Fox feeling fantastic ahead of Division 4 League Final 

Click here to listen to the interview with Longford's Paddy Fox.

By John Harrington

Paddy Fox has been playing for Longford since 2018, and rates last Sunday’s win over Wicklow which secured promotion from Division Four as his best day yet in the county’s colours.

A return to Division Three was the big prize of course, but it was the manner in which they did it that made the day extra special as the Midlanders recovered from an 11-point deficit and won it at the death with a last gasp Daniel Reynolds point.

Fox has had some tough days representing his county so Sunday was a day to be savoured and he made sure he did.

There was a deep personal satisfaction from getting something tangible back for all the sacrifices he has made to be an inter-county footballer, but it was more about sharing the joy with those he has shared the journey with along the way.

“Yeah, that's what it was, I suppose,” says Fox. “Friends, family, loyal supporters that you're used to seeing after every game. That first minute or two, you're kind of just going mental with a few of your players and hugging and celebrating.

“And then, yeah, it's time with supporters, your friends and family then out in the field and then back in the dressing room then.

“That's kind of the nicest bit nearly in the dressing room after. When you go in and you're on a high and all that but then there's a nice moment when everyone is finished talking about training for next week and a few other bits and pieces and you're just kind of sitting there and the boys are playing a bit of music and you're just sitting around chatting. Yeah, it's a very chill vibe.

"It's just nice, just very rewarding, just sitting back, soaking it in for about 10 or 15 minutes where you're just chatting to lads and just kind of saying like, 'Jesus, we actually done it, we got out of Division Four, it's unreal!’"

Getting out of Division Four this year was arguably a greater feat than it’s ever been before given how competitive it was.

Going into the final round of matches seven out of the eight teams were still in with a shout of promotion, and only a brave person would have predicted what two counties would occupy the top two positions when the dust finally settled given what had gone before in the previous six rounds.

Take Longford for example. They hardly looked like promotion candidates when London beat them by five points in Round 2 at Pearse Park, and yet in their next match they pumped Antrim by 13 points.

A week before their promotion clinching win over Wicklow they fell to a chastening 10-point defeat to Leitrim, and that sort of wildly fluctuating form graph was pretty much standard for every team in the division.

“We’re trying to get more consistent but in Division 4 we’re all similar teams and there’s not much between any of us on any given day,” says Fox.

“And especially in the league, it can be tricky with winds and stuff like that and if you're off for 10 or 15 minutes, you can find yourself in a massive hole.

“We're going to Croke Park now on Saturday with a chance at a league final, but I'm sure any of the other teams in Division 4 would fancy their chances against us or Carlow.

“It's just so tight and it's just such fine margins. London were within a whisker of getting promoted themselves. I think they ended up losing by a point in the end (against Antrim) and if they had to have won there, they'd be going up and we'd be sitting at home.

“There's so little between teams and that’s why the league is a brilliant competition, because every week you're going out and you're playing teams of a similar level.

“It does lend itself to that madness, because everyone's on pretty much the same level.”

Last year Longford won just two games in Division 4 and one their four defeats was a nine-point trimming at the hands of Wicklow.

What does Fox put the progress they’ve clearly made in the intervening 12 months down to?

“We’re into the second year with (manager) Mike (Solon) and the boys and it takes a bit of time to bed in, for Mike to get to know us and us to get to know the way he wants the team to play and all that kind of stuff.

“It's small things then as well around that really. We've probably added to our bench this year and it's making a huge impact in games as well.

"Barring myself, it's actually quite a young team and it takes a bit of time because inter-county's tough. It's a big step up from club. The boys are really finding their feet.

"Some of the young lads there, the likes of Dan Reynolds, Matthew Carey, Liam Glennon, they're finding their feet and really stepping up as leaders in the team and taking the game by the scruff of the neck. It's the young guys, I suppose, that are really driving it on.”

Fox turns 35 in June and is the elder statesman of the team now, but he remains a very important player for Longford.

There aren’t many county footballers his age playing in the last line of defence especially now that the new playing rules have made that a much more difficult role, but he’s still relishing the challenge.

“It’s getting tougher in the full-back line alright because the speed of the inside boys is just getting higher and higher and higher, or maybe I'm getting slower, I don't know! But with the new rules as well, it's really pace everywhere.

“No, look, it's good. I enjoy it. I love it. You're always worried when you're coming back, another year, would I go too far? But look, it's gone okay so far this year.

“With the young lads there as well, it's great craic. I nearly feel like a father at times because I’m so much older than them and you don't even know what they're on about sometimes.

“They're on social media apps I've never even heard of and stuff like this. But no, it's good, it's good, it's a great group of lads there and I just love it.

“I don't find it tough at all to be honest and I look forward to going training even there last year when results weren't going their way and all that.

“I said to my wife there last year at the end of the year, you never dread going to training. You never dread playing a match. You'd be disappointed sometimes when you have bad results but I absolutely love playing for Longford.

“I'll keep going at it for another little bit anyway.”

Fox has only once previously played in Croke Park and that was in his debut season of 2018 when Longford were beaten by Dublin in the Leinster SFC semi-final.

He wasn’t sure he’d ever experience running out at headquarters again, and the fact that there will be silverware on the line against Carlow on Saturday makes it an opportunity to be relished even more.

What’s seldom is wonderful, and there’s a serious buzz building in the county ahead of the game.

“It's brilliant,” says Fox. “I work in town here in Longford and on Monday I went up to grab coffee and people you don't even know are stopping you and congratulating you and saying well done.

“It's brilliant. It's great for the county and gives the people of Longford a boost.

“To be fair to the supporters, they've been very good to us. There's never any bad words out of them or they're never slating the team when we lose a game.

“They're just genuinely delighted. There was a great support there on Sunday for us and hopefully it'll be the same now this Saturday.

“We know it’ll be a tough game against Carlow because since I’ve been there in 2018 it feels like we play them every year and we know them inside out and they know us inside out.

“It’s always a 50-50 game and they have some great players.

“They have a lot of very, very lively forwards and our forwards as well are probably pretty lively too so it probably won't be a fun game to be a defender, unfortunately!”

“We’ll see how we go!”