Mulvey and Maguire leading the way with Fulham Irish

GAA

The first county final of the year may have slipped by almost unnoticed but it was the latest instalment of one of the most gripping rivalries in the GAA at present.

When Fulham Irish got past Tir Chonnail Gaels in extra time in the delayed 2020 SFC final on June 5 last, it was the fifth time in succession they had met in the decider and Fulham’s fifth SFC crown since their formation.

And the fingerprints of two former Cavan players were all over the latest success. Player-manager of the team was Butlersbridge’s Lorcan Mulvey while riding shotgun as selector was Lavey’s Sean Maguire.

When former manager Owen Mulligan, Tyrone All-Ireland winner, moved home during lockdown, Mulvey was pressed into service in the bainisteoir bib.

“I have dabbled in it over the last few years, I’ve two London Féiles, I’ve done the ladies team, bits and bobs. Mugsy had to go home for work reasons and we were all looking round to see who would be manager,” Mulvey explained.

“A few of the players said ‘sure you take a few training sessions’. I said ‘fair enough’ and then one thing led to another and I was kind of named manager by default more than anything else.

“It went well over the year, I enjoyed it. Very busy, stressful at times but very enjoyable. Probably something I’ll get involved in going forward.”

The county final was delayed by nine months which added to the pressure.

“You usually play a county final around October time, we ended up playing in June this year. It was very, very difficult really but the only thing that kept us going is that it was the same for everybody.

“I think everyone’s work and life changed along with it and people kind of adjusted the way they had to and GAA was only one of those things. The communication levels had to be good, people were getting impatient.

“When Boris or whoever would make an announcement to say we’ll be releasing these rules and you can get out and do this or that, it would still take weeks and weeks to filter down through the GAA circles over here. It did take a while, patience was needed which was never one of my greatest virtues!”

Fulham Irish were finally able to return to play in March but they had been working hard, training individually, through the lockdown, said Maguire, who was captain for the club’s first success in 2011, just a few years after their formation.

“In fairness to London county board, they started the 2021 league before we played the semi-finals and final of last year’s championship.

“We got back training in March and then we played four or five league games before the semi-final and final so that was helpful, just to get out and play a few games made a really big difference.

“Over the lockdown, we did a few things. As a club we had a 100km challenge in January where everybody had to run 100km in the month. Everybody was on Strava so you could see what everybody was doing. You had a bit of craic in the Whatsapp group about it.

“Lads kept themselves in reasonably good shape but it was the lack of football that was the problem but once you got those first few league games in, the difference was huge.

“By the time we played the semi-final, both teams were kind of back up to speed again.”

Training remotely is a new departure which has revolutionised how clubs and counties prepare. Under Mulvey’s management, Fulham Irish embraced it.

“I remember for years living in Dublin and playing for Cavan. Peter Reilly used to give me a lift down, I’d meet him at Stephen’s Green at quarter to five. You’d drive down to Breffni and run around the pitch for an hour and a half, get some food in the Kilmore and go back up the road to Dublin,” recalled Sean.

“It was before the motorway was built, you’d spend two-and-a-half or three hours coming down, then you’d run and you wouldn’t see a football for an hour and a half.

“When you look back at it, you just think of the pure madness of it, why were you  driving so far just to do running. Now with the technology.

“Lorcan was very, very good at that. London is a very big place obviously and people are spread out. Lads would be travelling an hour and if you’re asking lads to make that three or four-hour commitment, you have to make it worthwhile.

“One of the things Lorcan brought in was he would let lads do their own thing. Insstead of that hour or hour and a half commute for a running session, he would just send out the session and lads would have their phone on them and at the end of the session, people could see how far you ran, what your heart rate was… That sounds like a small thing but it was a huge difference.”

Fulham Irish caters for a lot of professionals who work in the city, away from the traditional Irish expat hot-spots. Maguire works in renewable energy as Managing Director of the private equity side of a company called Impax Asset Management.

Mulvey worked for Berkeley Homes for nine and a half years and has recently moved to McAleer and Rushe, a Tyrone-owned company, where he is a Project Director, joking – pre-Omagh – that he had been sent in by Mickey Graham as a spy!

The ‘Bridge man had big shoes to fill but did a superb job.

“The last four managers we had in Fulham Irish were Peter Canavan, Greg McCartan who won a couple of All-Irelands with Down and when he stepped aside, Owen Mulligan took over,” said Maguire.

“When Mugsy had to move back home, there was a strong push from the players to get Lorcan in. It wasn’t a big change to go from being the leader in the team to being the manager.

“In fairness to him, he stepped up phenomenally well. Sometimes people look at London and say ‘ah sure it’s only London’ but I can assure you it’s as hard to win a championship in London as anywhere else. Lorcan did a really good job.

“In a club in Cavan, you’re expected to play. If you miss a league match, people are quizzing you in the pub or the shop or at Mass, ‘where were you?’

“In London it’s very, very different. If you come to London and decide not to play football, that’s it, nobody cares. So the lads Lorcan was working with were choosing to make the effort to play football but if they want to commit that time, they want it to be something that is enjoyable and successful and taken seriously. It’s a very different dynamic.”

Fulham are currently developing a youth wing but they are not taking their focus off retaining their senior crown.

While he won’t have his Cavan comrade on board this season as Maguire steps down as his right-hand man, Fulham - who also had Killygarry’s Brian Sheanon on board - are keen to retain their title.

The ambition to make an impact in the All-Ireland club SFC burns brightly too.

Although he has joined an illustrious list of winning Fulham Irish managers, the point is made as we finish our chat that Mulvey is the first not to have lifted Sam Maguire. “Not yet!” he interjects.

Regardless, for 2020, even with the delay, it’s very much a case of mission accomplished for the Breffni duo in the UK.