Kevin Stephenson's road less travelled

By John Harrington

Castleknock’s Kevin Stephenson wasn’t your average senior inter-county debutant when he pulled on a Dublin jersey for the very first time against Laois in the O’Byrne Cup last January.

He was 29 years of age, and not only had he never played at Dublin at any level previously, he wasn’t even a regular starter for Castleknock until the 2023 season.

That year a decision to focus fully on football rather than play both codes was real fork in the road moment for him.

He was named at midfield for Castleknock’s championship opener against Skerries Harps and his trajectory has been on an upward curve ever since. Still, he admits getting the call up to the Dublin panel this year was still a pleasant surprise.

“Yeah, I thought that ship might have sailed, maybe,” says Stephenson.

“But, listen, you always have to believe in yourself and always keep going, and I guess when the new management came in, it was probably another opportunity to have a go.

“You have to prove yourself in club championships, and things went well for me then, but it's the team around that makes you a good player, it's not just me individually.

“I guess you have to make a lot of commitments as well outside of just football. You need to get your S&C and get your nutrition in. I know it's a cliché thing, but it's little things like that that obviously make you that 1% better. You just have to keep going and keep dreaming.

“Like lads growing up in any county, they all want to play for their county team. It's just something that you don't give up until the thing is over. I was blessed to get an opportunity to play with Dublin. I was blessed to be asked for trials because even the trial games were brilliant.

“You're playing against lads all over the county who are also great footballers. To test yourself against them lads and then to get the call to make the next phase is great. Then to have a block where you're training with the best of the best in the country and the best of the best who have won it all.

“They're still as hungry as ever in training. It's brilliant to see. It obviously gives you more motivation to see them lads how well-drilled they are and how much they love the game. It's great and it's definitely something you want to mirror off them lads.”

Stephenson featured in the League for Dublin against Mayo but when Ger Brennan reduced the number of players he was carrying in the panel after that match Stephenson didn’t make the cut.

He has no regrets though. He loved every minute he spent in the Dublin camp and learned a lot from the experience.

“First of all it was a great experience. Every player that I went into in the panel were open arms, they were very, very nice and any questions you needed with them, they were sound, the management were brilliant as well.

“Being 29 making your Dublin debut is probably a bit rare, but to get an opportunity off Ger Brennan was great. We all know how tough inter-county is and then to make a panel of 36. Unfortunately I didn't make that part, but I was lucky to play with lads you’d look up and would have only previously played against like Niall Scully and Cormac Costello.

“Playing and training with the best of the best around the country was great and then when I was released, it was still great to be a fan and be able to see how far they went in the Championship. I was lucky to experience being both a player and a fan this year with Dublin.”

Based on his form for Castleknock on their way to Sunday’s PTSB Dublin SFC Final against Cuala, there’s every chance that Stephenson will be given another opportunity by Ger Brennan with Dublin next year.

His high fielding and athleticism in the middle third of the field has made him a key cog in a Castleknock team that has played a great brand of attacking football on the way to Sunday’s Final.

They’ll go into the match as underdogs against a Cuala team that won the All-Ireland two years ago, but self-belief has never been an issue for Castleknock.

Founded as recently as 1998, from the start they’ve been a club with a great drive and can-do attitude which has seen them make huge strides in a very short period of time.

Winning a Dublin senior championship less than 30 years after their foundation would be a remarkable achievement considering the strength of club football in the capital, and they’re determined to embrace the occasion rather than be unnerved by it.

“Listen, it'd be huge if we could win it,” says Stephenson. “To get the first one under the belt would be massive. The buzz around Castleknock the last week has been brilliant. We've had great support.

“It's not just about us the footballers, it's everyone in the club. Everyone was just delighted and hugging you and squeezing you after the semi-final.

“There's young lads coming up and shaking your hand and giving you high-fives and asking for signatures. You have to just embrace it and enjoy it. There's no point in shying away from it, and that's what we've done the last week.

“We've done anything that the club would have liked us to do, we've definitely been involved and we're not going to shy away from the fact that we're in a final.

“We're going to enjoy every bit of it and see what happens. It's been a rollercoaster since beating Crokes in the quarter-final. It's been a great buzz and hopefully the journey continues and we can bring the supporters along with us.”