John Casey says Kevin McLoughlin was one of Mayo’s great unsung heroes over the last 15 years, an era during which the county’s senior footballers consistently challenged for Sam Maguire.
McLoughlin, who made his senior debut in a league game against Westmeath in 2009, announced his retirement over the weekend, and while his departure might not have come as a shock in Mayo, it nonetheless arrived as a disappointment.
The Knockmore clubman was one of the most versatile footballers in the Mayo dressingroom and regularly the player several managers over the years looked to when a problem needed solving. In so many ways he was the total team player, unselfish and unwavering in his willingness to do what was deemed best for the collective.
And if his contribution to Mayo went somewhat undervalued nationally, he was adored by those who followed the green and red.
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“He was one of the county’s truly great servants,” says former Mayo player Casey. “I’ll tell you how highly he was regarded, when the news broke I got a message back from Kevin Kilbane saying how disappointed he was to hear about the retirement.
“Kevin McLoughlin was Kevin Kilbane’s favourite Mayo player, and by some distance. It must be a lefty thing, but that’s the level of respect out there for Kevin McLoughlin. He has always been a real unsung hero, but Mayo supporters recognised what he brought to the team.
“I felt immediately after the match against Dublin this was coming. When Kevin was out on the pitch having a long look around the stadium, with his kids in tow, you sensed it was coming. Likewise with Jason Doherty, and I hate to say Aidan O’Shea was having a prolonged look around as well.”
McLoughlin made a total of 168 appearances for Mayo, which puts him third in the all-time list behind Andy Moran and O’Shea. His scoring tally of 11-176 sees him walk away as the ninth highest Mayo scorer of all time. During his 77 championship appearances he chalked up a personal tally of 6-71.
He is the joint Mayo record holder of eight Connacht senior football championships, sharing the honour with O’Shea. His last involvement was a substitute appearance in Mayo’s All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Dublin this summer. He was nominated for an All Star on four occasions but was never recognised with one of the awards – a slight that did not go unnoticed in Mayo.
“He was one of those players that just got on with it on the field,” adds Casey. “He was not the most imposing human being you’d ever come across, but he was so elusive, a really beautiful player, the left-footers make it look so much better.
“But aside from the huge amount he scored, it was his creativity that set him apart, such as his brilliant passes to the inside forward line. And I always felt over the years he played so much better when he didn’t have the burden of taking the frees.
“I know people might point to the number of scores he hit from frees, but for me he was at his best for Mayo when he didn’t have to take the frees.”
But one moment of McLoughlin’s career stands out for Casey. In the last round of games during the 2018 National Football League, relegation-threatened Mayo trailed Donegal by a point deep in injury-time of their Ballybofey encounter.
McLoughlin then conjured up a moment of real magic to kick over the equalising point, a score that ensured Mayo retained their Division One status.
[ Mayo chase down another lost cause as Donegal relegated (2018 report)Opens in new window ]
Aggrieved Donegal fans felt McLoughlin could have completed a 5km race given the number of steps he had taken before popping over the score, but the point stood and Mayo stayed up. Casey was doing analysis for RTÉ that afternoon.
“I nearly wore the back of Eamonn O’Hara,” smiles Casey. “I was doing some pre and post-match stuff with Jacqui Hurley and was in the press box watching the game. Eamonn was doing co-commentary and when Kevin put the ball over the bar to keep us in Division One he let a yelp out of him live on radio because of the belt I hit him on the back.
“It is my best memory of Kevin in a Mayo jersey. Great leadership. And it sums him up in a nutshell, because who else could take 13 steps and make it look like they didn’t foul the ball? He was able to get away with it because of his skill, little dummies, a drop of the shoulder, that point had everything.”
The challenge for Kevin McStay now is to ensure the drip-drip of experience from the Mayo dressingroom doesn’t submerge the current group over the seasons ahead.
“I was a little bit critical after this year and compared how many of the current players would have got on the team that played Dublin in 2017,” adds Casey. “Who would have got in ahead of Keith Higgins or Colm Boyle or Lee Keegan?
“But that team is gone and while we look weaker without those players, it is up to the new fellas now to step up.
“I think we were blessed with that group around 2016-2017. They consistently put the greatest team in the history of the game to the pin of their collar, and Kevin McLoughlin was one of the key players in Mayo doing that for so long.”
