CONNECTION IS MADE
Kildare have fans on board and that may be the turning point
EVEN out in Abu Dhabi, in the exotic surrounds of an All-Star trip to the Middle East, Ronan Sweeney was able to put his finger on the pulse of Kildare football. Cian O’Neill had just invited him to become a selector after an underwhelming 2016 when the team seemed to lose its way, with supporters left cold by a defensive-minded approach.
If there was one thing that the Kildare management needed to address, he stated that November, it was the ‘disconnect’ that had opened up between the Kildare team and a long-standing and loyal army of fans.
‘I don’t know what happened in Kildare,’ said the player who soldiered for so long in the county jersey before following former Kildare selector Niall Carew to coach Waterford and then Sligo. ‘Over the last number of years, whether it was the way Kieran McGeeney left or just the disappointing results in the Championship after that, the supporters in Kildare have kind of detached a little bit from the team. The challenge now is to try to get back winning, and start reconnecting with the supporters.’
Perhaps those words were echoing around in the background of the management’s thinking when the phrase ‘Newbridge or Nowhere’ sprung from a press release vowing to play a third-round qualifier on home soil or not at all, forcing the GAA into an embarrassing climbdown over taking the game against Mayo off Kildare and fixing it for Croke Park.
Just to rub officialdom’s nose in it, didn’t they go and win the bloody thing, making the point loudly and proudly that home advantage is not something to be idly bartered or given away for free. It brings the team to Páirc Tailteann tonight, for a fourth-round qualifier in the All-Ireland series. This is Kildare’s Moment of Truth, Part II. Navan or Nowhere.
In so many ways it’s a bigger game than Mayo, than any single result in isolation. With a place in the Super 8s on the line, this is exponentially a bigger game than last Saturday night.
Victory guarantees Kildare a place in the new round-robin quarter-finals that have become a national talking point over the likelihood of Dublin getting to play two games in Croke Park while their opponents in the same group just have one outing at HQ.
The group that the winners here will join features Kerry and Galway and the winners of Monaghan versus Laois. Kildare and their home ground have become such a cause célèbre that president John Horan was prompted to make it clear on the live qualifier draw on Monday morning that St Conleth’s Park would host Kildare’s home game in the group, if they progress that far, thus avoiding another bloody nose over the Newbridge venue.
This bond with supporters is something that the management team have long been conscious of. They needed a cause – and when they were given one, they rallied around the players in style, the final whistle against Mayo leading to those emotional scenes.
We’ve hardly come to this point by accident.
Speaking in January 2017, on the eve of an O’Byrne Cup semi-final against effectively a Dublin development squad with the first team holidaying in Jamaica, Sweeney outlined management’s clear vision for the team.
In the course of racking up big wins against Longford, IT Carlow and Offaly, a vibrant Kildare team had already plundered eight goals and 50 points, with the selector spelling out the long-term vision.
‘It’s not about living in an ideal world and saying we want supporters to come and cheer us on; you want the culture of GAA in Kildare to be strong. We want our players, when they go home from training, and they’re talking to their friends and family, we want their friends and family talking in a positive way.
‘The only way to get that is to capture their imagination and win games basically. They only see what’s being put out and performed at two o’clock on an afternoon. So we have to perform. ‘The most important one is to win but if they don’t win, at least if they show all those other characteristics along the way, people will say “at least they’re going in the right direction”. But if they’re not showing those other characteristics, they’ll become despondent.’ There has been plenty of tests of faith since he spoke those words to this newspaper. That very weekend, what amounted to Dublin’s third team stung for a late win. When the sides met again in the Leinster final — Kildare had clinched promotion from Division 2 in the meantime — they were game but still lost by nine, beaten 2-23 to 1-17.
When Armagh squeezed them out in round four of the All-Ireland qualifiers, it seemed to chip at the team’s confidence and morale, the tailspin continuing over the spring until the winless run culminated in Kildare crashing and burning in the Leinster Championship against Carlow.
But the qualifiers, and the ‘Newbridge or Nowhere’ rallying call, has reconnected the players with the supporters to dramatic effect.
Now, the pressure is on the team to kick on against Fermanagh. Just like a decade ago when the pair met for the first and only other time in Championship, the Ulster side come in off the back of a provincial final defeat.
Sweeney was playing that day in a turgid encounter that saw just five points scored in the opening half, Kildare leading 0-3 to 0-2 before pulling away in the second period.
This evening isn’t about winning with style — it’s about winning.
Whatever happens, the disconnect is no more.