Luke Fahy hopes to give Cork football supporters something to shout about
Pictured is Luke Fahy, Cork footballer, in Croke Park at SuperValu’s launch of the Senior Football Championship. SuperValu has launched the “real nourishment” campaign to improve nutrition confidence. New research conducted by SuperValu shows Irish parents with children involved in sport and over 400 intercounty GAA players highlights that sourcing trusted information on nutritional support for performance is a shared challenge across all levels.
By John Harrington
The GAA is built on tradition, and for Cork football people nothing beats the buzz of a trip to Killarney for Munster Final day and the chance to scalp Kerry in their own backyard.
They don’t do it that often, though. You have to go back 31 years to the 1995 Munster Final for the last time they defeated the Kingdom in a championship match at Fitzgerald Stadium.
For Cork footballer, Luke Fahy, trips to Killarney to play Kerry in the Munster championship are stand-out childhood memories.
On Sunday he’ll get the opportunity to play there in a Munster Final himself.
It’s 14 years since Cork last won a provincial title and five since they even played in a final, so the sense of occasion for the Ballincollig man is all the more heightened.
“I've been going to Killarney since I was a small boy,” says Fahy.
“Going in through Ballyvourney and stuff like that. There was no bypass back then.
“So, yeah, really enjoyed going down with my father and my brothers. Walking up to Killarney, it's something, as a player growing up and a young fella, you dream of.
“For this group, it's been a long time coming. Five years. It's a big challenge ahead, but we're really looking forward to it.”
The 2015 Munster Final against Kerry in Killarney is the one that stands out most clearly for Fahy.
Kerry were fortunate to claim a draw when they scored an injury-time equaliser through the unlikely source of corner-back Fionn Fitzgerald and then defeated the Rebels in the replay.
“I felt it was one that got away, like,” says Fahy. “I was in the terrace on the side with my father and my younger brother, and, yeah, I could tell my father wasn't too happy walking out.
“At 17 you kind of knew what was going on, you kind of understood the game.
“So, yeah, look, it's our turn to go down there in two weeks so we're really looking forward to that. It's great to be involved in that.”
Cork captain Niall Cahalane celebrates with manager Billy Morgan following the 1995 Munster Senior Football Championship Final between Kerry and Cork at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney, Co. Kerry. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
The Cork football team’s support isn’t nearly as big as the county hurling team’s, but what they lack in relative numbers they make up for in passion.
Fahy was one of them not all that long ago an intends to return to the terrace when his own playing days with the county team are over so he knows what days like Sunday mean to them.
“We have a really strong cohort of Cork people that support us, you’d nearly know them all.” He says.
“I remember we went up to Tyrone this year for a really big league game to win promotion for us, and we ran out 25 minutes before throw-in, and you could hear the roar.
"I remember looking back and being like, ‘Jesus, there’s a good crowd of them here now.’ And we recognise that, and we really appreciate it, the support that they give us.
“We've had good days against Meath, as one example, Mayo a couple of years ago up in the Gaelic Grounds, Donegal in Páirc Uí Rinn two years ago.
“We have them kind of supporters that really get behind us, and I think they're a great bunch of Cork people that support us.
“My family would be big GAA people. Hurling and football, to be fair. But, yeah, you know what it means to them. You can see they're delighted when we're winning and, to be fair, unbelievably supportive when we're losing. They're always behind us and you know what it means to people.”
Luke Fahy of Cork signs an autograph for a supporter after the Allianz Football League Division 2 match between Cork and Kildare at Páirc Uí Rinn in Cork. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile.
Fahy is realistic about the scale of the challenge that Cork will face on Sunday against Kerry, but he’s not overawed by it in the slightest.
“If you look at Kerry, they're Munster champions, they're All-Ireland champions, and they were also in the league final, so they're consistently dining at the top table, if you want to put it that way, but I'd always look at ourselves first, I’d always try and get the best out of me and look to see where that leaves me," he says.
“We believe in the process, being honest, and our management team has put plans in place.
“I think we've always been ultra-competitive, it's just about getting over and pushing ourselves to probably go another level, and I feel we're kind of building towards that.”
Fahy can vividly remember being sat in the upper Hogan when Cork won the 2010 All-Ireland Final and the golden streamers fell from the roof of the stand in acclamation.
So he knows how much it would mean to the Cork football supporters to win a much longed for Munster title on Sunday.
“It would mean a lot,” he says. “Down in West Cork it's football, football. Only a small bit of hurling down in West Cork.
“Even in the city, there's still a massive football following. Even in Ballincollig there's a bus going to the Munster final for example, so it would mean a lot.
“But it would mean a lot to us as a group as well, let's be real about it.”
