Four miles on the road out west of Killarney, familiar perhaps to cyclists taking on the Ring of Kerry, or to guests at the Europe Hotel, the small juncture at Fossa, on the shores of Lough Lein and the shade of the McGillycuddy Reeks, was otherwise once perfectly anonymous.
Until the most famous Gaelic footballer on the planet helped put it on the world map.
It’s little exaggeration: mention the game anywhere to anybody these days and the conversation soon turns to David Clifford, Kerry footballer extraordinaire, who two weeks shy of turning 24 is already heralded as one of the all-time greats.
Together with old brother Paudie, three years his senior, that Clifford name right now is most associated with Fossa (pronounced fuss-sa), as they journey to Croke Park on Sunday for an All-Ireland junior club final showdown against Stewartstown Harps of Tyrone.
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It’s unquestionably the biggest day out in Fossa’s short history, given their only prize prior to this run was a Kerry novice title, in 2016, the lowest grade of the low. The club’s own tagline is “the nine square miles”, and no one is denying the recent success is down to the Clifford factor – David, Paudie and their father Dermot, one of the original club mentors and current chairman.
If it was a kick around with your friends on a Sunday morning, they were going in to win
For Matt Rennie – neighbour, friend, and Fossa clubmate at centre-half forward – growing up close to the family has given him a unique insight into that factor: the same age as Paudie, he first played with David when he came onto the St Brendan’s senior team at age 15. Nothing about their progress has surprised him, nothing about their attention bothers him or anyone else in the club for that matter.
“For me, it’s probably different because I grew up with them, playing football in the back garden, football underage with teams, we knew that they were special,” he says. “Even in five-a-side game, they were so competitive. If it was a kick around with your friends on a Sunday morning, they were going in to win.
“So you knew he [David] was special. There was always talk about him. But again, until you see the goals go in and the runs and the magic points, then you believe the hype. Around the age of 15 maybe, he was down practicing the whole time, kicking, really working on his skills. He had an unbelievable IQ of the game, understanding of the game, doesn’t really seem to give the ball away.
“He was racking up some crazy scores, some scores were like 7-13 or something, crazy scores. He was quite tall at that stage, maybe a foot or half a foot taller than a lot of the opposition, so he really stood out around the age of 15.
“It’s incredible how modest he is. He doesn’t even have an Instagram account, and if he did, he would probably have 150,000 followers. He’s not interested in that kind of stuff. He just wants to play football, compete against the best. He’s a very laidback individual so that’s not the type of individual he is at all.”
it’s great for the club. It’s great for Kerry. It’s great to see two friends of mine being so successful
Founded, coincidentally, on this day 53 years ago (January 11th, 1970), Fossa’s success this season began in earnest with a Kerry junior semi-final win over Ardfert, followed by a final win over neighbours Listry, which went to extra-time and saw David Clifford finish with 2-12.
So Rennie understands the sudden attention on Fossa: “In the county league this year, we played Castlegregory. That would be quite a small town team near Dingle, the middle of nowhere really and there was a crazy amount of people in the ground.
“Same as (last weekend) with all the crowd running on to get the autograph with David and Paudie after the game. I just think it’s great for the club. It’s great for Kerry. It’s great to see two friends of mine being so successful and getting what they deserve.”
The Clifford brothers are the only two club members who also ply their club trade with East Kerry (the divisional team and also reigning Kerry champions), and Rennie is adamant that neither brother would consider leaving Fossa: it would be “a betrayal”, he says.
All the papers and stuff will always want to talk about the Cliffords, and I think that’s 100 per cent correct
For Rennie, who still lives in Fossa and works with an insurance firm in Killarney, there is also high praise too for manager Adrian Sheehan and his assistant Éamonn Fitzmaurice, the club’s future soaring thanks again to that Clifford factor: “You see fellas going down with cones, kicking balls and practicing a lot, that’s just the effect that you have of winning, and a large part of that is the Cliffords. The club has been awakened by them and it’s just fantastic,” he says.
“All the papers and stuff will always want to talk about the Cliffords, and I think that’s 100 per cent correct. There’s no jealousy or animosity from me anyway, and I know for a fact that there’s no jealousy or animosity from my teammates. Eamonn Fitzmaurice calls it the ‘disease of me’ and the negative impact that can have on you, where you might have fellas being more selfish on the pitch, trying to get more headlines.
“In fairness to David and Paudie, they’re extremely modest fellas and they’re just competitors. They watch every different sport, they’re obsessed with sport, they’re just sportspeople really. It can get frustrating, like if you have 500 people coming up to you down the street every time you go for a dinner or something.
“But the lads realise that they’re ambassadors for Kerry, they’re ambassadors for the GAA, for football, and they’ll always do it with a smile on their face and they’ll sign the autograph and sign the pictures. Even if it did piss them off a bit, they would just grind through it, put a smile on their faces, and do it for the fans and for the GAA.”
– Fossa will take on Stewartstown Harps of Tyrone in the AIB All-Ireland Junior Club Football Final at Croke Park on Sunday, throw-in 1.30pm – Live on TG4
