STEPHEN STACK ON...

FIRST SPORTING MEMORY

MY mother was from Ballyhahill, and my first memory is going over to my uncle Joe Kelly’s farm to watch Limerick’s win in the 1973 All-Ireland hurling final. I suppose I am half a Limerick man! After that, I remember my mother died in October 1977 and uncle Joe brought myself and my brother Billy to the famous football semi-final between Kerry and Dublin earlier that year.

CHILDHOOD HERO

IT was probably Jack O’Shea. He was simply a phenomenal player. I think Henry Shefflin won two Hurler of the Year Awards with Kilkenny. But Jacko won four Texaco Footballer of the Year awards! That is just staggering. He was that good. Tim Kennelly, of course, in my own club, would have been a huge local hero, and was always very encouraging to me.

FAVOURITE OTHER SPORT

I love rugby because there’s a real inter-dependence in the game. I prefer team sports to be honest, there is more drama involved in them. But in rugby, no matter how good an individual is, it’s the overall team effort that will get you the result. It’s a sport where it’s all about the collective. Everybody has to pull their weight.

FAVOURITE SPORTS STAR

MY all-time favourite is unquestionably Muhammad Ali. I have read so many books about him, he was absolutely extraordinary. He was a tremendously principled guy, especially with his stance of not wanting to go to Vietnam, and he was incredibly articulate. He could have been a world leader. At the height of his powers, he was probably more recognisable than even the Pope. He was brave and ambitious. He gave up so much when he took his stand against the war that time and, even missing out on three of his best years, he still came back and won another two world titles.

SPORTING EVENT YOU’D MOST LIKE TO ATTEND

WITHOUT a doubt, the Olympics. I remember being in Dublin at the time and watching the opening ceremony of 2012 in London, which Danny Boyle, the famous film director, co-ordinated. I was gobsmacked, absolutely captivated by the whole thing. The Spice Girls and everything! It was truly amazing.

MAURICE FITZGERALD AND DAVID CLIFFORD

I don’t get engaged too much in conversations about who was better in different sports in different eras. That’s great pub talk. First of all, we saw an incredible Kerry team from 1975 to 1986. I can still remember going to those league and championship games. Nowadays, I am privileged to be back being a fan and watching the likes of Sean O’Shea and David Clifford develop. David and Maurice? I wouldn’t get into comparisons. They are both tall, physically strong, mentally tough, both absorb pressure situations, they can kick left and right, pressure does not seem to get to them. Maurice had this unbelievable ability to compartmentalise pressure in his mind. The best example of that was in 2001 against Dublin and that sideline kick, with Tommy Carr breathing down his neck, and I don’t think he was asking Maurice ‘what are you having for dinner later!’ David Clifford is the very same.

POSSIBLE AMALGAMATION OF SHANNON RANGERS AND FEALE RANGERS

I’VE been saying that for years. It would be a great thing to try. I’m not saying that it would work, but it would give the division an opportunity to put its very best team out on the field for North Kerry. Remember that it did happen in the past, and it’s happening now at underage level. Now is the time to do it. I would be very much in favour of it. I hope the clubs agree with it. The East Kerry Board is an example of how a group of clubs can work very well together. I was at their All Stars night, and you can see the regard and the co-operation that they all have for each other. They are a model as to how it should work. In North Kerry, unfortunately, a lot of the clubs are not operating at the higher end of the County League. Therefore, for a better chance of getting players with good potential into the Kerry set-ups at the different levels, you need to be performing well at County Championship level.

PROUDEST CLUB MOMENT

IN 2000, five years before I stopped playing, I chaired up a €1.5m club re-development over four years. It was a huge project with tremendous support from Listowel and North Kerry. We got 750k from the Sports Capital Programme and Munster Council, and raised the other 750k through seven big fund-raisers. It’s one of the things that I am most proud of. No matter what you do in life, you want to leave a legacy. I loved every minute of my time playing with Listowel Emmets, and if it wasn’t for the club I would never have had that enjoyment. It was lovely to lead a brilliant team of people and to provide the essential facilities for the generation of players and supporters coming after us. That’s not to discount any of the on-pitch achievements we had in the Emmets club, between North Kerry Championships and county club competitions, during my playing career.

FUTURE AMBITIONS

EVERY one of us wishes Peter Keane and the managements of all Kerry teams every success, and I am no different to that. Our responsibility, as club managers, is to create a very enjoyable playing environment for all players, and that when they are called into Kerry squads, they are in the best shape possible, and that they represent the club in the most impressive way that they can. That’s the way that I see my role. Right now, I am extremely happy to have been asked by Legion to train them. I am the kind of person that lives in the moment. In the current Covid-19 crisis, sure you can’t even predict beyond next week!