Gavin’s the key, insists Tyrone man who wore the blue
IT’S a bit of an unusual story, alright,’ Paddy Quinn concedes, chuckling at his own understatement. In an era when the career path of a prospective Dublin footballer is charted and set in stone from their first day inside the development squad system, his own journey to the door of Jim Gavin’s dressing-room in the early part of his tenure feels like it belongs to another age.
Gavin’s first match at Croke Park as Dublin manager was a National League match against Cork. His star-studded starting attack consisted of Paul Flynn, Diarmuid Connolly, Bernard Brogan, Eoghan O’Gara, Paddy Andrews and Quinn, an unheralded 31-year-old Tyrone native, who had never even played underage for his own county.
Where did Quinn appear from? For much of his 20s, he was a Gaelic footballing globe-trotter. Whenever he pitched up in a new city — be it London, Boston or Sydney — he strolled down to the local GAA club. By 2008, work as an accountant had almost inevitably brought him to Dublin.
After a year travelling up and down the M1 to his native Derrylaughan, a rural part of East Tyrone that hugs the Armagh border, he sought a club in his adopted city. His brother put in touch with someone at Na Fianna. Within a couple of years, he was captaining the senior side to a couple of League titles and had appeared on Pat Gilroy’s radar, although never got the call.
That came in the winter of 2012 as Gavin was finding his feet after replacing Gilroy. Mick Kennedy, a fellow Tyrone man who had been drafted into the new management set-up, rang Quinn and asked him for a trial. He was soon part of the extended Dublin panel.
‘I wasn’t expecting it,’ Quinn admits. ‘I was 31 at the time and if there was ever a chance of me playing for a county over here, I thought it had passed me by at that stage.
‘But things had been going well at Na Fianna. I was captain of the senior team and was playing well at the time. We had won a couple of League titles. So, I was happy enough to go along with it. I was a bit shocked but I thought I should just go with the flow and see where it took me.’
Quinn’s only prior experience in an inter-county set-up was a couple of seasons with London as he finished his accountancy qualifications over there. ‘I went over to London when I was 22 and got involved with St Clarets because it had a big Tyrone base.
‘I was a late developer, physically, which is why I was never on any under-age teams in Tyrone when I was younger. It is only when I got into my early 20s that I developed more physically.’
With Clarets, he excelled, captaining the side to an intermediate Championship in 2003. It wasn’t long before the London selectors came calling.
‘Ironically, I was on the London team that played Dublin in a qualifier in Parnell Park in 2004. I remember one of my first training sessions with Dublin, I saw one of the lads, Declan O’Mahony I think, wearing a jersey from that qualifier.’
Quinn’s best day with the Exiles came in 2005 when they came within a point of Roscommon in the Connacht Championship in Ruislip.
‘We should have won that day. Johnny Niblock hit the crossbar with the last kick of the game. That was a good London team, full of players who went on to play for their counties back at home – Paddy McConigley with Donegal, Charlie Harrison and Brendan Egan with Sligo.’
Having fully qualified, he got itchy feet. He went to Boston for the summer in 2007, playing with the Armagh club before moving to Sydney for nine months.
‘I played with Penrith Gaels down there. It was a great experience. Anywhere I have travelled to in the world, the first thing I look into is the GAA scene.’
Five years from lining out in the green fields of Sydney, he was representing the Dubs at Croke Park.
‘That’s sort of surreal,’ he agrees. Quinn happened to be the right man in the right place at the time. Gavin was looking for a hard-working half-forward as he sought the formula that would reclaim the All Ireland title from Donegal.
‘I had some great experiences playing for Dublin. Played in Croke Park. Came on as a substitute against Kerry in Killarney. I was involved against Mayo. We played Tyrone up in Omagh, I was on the bench, that was a game I would love to be involved in.’
As the League progressed, Quinn could feel himself moving further to the fringes. ‘Jim’s a gentleman. He gave me my chances and I definitely got a fair shot at it. But it was the most competitive squad in the country. And I got a League medal out of it.’
When Tomás Brady, his Na Fianna clubmate, ruptured his cruciate ligament, Gavin did recall him into the Championship squad but Quinn was struggling with a hamstring tear.
‘I shouldn’t have pushed it but I thought this was my last chance. Then I aggravated the injury.’
He was cut from the panel and Ciarán Reddin took his place.
‘Of course, I do wonder sometimes what would have happened if I was just able to hang on in there for a few months. I might have won one or two All-Ireland medals, but I can’t say that Jim didn’t give me a fair shot at it.’
From his first team meeting with Gavin, Quinn was impressed with his professionalism. Having worked in big corporate firms in the city of London, his approach reminded him of CEOs in the business world.
‘I learnt a lot from Jim, and from that set-up. The complete professionalism of it and I was able to bring those lessons into my business career and life, just generally,’ explains Quinn, who runs his own accountancy firm in Santry.
‘I knew they were going to be at the top table for a long, long time even just by my few months inside the camp. It was obvious by the way Jim and the management team went about their business, they were professional is every aspect. Nothing is left to chance.
‘There have been a few close calls, they have won only three of their All-Ireland finals against Mayo by a single point. But they did win them and that’s the thing that is often over-looked about Jim.
‘He has instilled a real winners’ mentality into this group. Even when things are going against them or they are not playing well, they don’t drop their heads or deviate from the plan. That’s the mentality of winners.’
His wandering spirit has brought him back to his home club, Derrylaughan, to finish out his career. They lost to Moy, club of the Cavanagh brothers, in last year’s intermediate final. But having been involved in the club scene in the capital for so long, he accepts that Dublin’s position of strength isn’t going to wane any time soon.
‘Club football is strong in Dublin, but the key to it all is Jim Gavin. He’s the secret. As long as he is around, Dublin won’t be going anywhere. You would just like to see more counties mustering more of a challenge.’
As for his own county, how does he feel about their own prospects tomorrow? ‘I am optimistic that they can mount a challenge. They have some excellent players, I have played against them in club football. I know how good they are.
‘But Tyrone need to be mentally strong. They just wilted when Dublin got an early goal last year. That can’t happen. I think they will be much stronger mentally, their route to the final will stand to them,’ Quinn points out.
‘Mickey Harte has never lost an All-Ireland final so we are clinging to that hope. But Tyrone will need to get their key men, Niall Sludden and Peter Harte into the game, while taking Ciarán Kilkenny and Brian Fenton out of it.’
Whatever happens, it has been said more to once to Quinn that he can’t lose. The Tyrone man who has played for Dublin.
‘It probably will never happen again, a Tyrone man getting picked for Dublin. It’s a strange story but I was never the most gifted footballer. I worked hard at my game and kept at it. There’s a lesson there for young players. You can achieve a lot if you keep at your game.’