Great Australian timeout has rejuvenated Offaly football stalwart now firing on all cylinders again

AT 28 years of age, Eoin Carroll should have been at the peak of his footballing powers but instead, his body was beginning to show the ravages of time, his clock creeping inevitably towards the empty zone.

By the time, the 2021 championship came around, the end game, for county football anyway, appeared to be looming ever closer. As Covid 19 fear stalked the land, the Cappincur powerhouse came on as a sub in the 2021 Leinster Senior Football Championship win over Louth and battling defeat by Kildare.

Having made his debut in a 2013 National Football League win over London, Carroll was an almost ever present starter from then on and the subs bench was an uncomfortable vantage point for him. Midfield is his most natural position while he has also played on the half forward and half back lines and his footballing style exacted a toll. A player who revels in football at its most physical and giving and taking the big hits, he has a ferocious work rate and engine and a mixture of this all action style and mounting injury problems had him on the line.

He had followed a family tradition by encountering unfortunate injuries with his left knee and other injury problems, the usual muscular ones etc, meant that he was just not moving freely. Everyone could see it and he was aware of it himself.

A mixture of that plus a desire to travel and see a bit of the world resulted in him taking the very major decision of taking a year out after Cappincur held onto their senior status in 2021. With the big 30 not far off on the horizon, Carroll was very much aware that the travel ship would sail away very soon and he and his girlfriend, Aoife Dempsey, a Raheen club woman, decided to head to Australia for the year.

A physical education and Irish teacher in Gallen Community School in Ferbane at the time, he was not worried from a job perspective as he knew there would be no shortage of work when he returned. A year turned into two and it was last summer when they returned.

There was a footballing risk in his departure. The footballing flame burned brightly in him at all times and in his own mind, his Offaly career was only on hold, not over, but he was very much aware that he mightn't pull on the jersey again – that a manager might not give him the chance at that stage of his life.

He played well for Cappincur as they reached the Senior “B” Football Championship semi-final in 2023, losing to champions and parish neighbours Ballycommon, and when new manager Declan Kelly rang him after getting the job, he jumped at the chance. The benefits of his timeout have been apparent to everyone since then as he has nailed down a place at midfield in the National Football League, starting every single game and finishing most of them.

He is running like his old athletic self, playing really well at midfield as Offaly did well to retain their Division 3 status and his experience and contribution is crucial as an exciting younger generation of John Furlong, Cormac Egan, Jack Bryant, Keith O'Neill, Cathal Flynn et-al begin to find their feet. He is leading by example and without taking that break, he very possibly would be a beaten docket at this stage and gone off the scene or used much more sparingly.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's Leinster Senior Football Championship derby with Laois, Carroll admitted that his aching body and a desire to regenerate it was a factor in him going. “It probably forced my hand and made the decision a little bit easier. I was able to recognise I was starting to pick up these different niggles that hadn't really been there before. The knee has obviously been a big issue for me down through the years. That is never really going to go away but when those other things came up on top of the knee issue, it leaves you very frustrated. You are not playing to your potential and going home from games and training sometimes very frustrated and deflated if your'e body is just not following what you want to do.”

He had tore the plantar fascia in his foot during 2021, a right nasty little injury that can be managed but leaves a player or athlete unable to train the way they want. “I was only able to train every second week and then leave myself right for the championship games. I needed a full week off then. It was tough going and I got an injection which didn't help much. By the time we got to the relegation final against Bracknagh that year and saw it out, the body was ready for a break.”

There were other factors.

“It would have been something always in the back of my mind,” he said last week as he reflected on his Australian adventure. “It was something I knew I needed to do at some point. It was maybe finding the right time to do it. Myself and Aoife were always keen to do it.”

Aoife had been there before, visiting family and friends and as Carroll's body told him that he needed a break from football, they made their plans. “I knew I need a bit of regeneration and the time was right to pull the pin.”

Initially, he only intended having a year there but he loved it so much that they stayed for almost two years. “It was one of the best decisions I ever met. We had a great time out there.”

Turning 30 later in April, he was 18 when he joined the Offaly senior football panel in 2012 – the manager was Emmet McDonnell, who is principal of St Mary's Secondary School in Edenderry where Carroll now teaches. He had done his placement there during qualification and had his job secured there before he returned, after interviewing on Zoom.

A ferociously committed footballer who loves playing for Offaly and Cappincur, the game dictated so much of his lifestyle. He did bits and pieces of travel over the years, going to Chicago with his Offaly team mate Peter Cunningham for a stint one year. “Things like that scratched the itch for a while but I was under no illusion that different responsibilities were going to come later in life. When you are young it is important to do those different things and explore different opportunities but football is obviously a main priority in my life. It was to get the balance right and do a bit of long term planning as well.”

Already the middle part of his life is beginning to shape up. He will have completed one year of teaching in St Mary's after this school year and can become permanent after a third while him and Aoife have purchased a house in Daingean since returning – Aoife is back studying her post graduate in midwifery and will qualify in 2025. They aren't engaged yet but he jokes: “The pressure is coming on and it is getting closer and closer”.

They made memories of a lifetime in Australia, basing in Sydney but travelling all over the continent as well as getting to New Zealand. He initially worked in construction out there and then taught once he got his paperwork sorted for that – he went back on building sites during school holidays.

It all seems to have worked a dream. “I was only codding myself if I thought I was still 100%. I was at a juncture, do I call it a day here or try something to give me a new lease of life. It seems to have worked. Don't speak too soon but. .. .”

Apart from physically, the break also did him the power of good mentally. “I noticed that when I come home from training now, I am full of energy, I am reinvigorated again. That maybe had dwindled a small bit. If I do something, I am all in and I knew that if I carried on the way I was going, I would lose that hunger as well as picking up niggles. I didn't like the way it could have gone so I took control and ownership on where to go less.”

He had no doubt that his hunger would come back. “That would always be there but it was more the body and if I come back in a year or two's time, it is a different management, a different team. That was in the back of my mind.”

He knew the 2023 Offaly manager Liam Kearns well from his time studying in Limerick and had kept in touch with him during his time in Australia. He was looking forward to coming back to work with him but sadly, his untimely death changed that. He was delighted and relieved when Declan Kelly rang him.
“I knew I had to earn my stripes again and earn the right to be asked back in again. I knew I wouldn't be automatically asked in. No one has a divine right to be in there and I could easily have been left at home and you could see the argument if I was but thankfully I got the call.”

Carroll admitted that he had fears he wouldn't get the call. “With any new manager, you are wondering if you have done enough and I knew I had to prove myself in the club championship. Performance with the club was my main priority and I knew I had to be doing the business there if there was to be any hope of being asked in. The call came after we exited the championship and I was delighted. Before that, it was very much the unknown.”

In Australia, he enjoyed the downtime and partied a bit more than he would at home but he always kept one eye on home and Offaly. He played with Clann na Gael in Sydney and really enjoyed that – he was outstanding as they won two championships and leagues, making new and lifelong friends. “That gave me a new lease of life. I was heading to Australia for a break from football and I ended up falling in love with it all over again. Just really refreshing, a really good bunch of lads. A brilliant club and friends for life from it. I owe them a great deal.”

He trained hard with Clann na Gael but was very conscious that it was well below intercounty standards in Ireland. As a result, he knew he had to do extra, keeping up all his strength and conditioning work and doing extra runs outside of their twice weekly training sessions. “I was giving myself every platform that if I did come back and was asked back in again, I would be able to make that transition.”

He juggled training and his extra work with trips away during school holidays and the breaks that he craved. “I had enough experience to know what to do with strength and conditioning but it was more the extra intensity and speed of the inter-county game, that was where I had to work. How could I bridge that gap on my own? It was hard but we were playing really good football and it kept me sharp.”

He enjoyed the social life after games. “You could let your hair down that little bit more which is great but I wouldn't like to over do it in that aspect. Whether I am here or there or anywhere, I know my limit and I am quite happy to go for drinks here and there but then park it for weeks at a time. I did a little bit more in terms of the social side there than I would here but it was as much for the trips and the holidays over there, seeing the country as it was for the social element.”

There was an adjustment to life back in Ireland, particularly the weather. “It seems to have rained every week since we got home,” he grimaced. There was a small temptation to stay there but it never festered for long enough to grow legs. “We knew that it was a fine line and if we stayed any longer in Australia, we are digging roots here. While we had our apartment there and our jobs, the one or two years still felt like a holiday.”

As they landed during Covid and with Aoife nursing out there, they were able to get a visa extension without hurdles – and without having to go into farmwork or other employment that many emigrants are obliged to.

“Was there any temptation to stay longer? Not really, some days we might mention it. The last week or two when you are going home and you are down on the beach going for a swim before work in the morning and the sun splitting the stones. It might pop into your head, are we making the right decision here but we were very sure we made the right call and that was reaffirmed when we got home. We are happy with the choice we made.”

They quickly got back into normal life once back, resuming teaching, playing football. Declan Kelly oversaw a gruelling training schedule when he got the panel back together and Carroll was pleased with the way his body stood up to it.

“There are lads 20/21 here flying it and you are wondering will I be able to keep up with them. I was able to stick it out and I had quite a decent base of fitness going into pre-season so I was able to build on that. I wasn't left exposed or look out of place. I was able to get through it and live to tell the tale.”

The proof of that has been in the eating as he has been able to see out full games at midfield. That has pleased him most. “You look at your age and you are heading for thirty. The game has moved on that bit, it has got more quicker and intense. It has got more draining on the body. You are thinking I could last the seventy plus minutes a few years ago but is it still in the legs now. You just put the work in pre-season and hope the body will follow through. Thankfully it has and I've been able to get through those games. In the last 10/15 minutes, I have been able to find that extra gear and that is very pleasing. It is just down to the pre-season training we did and I am very happy with how it is going in that sense.”

The league campaign was an up and down one as Offaly lost their first four games to Westmeath, Antrim, Clare and Down. The pressure mounted but Carroll remarked: “It wasn't on too much in camp. We were in our own bubble, taking it week by week. You are trying to rectify mistakes you made the week before.”

After the four games, the knew they had to get results. “The pressure isn't affecting players as much as you might think but did it affect us or completely go over our heads? Of course it didn't. You are going to feel some element of pressure going into the second half of the league, knowing you have to get points on the board.”

He was happy that they still had their fate in their own hands and they were able to look at why they were losing games narrowly. “We fought hard and we dug it out for the last few games.”

After Offaly threw away a nine point lead against Clare, a very small minority of supporters were beginning to focus on the management of Declan Kelly.

“You try and keep your distance from any of that stuff and thankfully, we don't get too many opportunities to go out on the social side of things. You are not going to hear too much of that type of noise unless your own family and close circle of friends might let you in on what is being said. You hear bits and pieces but you are able to recognise fact from the fiction. Often something small will grow legs with these kind of things and travel much quicker than the truth will. We just stay focused on the job at hand, that stuff wasn't going to help anything and we kept our distance, kept working hard.”

Kilclonfert man Declan Kelly managed Carroll to U-21 success with St Vincent's in the early 2010s and later to titles with Cappincur so he knew what to expect; the straightforward approach he would adopt and the expectations he would have about what players had to do.

“I would have had a good number of years under Declan so I knew what type of manager he is and what type of stuff he looks for. At the same time, Declan had a big journey after Cappincur and St Vincent's to Offaly so he was going to pick up different things and change his style somewhat. I don't think it makes too much of a difference. You know what you are going to get from any manager, the expectations that are there so you just have to look after your own game and bring what you can to the team environment too. Declan is like anyone else in terms of the stuff he looks for. He demands a great work ethic and it is something I can buy into. I can always control my work rate and it is something I pride myself on. Putting my head down and it is something he looks for in players. I knew what to expect but at the same time, you are coming in with an open mind. He has gone to different teams and different setups since I had him so you just have to treat it as a new experience.”

Was there any sense of crisis after the Clare game? “It was just one of those things. Poor game management. Up by nine points with twenty mintues to go. To throw away that lead was very frustrating but we just didn't have time to throw the toys out of the pram or to let it sink us.”

They learned from the video and the mistakes they made, insteading of engaging in self recrimination and blaming or fighting with each other. “That is a waste of time. All we could do was look forward. Was it a disaster? At the time of course it was, we were absolutely deflated after that game and there is no point in saying otherwise. We got back to work on the Tuesday, took what we could from it and there were a lot of positives from that game. A lot of them were overlooked with the result. It is a results business, that is what the supporters look for and what we are striving for so the negatives probably did outweigh the positives but we were able to recognise where we did go well that day.”

He was also happy that they were improving with each game, even if results were worrying.”It was a brand new team, a brand new management and very early on in our journey so there was always going to be that bedding in period. Some players were getting exposed to county football for the first time. Other guys like myself had been away for a couple of years so you are trying to marry all those things together. There is going to be that rocky period at the start and we came up against some tough opposition in the first few weeks but we could recognise we were making improvements and moving in the right direction. The results may not have been corresponding with that but we knew it wasa matter of time. The Clare game was frustrating in that we knew this was the day we were letting the chains off. Did we get complacement when up by eight or nine points? Possibly and that is something we can learn from.”

They performed well in their last three games, beating Wicklow and Limerick and drawing with Sligo. It all boiled down to the results against Wicklow and Limerick and he was particularly pleased with the big score they put up against Wicklow.

Now it is all eyes on Laois. “The mood is good. A local derby will always rally troops and get everyone motivated. There will be no excuse for not being up for it. Bodies are good, everyone is feeling good and making a nice transition between league and championship which isn't always an easy thing to do. You just have to get up to the next level, the next pitch. We are looking forward to it.”

He can't recall winning in O'Moore Park and he played a lot of underage and school games there. “It is not an easy place to go,” he said, pointing out the damage that Laois did to Leitrim in the Division 4 league final.

The performances of some of Offaly's young guns has been one of the big takes from the league. “Huge, the whole county was waiting for these few boys to come on. It was just a matter of giving them some time, you don't see many players in the country making the automatic step up from underage to senior. We knew we had excellent footballers coming and you can see what they are producing now. You have the new boys making it and others giving depth to the panel. They have added a new energy to the whole thing. They bring massive pace and skill level to training which only benefits everyone else. When they come in and raise the standards, everyone else has to raise their bar as well.”

Carroll's talented youngest brother Bill had played very well for Offaly while he was in Australia – they did play together in 2021. 23 years of age, Bill didn't come in last Winter as he concentrated on study commitments for a masters in TUD and then got hit with meningitis over Christmas. He had a “rough spell” over Christmas, spending a few weeks in hospital but thankfully has made a full recovery and is back playing league football with Cappincur.

He would love to line out alongside his brother for Offaly again in the future. “He has classes in the evenings and on Saturday mornings as well and just couldn't commit at the moment but hopefully the door is not closed on him. Football is still a massive part of his life and he has given a great lift to Cappincur. He will stay sharp and hungry and hopefully down the line, he will make an appearance again.”

Now in his 10^th year playing senior inter-county football, he admitted that it does get tough at times. “Tough defeats can leave you with negative thoughts at times but then the good days are that good and just getting to wear the jersey in the first place is what keeps me going anyway. Yes it is tough and if someone walked inwho doesn't know what inter county football is and you had to explain it to them, they would find it very hard to understand. You have to find what works for you, what motivates you and it is getting to wear the jersey and so many great men that went before me, that is what keeps me going. I find it very hard to get sick of it when you are getting the opportunity to play. At times you can but you have to find that extra gear and things to keep you going that bit longer.

“You hear the old cliche about leaving the jersey in a better place when you are finished up and while it is overused at times, it is something I really buy into. You have no divine right to be there, you are only passing through and you are carrying the baton for a certain period of time so whatever amount of years you are there for, whether five or fifteen, you know there is someone coming behind you and if you can give the jersey to him in a better place than when you got it, that is what it is all about,”

While they have had limited success, he has had plenty of good wins for Offaly. An U-21 football win over Kildare in Athy in his early days, a magical evening when Offaly played very well, was one that stayed with him. He always relished playing in Croke Park and destroying Longford in the Division 4 final in 2015 was another highlight, as was a 3-15 to 4-11 win over Laois in the last league game in 2017, to retain Division 3 status.

“Different games stand out and difference reference points to tap back into if you are ever looking for something. Some lovely memories to look back on but looking to add a few more.”

Offaly have played in Division 3 for the bulk of his county career – he has played in Division 4 a couple of times and he was gone when they played in Division 2 in 2022.

He has experienced his share of bad, traumatic defeats and the 6-22 to 0-10 mauling by Armagh up north in 2017 was a particularly painful one. “I will never forget that. I was back teaching in Kilkenny the day after it. There was a parent-teacher meeting and I never wanted the ground to swallow me up as much. That was a tough one. There were different games along the way where it is very deflating but thankfully the highs are really high and make up for those low points.”

Carroll has gone through a lot of managers and has witnessed a lot of different things, not all of them good. How do you deal with that?
“You are just in the bubble and trying to control what you control. Sometimes it is only when you come out of it and stand back and look back at what transpired but when you are there, you don't necessarily see it. Different things have went on down the years but you can't let it distract you or throw you too much or you would never go in or put your hand up. There is things you can look back on and just laugh at some stuff, otherwise you might cry. At the time, every player, manager, person there was trying to do their best in whatever way it looked. It didn't work out for different groups or players along the way but you just have to trust in the fact they were hopefully doing their best for Offaly at the time and that gives you peace. Thankfully we have a great set up there now and a great bunch of lads there trying to bring Offaly on.”

The style of football has changed and evolved during his career. It hasn't won fans everywhere and his hesitation when asked if county football is fun to play is a telling one. “That is a good question and it comes back to you being in the bubble. At times, you just have to be so focused in the bubble. Sometimes you turn on county games at weekends and one in three or one in four might be a cracker of a game.The rest are hard to watch. People often ask is it as hard to play as it is boring to watch but when you are in the middle of it, you are so focused on the few things you are trying to do. To work a score or set up a defence. You don't have time to think am I enjoying myself here or not.

“When you come out of it and when I took the break, sometimes I thought was I enjoying myself that much. It is a tough one to answer. The game is gone so professional. It is hard to know where it is going to stop and you would worry at times, where will it stop. You even see the club game now and it is heading in the same vein. It is getting ultra professional. You would hope that enjoyment will stay or we will have a whole different issue on our head. Of course it is enjoyable. I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't but you would wonder where it is going to stop in terms of professionalism and how elite it has become. If that does start to affect the enjoyment factor, it is something that will have to be looked at. Do I enjoy being an inter-county footballer? Absolutely.”

There are times during games when he has heard the groan from supporters as they recycled the ball. That used to affect him but now, he can close his ears to it. “Against Wicklow, we were after coming off a tough couple of losses and if we had to go backwards with the ball, there might be groans from the crowd but you look at the system we played that day and the way we closed the game out. We definitely want to be playing positive and going forward and taking our men on but the way the game has gone, unfortunately you can't go all guns blazing, you can't play that swashbuckling style the whole time. That is what every player wants to play but with the systems you are coming up against, it is not realistic and it is not wise to have that approach to go all out. I know it can be a tough one for spectators who have paid their money to see the ball going laterally or backwards. It is tough to watch but unfortunately, it is the way the game has gone. Possession is everything. When you have it, you have to hold onto it for your life.”

It was suggested that the younger players wouldn't play the old catch and kick football that some older generations crave. “It is just ingrained into players who have come into the system. That is all players know now and anyone over their teams are all using the same play book to a certain extent. When you do give away that ball or when you do have to kick a 50-50 every now and again, when it doesn't come off, you do feel like you are after letting down the team. You are going to go with the approach of maintaining possession. At times you have to take risks and the teams that wins are the teams that take risks now and again. There are great examples down the years and it might be the long ball in that pays off but in the greater scheme of things, the conservative approach is the way it has gone.”

With his body and mind refreshed, he hopes that his county career has more road to run. The Laois game will be his 80^th competitive league and championship one for Offaly and on current form, he may be able to join the ranks of centenarians.

He certainly wants to keep going. “You would love to keep going forever but you won't. Different things might go against you and I am not thinking any further than training tonight or the game next weekend. When this season finishes and another one is around the corner, you will have that bit of reflection but for now, you are just applying yourself and sticking with the job on hand. Definitely I would like to think I have another couple of years ahead of me.”

His body is good at the moment though his knee will never be “100% right” - he had a number of different injuries on his left knee, including cruciate. His father Pat and brothers Bill and David have had injuries with their left knee, along with first cousins and he wonders if there is a genetic component in it all. “There is no definitive answer but you would wonder if there is something in it. It has nearly happened too often on the same leg for there not to be some kind of correlation to it.”

As he approaches his thirties, life after football enters the equation and he will stay involved. He is joint manager of Cappincur, along with Mike Tormey, this year – he is also the club PRO - and hopes to get involved in underage teams once his county career is over.

His club Cappincur is “huge, massive” for him. A small area on the outskirts of Tullamore, he is very proud of every title he has with them (junior, intermediate and senior “B”). “It is such a small area and a tight knit community and everyone is made feel very valued. It is a really special club and I am looking forward to 2024.”

Carroll smiled when he was asked about moving into their parish town, Daingean and the possibility of sons playing for them down the road. “We are not sure if it is the forever home. We are just happy to have our own space and Daingean is another brilliant community so it is nice to be back part of that. I would love to live back in Cappincur and there are a few sites around the place but the Dempsey's are very proud of their area in Geashill so I will be battling with the Raheen jersey as well. That is a whole other debate.”

Where can Offaly go in your career? “You would like to think that getting up to Division 2 is realistic. We got up there a couple of years ago and couldn't mantain it but that is definitely a realistic target in the short term. In Leinster, obviously Dublin are in a different realm at the moment but competing with every other team and picking up results there is definitely realistic. The Tailteann Cup is a brilliant target for Offaly to really set their sights on. You can see the lift it gave to Westmeath a couple of years ago and Meath last year. You have to take something from that and really target it.

“While you would love to be competing in Sam Maguire, you have to be realistic and realise this is where we are right now. Are we going to win Sam Maguire? Realistically we are not at the moment so the Tailteann Cup is there to really go for and to use as a stepping stone to get onto the next level.”

With Dublin meeting the winners of Offaly and Laois, there is no point in pretending that either county has realistic prospects of avoiding the Tailteann Cup this year.

“You never know and we won't be thinking any further than the Laois game but the Tailteann Cup is where we have been at the last couple of years and where we will probably end up this year. We just have to take the Laois game first and see what comes after that.”