Conor Grimes enjoying every step of Louth's eventful journey
Louth footballer Conor Grimes during a media event at Cullen Autoparts Louth GAA Training Centre in Darver, Louth. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
By Paul Keane
Conor Grimes wasn't thinking about winning Leinster SFC titles, and he certainly wasn't talking about contesting All-Ireland finals when he first started playing for Louth.
That was back in 2014 and, truth be told, there were a few 'dark days' in subsequent years as the county struggled for traction at the top level of the game.
"In the early part of my career, the first five, six years, no," said Grimes of whether he foresaw Louth playing in a game like this Saturday's All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo.
"The early part of my career was spent in Division 3 and Division 4, and yo-yoing between the two. You'd have 50, 80 people at games."
He remembers one game, and reviewing it afterwards as part of an analysis session, when all that could be heard on the audio was the noise of a dog barking.
Louth bottomed out in Division 4 following relegation to the lowest tier of the Allianz League in 2020. They closed out that pandemic interrupted season by losing their one Championship outing, against Longford in Mullingar.
"That was probably one of the lowest points of my career," said the big forward. "But look, we've had many dark days in Louth football. It's never been for a lack of trying, or a lack of effort that they've occurred.
"We were trying to do our best for our county, but we probably just didn't have the awareness, or the know-how, to get to the next level.
"I've been very lucky and extremely privileged, and I've said this a number of times, that Mickey came in when he did, and that I was fit to perform, and he had the know-how obviously around competing at the top level. He put the foundations in place."
Conor Grimes with former Louth manager Mickey Harte. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
Ger Brennan succeeded Harte, taking Louth on again to the summit of the Leinster championship in 2025. Now Gavin Devlin is in charge and he too has made further gains. If Louth defeat Mayo on Saturday, they will qualify for a first All-Ireland final since 1957, when they last won the national title.
Quality coaching and expert man-management has only been half of the Louth story though. Players like Grimes can take huge credit for putting in the hard yards and long hours to develop their games. There was a time when Grimes was seen as a towering target man. Now he's a more mobile half-forward, who can kick a score off his less preferred foot if given half a chance.
"I always played full-forward, that was my position growing up and even in my first five years with Louth, I was always an inside full-forward," he said.
"Then Mickey and Gavin came in and I played my first year under them at full-forward. Then we played a charity game in Darver and Mickey played me centre-back.
"I think we were short on numbers, and he saw that maybe there was a role for me out around the middle third.
"But look, I had to put in massive work. The way the game is gone now, endurance levels are really difficult around the middle eight."
Louth players, from left, Conor Grimes, Conal McKeever, Ciaran Byrne, and Tommy Durnin, celebrate with their young children after beating Monaghan in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
And the proficiency with the left foot?
"Gavin always believed I had a good left foot," said Grimes. "It's something that you just have to practice, just get out there with a bag of balls and practice with both feet. The way the game is now, you have to be able to use both sides of your body. It goes back to doing the simple, basic, mundane skills, but doing them over a large period of time.
"It doesn't just happen because you're going into a Leinster final, that the week before it you start practising. It takes years of work, trying to develop it to a level where you're comfortable to use it in a game situation."
Grimes and Louth will put their skills under the microscope again this weekend. Whatever way it pans out, it's been an eventful season. One that won't be easily forgotten.
From relinquishing their grasp on the Leinster title, when suffering defeat to Dublin in Portlaoise, to beating Armagh with a last gasp goal in Inniskeen, to the 14-man heroics against Monaghan last time out, it's been some run.
"Without that performance, I'm not sure we'd be where we are today," said Grimes of the defeat to Dublin. "It's a constant reference point for me as a player, just how flat we fell that day, and how we threw in the towel in the second half, characteristics that we don't usually have in this group.
"Sometimes things like that can happen for the best. We bowed out of Leinster on really disappointing terms, but maybe we wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for that performance."
