HAPPY AS LARRY …
Former Cork football star, Larry Tompkins, signing a copy of his recently published book ‘Believe’ for long serving Mitchelstown GAA Club activist and lotto committee member, Cyril Kiely, in The Yard Bar, Mitchelstown last Saturday.
Anyone with even a passing interest in Gaelic football, will be familar with the name, Larry Tompkins. An adopted Cork man, he commenced his sporting career with Kildare, before moving south. In a huge boost for football on Leeside, the Rebels also signed up fellow Kildare man, Shea Fahy - both men would prove to be vital additions.
How Larry and Shea went from the plains of Kildare to the banks of my own lovely Lee, is a story in itself - the full and sometimes eyebrow raising details of Larry’s odyssey are contained in his book ‘Believe’, which was launched recenty.
SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS
Anyone who believes you rise to the top of elite sport by accident is sadly mistaken; invariably, blood, sweat and tears come into the equation. All three elements feature prominently in the book, which paints a picture of a naturally talented athlete, who possessed massive reserves of mental strength, allied to an unbreakable will to win.
At times, it’s difficult to work out whether Larry encountered more problems on or off the field. In the end analysis, the man with an unbreakable will to win, couldn’t or wouldn’t be broken and he ended a glittering football career, with everything there was to be won.
Larry, who was in John Cleary’s Yard Bar in Mitchelstown last Saturday to sign copies of his book, has strong links to Mitchelstown, having previously managed the club’s footballers. While many GAA clubs go down the route of getting in an outside manager, it doesn’t always work out and, given his profile, the pressure was on from night one, to get ‘ town over the line and deliver silverware.
Possessing a wealth of on-field acumen, Larry was a revelation in the North Cork town, and it didn’t take long to fashion a team of young, talented and highly motivated individuals, into a formidable footballing force, who went on to capture junior county honours in 2013.
A REAL FOOTBALLING TOWN
Speaking at last Saturday’s event, Larry said he always felt at home in what he described as ‘a real footballing town’.
“From the start, I had a good feeling about the place and the club. It was clear that this was a real footballing town, where on-field success meant everything. The club was very supportive, the players bought in to what I was trying to achieve and I like to think, I contributed some small bit to the success.”
Commenting in advance of the latest GAA lockdown, Larry said it was no surprise to him that Mitchelstown were once again blazing a trail.
“I always keep an eye on Mitchelstown’s results and I’m not just saying it now, but I thought this would be a big year for them, they’ve a lot of quality in key positions.”
WARMEST OF WELCOMES
As you’d expect, Mitchelstown GAA and longtime club sponsor John Cleary, afforded their special guest the warmest of welcomes. Current and past footballers were out in force to pay homage, purchase a copy of the book and chat with one of the true legends of the game.