By Jamie Ó Tuama

Last year was a great year for Ballymun and for the Andrews family. Fiach won a Dublin Senior Championships medal and dad, Val, could not have been any prouder of his son. I caught up with Val this week to have a chat about all things football including his passion for coaching.

Val could not have been more satisfied with his son’s contribution to the Ballymun cause as his side romped to their first county championship since 2012 and the fourth in the club's history after a ruthless performance over Ballyboden St. Enda’s in the final. Fiach contributed that day with a total of four points from play which left dad Val bursting with pride.

"I am incredibly proud of what he has achieved," said Andrews. "That was a culmination of eight or nine years of setbacks and not making the team. Being on and off the team, getting subbed, getting injured and having surgeries. To finally have the year he had was brilliant.

"I would say that about any fella. It isn’t about him playing well or winning medals. If he was anyone else’s son I’d say the same. It was his resilience to stick at it and his persistence that really deserved the medal.

"I just couldn’t say enough about that and to be quite honest, I don’t think I’d have been able to do it myself. I would have given up long ago."

He explained, also, how happy he was with the team’s performance and not only that of his sons and how he felt Ballymun played football the way it should be played.

''To be quite honest, given Fiach’s performance, given the team’s performance – never mind the individual – I was delighted. We played football in a way we would be delighted with.

We were open, expansive, we went at them at pace. We kicked beautiful scores. Be a team, work hard and play it in the right spirit, with no meanness but good hard fair stuff. That was more important to me nearly than the winning because that was the way we won it.

We won it by playing great football and that was the way we were in the 80s. That is what I was brought up on and it was really brilliant to see. What a lift.

In fact, when I went down I was sort of speechless. I didn’t know what to say to any of them. I was really caught up in the thing. It was an incredible day. It was very hard to put into words. I was extremely proud to be connected with the club.''

Val also noted the positive impact that the county players had on Ballymun’s championship and how it was great for the club to have all players at their disposal for such a long period to train and prepare for the Championship including the likes of Dean Rock, James McCarthy, the Small brothers – Johnny and Paddy – Philly McMahon and Evan Comerford.

He has huge respect for those players and was clearly very happy that they had time and space to commit fully to their clubs for a prolonged period. He was a big fan of the split season between club and county in 2020 and, putting it mildly, he clearly welcomes the motions being brought forward to Congress this year regarding the split season.

''Fellas find it very hard to commit to two things at once and it is very hard to come back after winning an All-Ireland (with the county) – emotionally more than physically and then rise yourself to play.

It’s not fair on the lads and I feel it can degenerate the competition not to give them a good space.''

Regarding the Ballymun’s intercounty contingent and the huge respect he has for them Val commented:

‘'What can I say about those lads! I’ll start with James McCarthy. James is what I would call the spiritual leader of Ballymun. A man of few words he just plays. The example he shows in training is just exemplary. He sets the standard.

He has a presence about him, like some of the Meath team of the 80s. He has that presence and a huge intensity. He has great values.

One of the things I was proudest of this year was when he called the two Smalls up to accept the cup with him. That told me that Ballymun had spirit, a value system. Those things are really important. It’s not just football. It’s community and looking out for each other.''

He was also full of praise for the other Dublin Ballymun players:

''Dean Rock plays his part by helping the younger lads by being encouraging and by being first at training.

John Small is a leader. John is really hardworking and honest. Tough. That shoulder against Conal Keaney in the final sums him up and remember he received a big hit just before half time. He is a really really good competitor.

Paddy is coming to the fore and Evan Comerford, and the old Philly of course! They are playing away and adding experience to the team.

They are tremendous ambassadors for the club and I could not speak more highly of them.’

I didn’t think, growing up, that I would ever see so many All-Ireland medals in Ballymun. It is ridiculous! It is unbelievable for me. When I grew up in the 70s and 80s fellas with All-Irelands lived in Tralee! O’Keefe, Power and Páidí O Sé and Mikey Sheehy…Jack O’Shea and Pat Spillane.''

Val has been involved in many teams as manager down through the years and is no stranger to the side-line. His enthusiasm for management remains as high as ever. Among the teams he was involved in were the famous IT Tralee team that won the Sigerson Cup three years running between 1996 and 1999 and included quality players such as Galway’s Pádraic Joyce and Mark Donnellan, Kerry’s Mike Frank Russell, Séamus Moynihan and Donegal’s Jimmy McGuinness.

When pushed to give the highlight of his management career to date, however, Val fondly recalls the scenes going into an Ulster final with Cavan back in 2001.

''From management, I will never forget running on to the pitch in 2001 with Cavan in the Ulster Final. What a noise! It was just incredible. I remember going through the town. The crowds everywhere!

We were gross underdogs. To think of the 63rd minute. We had a chance to win it with a goal…but it just didn’t happen. That’s the way it goes. It is funny how you always remember the ones that get away!''

Commenting on his time as manager with IT Tralee, Val singled out Séamus Moynihan, in particular, for praise and he spoke admirably about the influence the Glenflesk man had on that great Sigerson winning team:

''The real key to the success with IT Tralee was getting Séamus Moynihan involved with them. He was probably one of the best defenders ever. He was just different. He just had it. His attitude was fabulous. He was the key.''

Val also guided the Dublin Master’s team to All-Ireland glory in 2018 after defeating Tyrone in the final on a score line of 1-14 to 1-12. He has very happy memories of his journey with the older Dubs.

''It was great craic. It was very good for me at the time. They won the All-Ireland and they really enjoyed it. They were like kids! Put me on, put me on, they’d be saying to me!''

On a more serious note, Val appreciates what the Gaelic Masters Championship, run by the Gaelic Masters Association, gives to players:

''It just shows you that fellas still dream. They still dream at 40. It was really good for them and more importantly, it was great for them off the field. They had a bit of craic. I felt we should have won two in a row, but it just didn’t work out. That’s just the way it goes.''

Val is a very respected coach country wide and has given workshops on how to train for different styles of plays and tactics. He is currently attracting a lot of interest from his video posts and analysis of different styles of play on twitter by dissecting various tackles made in the heat of battle. Val has many ideas on coaching and has a huge appetite to learn more. He gives us an insight into his way of thinking here:

''I have a very simple approach to football. I look at what the people do in a match. What is the game about? So, at the moment, you’ll see I am looking at tackles. That is spurred on by watching coaches coaching tackles for hours and hours yet there are only two or three dispossessions per game. We are either not teaching it right or we are wasting our time.

What is a tackle and this famous thing about near hand tackles? In my opinion there are very few dispossessions as a result of near hand tackling. The dispossessions always come from the other hand.

Also, the chances of a taking the ball of a fella in a frontal tackle are a lot less than coming from behind or from the side. It’s a lot higher. A lot of the stuff then is the lazy tackling.

I look at the thing and ask what are the best fellas doing in matches and I ask myself how do I teach that. I ask myself what is a tackle, how does it work and how do I teach that. In terms of performance analysis, that is what I am looking at.

If you looked at earlier ones (plays from Val posted on twitter) when I started this, it is all individual skills, side steps, dummy solos and dummy hops. I am just trying to get enough of these clips together because I am doing coach development in our club.

It is the same with kicking. It is like golf. What way do you want to do? Do you want to drive? Do you want to go with the outside of the foot, inside of the foot top of the foot? So maybe when we are coaching, we don’t really think about it enough.''

During this uncertain time ahead in lockdown Val looks forward to continuing studying and posting on-field plays on social media to help in his roll with coach development in Ballymun. Onwards and upwards…