The rise and rise of Paul Mannion

By Brian Murphy

When Dublin won the All-Ireland U21 title two years ago, Paul Mannion scored the decisive goal after coming on as a sub against Roscommon.

Mannion had been used sparingly by then manager Jim Gavin throughout the campaign, and at that stage there was little to suggest the Kilmacud Crokes forward's career was about to take off the way it did last season.

The 20-year-old broke into the Crokes senior team at the end of 2011, making his debut as a sub in a Dublin Championship defeat to St Brigid's, having pulled on a Dublin jersey for the first time at any level for the minors, who were beaten in the All-Ireland final by Tipperary, earlier that year.

It was the first year he committed fully to playing Gaelic football after devoting much of his youth to soccer, lining out for Belvedere for seven years before moving on to Home Farm until he was 17. He won an international schoolboys cap for Ireland, there were offers from a few League of Ireland clubs and there was even talk of going over to pursue a professional career in England.

"The bottom line is that I was not good enough at soccer to be in with a shout there," says Mannion, who studies International Commerce in UCD. "I suppose a lot of kids growing up, that is their end goal; they always want to play in England. I don't think I had the same obsession because the GAA and football was there so it wasn't an obsession for me.

"Certainly, my parents were not obsessed with the idea either; they always said to me that they would love me to go to college here and play football at home so I never put too much talk into it.

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"There were a couple of clubs interested but I was happy then, I had committed myself to the Dublin minors and once that happened I was happy to play Gaelic football and I am glad at the end of the day that I did.

"Thankfully the Leaving Cert went well. I went to UCD as well which is what I wanted and it turned out really well."

He adds: "I couldn't say I would be happier (playing soccer) because I don't think I could be happier than I am at the moment. Growing up, you are playing soccer and it is always something you would be attracted to. The lifestyle would have suited me but I wouldn't have been happier than I am now."

The speed of his ascent over the last two years has surprised many, most of all himself. At the start of 2012, he had just graduated from the minor ranks and his ambitions amounted to little more than breaking into the first team with Crokes, but by the following September he had won an All-Ireland title with Dublin.

He added a second All-Ireland U21 title last Saturday, kicking six frees in the win over Roscommon, to round off a whirlwind two-year period, which has also yielded two Allianz League titles and two Leinster Championship medals with the Dublin senior team.

"I could never imagine the speed of it, you are not even thinking about Dublin. All you are thinking about is winning a championship with Crokes and going on but it did not work out that way," Mannion adds.

"The next thing you know you are thrown in with Dublin, obviously it was an honour but it was also a bit of a shock at the same time.

"I would say it was down to a bit of confidence. Obviously with doing the Leaving Cert, it is always tough doing that at the time and the mock results were not too good and it put a bit of extra pressure on me to having to do more study and it got a bit hectic.

"Jim Gavin was a massive help, he would say that if you are struggling then take a couple of sessions off to study so there was no problem with that at all.

"Through that I just managed to get back on top of the books and the football kind of followed after that. I started to string a couple of decent performances together in training and I just got the shout then."

The whole experience has been a life-changing one for Mannion, who turns 21 later this month.

"There's so many lads in the dressing-room with such a wealth of experience, and just spending time with these lads, every second day, every day, you pick up so many little things; you learn so much.

"It drives you on in other areas, I suppose - in college, work. I suppose it gives you an edge.

"Obviously you probably get a bit more attention than if you hadn't been playing for Dublin, but that's just part and parcel. It can be a bit much at times as well, that's the other end of it.

"Obviously in the height of championship, the hype from media and friends and even family, at times, it got a bit mad.

"But you're with the team most days, so once you're in the dressing-room everyone's in the same boat, you're all thinking the same thing, so that's almost like your down time...and when you're training that much, you're sharing that load with the other lads around you and it's not that tough."

Mannion made his senior competitive debut for Dublin in an Allianz League game against Cork last February, but ended up in hospital with concussion after banging into his team-mate Paul Flynn's hip. "I can't remember any of that game really," he says.

He was meant to be pre-occupied with the Dublin U21s last spring, but their earlier-than-expected Leinster semi-final defeat to Longford, as well as injuries to senior players, meant there was an opening in the inside forward line and Gavin gave him his chance.

"There was a couple of injuries at that time so I got a lucky break and really took my chance and then held on to it," he says.

He held on to the jersey right up to the All-Ireland final against Mayo, but his involvement ended after just 15 minutes.

"Before the game I had a small bit of hamstring trouble. I recovered from that fine. Going into the game I was 100 per cent, I was ready, I was confident. It was just an unlucky jolt the way I turned I think, that hyper-extended the hamstring a bit. It was one of those things that can happen to anyone at any time, you don't see it coming.

"Obviously you're worried that you're using up a sub that could be valuable towards the end of the game. Sitting in the stands you're just willing the lads to get over the line. It was a nervy wait for the last few minutes but thankfully, I was just delighted we got over the line."

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