and the development squads as well came in about 2008 or so. I know Neasa Byrd, Shauna Lynch, they’d have been involved in the first development squads in Cavan.

“Obviously success breeds success and getting to the All-Ireland final and doing well encourages more girls to get involved and there was a big surge in ladies football in Cavan after that. When I started there were very few clubs in Cavan and underage teams whereas now you have nearly a team in every parish which is fantastic to see.”

Croke Park

A breakthrough almost came in 2011, when Cavan lost the All-Ireland final in heartbreaking fashion against Westmeath. They knew they were close but it would take another two years to get their hands on the cup.

“If you’re a Gaelic player, Croke Park is where you want to play. That’s where we’ve always tried to get to. Getting there was a huge achievement but the draw in 2011 and then losing the replay, that was tough. It took us two years to get back there after losing and losing the way we did.

“2012 was a tough year but then to regather again in 2013 and win it was fantastic. Everyone always asks about winning it, it’s such a strange feeling. You talk to people who have run a marathon and felt that buzz but at the final whistle it was more a sense of relief that we had got over the line.

“I just remember the whistle going and saying ‘thank God’… Just sheer relief and looking around.”

In the 2013 final against Tipperary, she picked up the Player of the Match award. By then, she was a household name in ladies football circles, thanks in no small part to THAT point two years earlier.

“There’s a funny story about that sideline,” she laughs.

“Myself and Bronagh [Sheridan] had grown up together. She had the ball and I was running over to take it and she wasn’t happy at all. I remember her giving out to me saying ‘what are you doing?’ and I was saying ‘just leave it, leave it, leave it’… The adrenaline was flowing and I just said, ‘I’m going for this’.

“And thankfully it went over or I’d never hear the end of it from Bronagh!”

Looking back, she can appreciate the role that Cavan side played in inspiring the next generation in the county. Nationally, around that time, there was a sense of onlookers catching on to the skill level within the ladies code and Cavan played their part.

“The visibility, being televised and getting more coverage in the local papers” was key, she feels, in the sport’s continued development.

“Anyone who has gone to games would tell you that with the extreme physical contact not being there, there probably is a bit more skill.

“I always felt our teams were quite skilful and we were very lucky in Cavan to have talented players. I was probably a bit more fortunate to get some headlines and that was because they give me the ball and I’m the last person to put it over the bar so I was lucky in that regard.

“There are a lot of people who don’t get the credit they deserve through the years for all the hard work, especially the backs.”

Her own repertoire of dummies and exquisite passing was honed the hard way, too.

“There was many’s a window broken around our house - and roof tiles. Dad brought us everywhere, he was mad into football. We would go to training and watch him. There would always be a couple of footballs knocking around the house. There are five kids but there are three of us very close in age, Fionán is a year older than me and Clodagh is a year younger, so we were always out playing football.

“And then I was very lucky that my club coaches had a big emphasis on skills. I remember we used to run two laps and then straight into a match and it was great. Thinking back now, it was games, games, games. I remember Fr Tom would be quizzing you on decisions, ‘why did you kick the ball there? Why did you run into that tackle?’, and that’s great coaching, you don’t see much of that now.

“Evan at a young age, he drilling that into us and questioning us and that’s how we learned and I think that really stood to me. Those early coaches and how they trained us and helped me develop.

“Different coaches along the way. Aidan McCabe was excellent, I wasn’t fond of using the right foot only when I had to but as we played stronger teams, you don’t have time on the ball and if you’re one-footed, you’re going to be easily marked. He put a huge emphasis with us on using both hands and both feet and even that really stood to me as well, that I was able to score off both feet.

“I was never gifted with speed or big physicality so I had to be able to adapt and find a way to get on the ball. I think I was lucky that I was able to find space or read the game but it doesn’t happen over night, that’s years of it being drilled into you and wanting to improve and adapt and if you make a mistake, so what. If you make the same mistake over and over again, there’s something wrong there.”

As the standard soared nationwide, so did the commitment levels.

“We would have been training collectively three times a week. With ladies football, you are never guaranteed Breffni or Breffni could be pulled on you at the last minute and you’d be in Virginia or Mullahoran or somewhere.

“Training would be a couple of hours from when you arrive and then your journey on top of that. I was lucky to be able to get a job closer to home in the last year or two but prior to that I was commuting from Dublin.

“You were literally going straight from work, bringing in food with you and eating it on the way down in the car, then you’d be lucky to be back up before midnight and then you’re rolling out of bed to get to work the next morning again.

Commitment

“Three days a week you were training, then you’re doing two gym sessions and then you might have to do additional stuff like football skills, video analysis. So there is huge effort going into it and from the management teams as well to prepare teams.

“I’d say that’s why girls or even men aren’t playing as long. There’s a huge commitment level and I’ve seen how far it’s come in the last 10 years. It’s a good thing but some girls can be burned out because the enjoyment and the fun can go out of it quite quickly.”

With the 20x20 campaign, there is an unprecedented focus on ladies sport in general and Maguire feels that ladies football has made gigantic strides but more can always be done.

“I think it’s getting better. From where it’s come from and ladies football is such a young sport in comparison to the men’s game. We do need to keep pushing it, especially in the media, but us as females and athletes, we need to be supporting each other.

“I’m not the greatest example because I don’t like putting myself forward for things like this and that’s wrong because I can’t be on one hand preaching women in sport and increasing coverage and at the same time not putting my hand up to do interviews, put ladies football out there and encourage more people to get involved.

“We have great ambassadors at the minute but I think we need to see more female coaches and referees in Cavan. Ladies football has got to an age now that there are girls retiring that are in their 40s who have played and could get back involved in some capacity whether it’s coaching or refereeing and I think that would be really important for young girls to see females in those roles.”

Stepping away was a tough call but she’s happy that she made the right one. For all that, she believes Cavan may be on the cusp of more glory days.

“I definitely think, with the right direction, there is huge potential there. I have seen that it has been tough for girls to break into the panel. Some have been underage stars and great all the way up but it’s a big step up from minors to seniors.

“I’d really like to see more girls to come in and keep at it. It’s about having that mental strength as well to say ‘I’m in here and I really need to adapt and get up to the level these girls are at having been at the top of my own level for so long’.

“I definitely think there is a great bunch of girls there and they’re really committed to pushing on. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Gerry [Moane, manager] can get on with them. I don’t know much about Gerry but I know he did great work in Tyrone.

“There’s no doubt that we have the players in Cavan, it’s just getting a structure and a system that works for Cavan ladies as opposed to a structure that doesn’t suit the players. I’d love to see a style of play for Cavan ladies from underage up, that we train girls from 15 or 16 years of age to look to play a particular style, basically a player pathway so you’re not just thrown in at the deep end.

“This year is going to be tough because they haven’t got to meet up yet and it will be hard for the backroom team to get to know the girls properly because there are a lot of new young girls who have come in which is great to see but I’d say it will take maybe a year or two.

“They have the structure in place, there is a great backroom team. Michael Lee and Martin McKiernan are there and I really have to take my hat off to them. I got a bad injury last year and only for them getting me back… They have really helped the lads over the last two, three years they have been involved.”

For now, she is at peace with her innings with Cavan and her decision to step away. She will still line out with Templeport (“I wouldn’t get out of it that easy!”) but the change in lifestyle – exiting the Whatsapp group and all that jazz – may take some adjusting.

“I was in such a routine since I was 14, 15 years of age that sometimes I’d think, ‘God, what do I do outside this or who am I outside this other than Aisling Doonan the footballer?’. I think Covid was good in a way, the break came and I was able to step back and assess. It probably made the decision a little bit easier that all the girls I grew up with were gone a few years now.

“I was probably happy with where I was at, I had achieved a lot with Cavan and I thought ‘there are younger girls than me that are well able to lead them and bring them on and instil what Cavan ladies football is about’.

“It was actually quite an easy decision in the end, I thought it would be harder. I left it for a while in case I changed my mind but I was very content in the end, I have to say.

“It was gas because Gerry came in as the new manager and sent a message out to all the girls and wanted to know people’s intentions. I couldn’t really leave it any longer. I tried to call him but I couldn’t get him so I text him and said ‘listen Gerry, after giving it consideration…’

“In fairness he was very good. He asked me would I stay involved even in the backroom team but I said it was a bit early for that yet! I rang some of the older girls I had played with for a long time and said it to them. I’m not one for public announcements, I actually reited before Christmas so I thought I’d got away quietly but no such luck.

“I hate putting messages into the groups and then leaving or whatever but Gerry got me off the hook because he had a Zoom call with the panel and just threw it out there. A few of the girls were in shock, they didn’t know what was going on! But it saved me a job I suppose…”

As ever, the most modest superstar you’ll meet.