Future in coaching on hold as Noel focusses on family for now

THE wheel pretty much turned full circle for Noel Kennelly last November.

Coming off the bench to fire home a late goal in his side’s three-point defeat (1-13 to 1-10) to Castleisland Desmonds in the first round of the North Kerry SFC, this was to be his final outing in the colours of his cherished Listowel Emmets.

Approaching his 40th birthday last Christmas, the body just would not take any more wear and tear, and as he trotted onto the pitch that day in a last-gasp rescue mission for Emmets, the identity of his immediate opponent pointed out to him in black and white that the writing was on the wall.

“I started out in 1995 in Moyvane in a North Kerry League game against Castleisland. I was put in corner-forward that day and the man marking me was Eugene Leonard, who passed away quite young. He was a guard in Castleisland, but he was a county player for Limerick,” said Kennelly.

“I scored a couple of points and we won the North Kerry League. It was a great day out and the start of my senior career with Listowel.

“Then, last year, I came on as a sub in the North Kerry Championship against Castleisland. I went in full-forward and then I see this big young fella coming out against me. And who was it? Eugene Leonard’s son! I said to myself ‘jaysus, this is it’. My first game the father is marking me, and my last game the son is marking me! It is time to throw away the boots!

“Look, I had a good innings as they say. I do miss playing. I had an operation on my back last April twelve months. I had a piece of a disc taken out and I was going to walk away from it then. But I said I would try and get back and play one last game, and call it quits then.”

Any chance of coming out of retirement for one last hurrah?

“No, because I’m not fully right since the back operation. That ship has sailed. The body is not able anymore, being honest,” he admitted.

“I always said that I would play as long as I could so that I would have no regrets in maybe ten years time. I’ll have no regrets now. I’ve made my decision.”

The two-time All-Ireland senior medallist has been working for wholesale drinks business, Counterpoint Ireland, for the last 20 years, and is currently their regional manager for Munster. He is married to Isabel from Ballylongford, and they have three children – Timmy (10), Aoise (8) and Siun (6).

Having dipped his toes in the worlds of coaching and management, Kennelly is eager to return to that role sometime in the future, but spending time with his young family is now his most immediate and most important priority.

“Darragh [Ó Sé] brought me in as an under-21 selector, that’s going back a while, maybe ten years or more, and we were unlucky to draw Cork in two games, two knock-outs, and we were beaten. I went in and trained IT Tralee for a bit and Listowel, but I was still playing, so it was too soon for me. In the last couple of years, I haven’t done anything.

“I’m just taking a break, the kids are at an age now, and my wife has probably reared them on her own for a couple of years to be fair, with me gone out to football most evenings. I’m enjoying my time at home, but I’m definitely looking to do something to get back into coaching.

“You can’t just walk back in though. The game moves on. Ten years ago, it was probably all about kicking it into the big full-forward. Now it’s defensive, defensive, restarts, all about possession, the game is forever changing.

“I will hopefully get back into something sometime. It’s about getting the right opportunity that you can first go in and dabble your toe at it, and see what way the game has moved forward. But it would be difficult to go in and take a job now when you haven’t coached anyone for six years.”

Kennelly has huge respect for club managers, especially those who choose to take the stick that comes from training your own club.

“I have huge time for fellas, who are coaching at club level, particularly in their own clubs. It’s tough. If you win, you’re the greatest. If you lose, you’re the biggest bollocks! It’s a tough station. It’s all voluntary and the commitment is getting bigger and bigger.

“Twenty years ago, you could probably pick out an inter-county player from a club player in a club game. Now, if you came in from outside the county to a club game, and you weren’t that into GAA, you would find it very difficult to pick out the inter-county player.

“Fitness-wise I am talking about here. Club teams are training just as hard as county teams now. There’s a lot of work involved in that,” he added.