Some people don't believe Conor Carroll when he tells them his parents were initially against him transferring from Galway to Roscommon. There's good reason for that disbelief.
"Growing up, we were a Roscommon-mad house," Carroll, a nominee for 2023 PwC GAA/GPA Young Football Player of the Year, tells Balls.
"We would be brought to all the games - FBD League, National League; if it was a challenge match, we'd be at it."
Carroll, who still plays club football with Oranmore-Maree, was part of Galway underage teams from under-14 to under-20. He was the substitute goalkeeper in 2018 when the Galway minors reached the All-Ireland final and was also on the bench a year later as the Galway under-20s won Connacht with future senior boss Padraic Joyce in charge.
After doing his Leaving Cert in 2019, and securing a place at the University of Galway, Carroll decided he wanted the full first year experience. Being a Galway under-20 player would have been a handbrake on college life. By leaving the panel, he made sure it was off.
19 January 2023; University of Galway goalkeeper Conor Carroll saves a shot from UCD's Paddy O’Keane during the Electric Ireland Higher Education GAA Sigerson Cup Round 2 match between University College Dublin and University of Galway at Billings Park in Belfield, Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
"I knew when I was two or three months out of that environment I really wanted to get involved [again]," says Carroll.
"It came to maybe March, just before Covid, and you get that itch to get back involved in an inter-county setup."
The links which allowed Carroll to make the switch are strong. Both of his parents are Roscommon natives, and his uncle Brian is the current county board chairperson.
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"A phone call just came the October before I would have been going into my last year of under-20, just floating the idea, 'Would you be interested in going on trial with Roscommon?'" he explains.
"When I got the phone call, I was fairly certain about what I wanted to do. It just felt right, is the best way of describing it. I was kind of excited by it. I was told, 'You'll get a chance here to go 50-50 and see how you get on. There'll be no guarantees of anything'."
Fearing some negative reaction, Carroll's parents tried to dissuade him.
"I don't think it was really a done thing at the time," he says.
"I think Conor Cox had just gone [from Kerry to Roscommon], but I was younger and I suppose I was still at home and still living in Galway. For Conor, it was probably a little bit different. He was a little older and maybe a little more independent. They were afraid that there'd be backlash.
"I was the one who really pushed it and had to convince them that it was what I wanted to do. When I said that, they were fully supportive."
21 July 2021; Roscommon players Colin Walsh, left, and Conor Carroll celebrate after their side's victory in the EirGrid Connacht GAA Football U20 Championship Final match between Mayo and Roscommon at Elverys MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
The backlash, bar the odd word during a Galway club game, never came.
"As this year progressed, there was a little bit more noise, a little bit more talk. Maybe that comes with playing more," says Carroll.
"I played with Galway for quite a long time, met a lot of good friends, met a lot of really, really good coaches, and I'd have the utmost respect for all of them. All I ever got back from anyone within that environment was the utmost respect about the transfer.
"Obviously, when you play club games, you notice little bits of banter here and there off guys you wouldn't really know, but that's part and parcel of it. I don't think there's any real bad blood there.
"I came down to Roscommon with the intention of being successful. Since the first day I came, the lads in the group have been incredible. There's friends I'd see there now for life and only knowing them two or three years."
A decision which already felt right was reaffirmed as Roscommon won the Connacht U20 championship and then an All-Ireland semi-final against Down. They fell at the final hurdle, losing by three points to Offaly.
"It's probably one of the biggest regrets, not winning it," says Carroll.
"That experience overall, while it was a good journey, it was definitely one that ended very sour. We felt we should have won it. We were good enough to win an All-Ireland."
7 August 2021; Roscommon goalkeeper Conor Carroll, centre, and team-mate protect their goal late in the game during the EirGrid GAA All-Ireland Football U20 Championship semi-final match between Roscommon and Down at Kingspan Breffni Park in Cavan. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Carroll was called up to the Roscommon senior panel by Anthony Cunningham the following year. He saved a penalty on his debut against Sligo in an FBD Championship game. That season, he was backup to Colm Lavin, a teammate he admires. This season - with Kildare man Davy Burke in his first season as Roscommon manager - Carroll won the battle for the number one jersey, starting six of seven games in Division One of the National League.
"I just wanted to make sure I slipped in and slipped out with no major fuss," says Carroll. "As things go on, you have to demand more of yourself and management demands more of you to not be so safe."
Meeting those demands was made easier by Burke identifying specific areas in which Carroll could improve.
14 players made their Roscommon Senior Inter-County debut yesterday evening.
One of them was Conor Carroll who saved this penalty in 1st half injury time!
💙💛🇺🇦💛💙 pic.twitter.com/lkbHZS3Zgc
— Brian Carroll (@bcarroll17) January 9, 2022
"He did it as if he was an opposition manager analysing me, and he said, 'This is what I'd be looking at, what I'd be targeting if you were in goals'," says Carroll.
"He wanted more variety in terms of my kicking. He knew I could go over the top to teams and I was happy going over the top of a press. He wanted me to work on more of those short kickouts. I didn't see them enough. He'd have a coaching point that I would kick a second or two too early, and then something had appeared that could get us out of the press.
"That side of my game that had never highlighted to me before. Him bringing that to my attention changed our game on kickouts, changed my game for sure."
Roscommon defeated Mayo in the opening round of the Connacht championship but were beaten by Galway in the semi-final. There was a five-week gap to the group stages of the All-Ireland series when Roscommon gave one of their best displays, drawing with eventual champions Dublin.
Carroll is among the new breed of goalkeepers comfortable making contributions beyond the traditional remit. He has become a valuable outlet for Roscommon's attempts to escape the opposition press.
9 April 2023; Roscommon goalkeeper Conor Carroll during the Connacht GAA Football Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between Mayo and Roscommon at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
"There's a lot of guys now trying to convert," says Carroll with a smile.
"They never would've had any interest in goals and they're mad to be keepers now. Once you get the fundamentals right, there's a lot of scope there to take it as far as you want. You can be someone who can just help get out past the first line or you can go setting up attacks on the other side of the pitch."
Carroll's kickouts against Dublin were superb, as were his contributions as that outlet. During one phase late in the first half, he had a remarkable 19 possessions as Roscommon kept the ball for nearly six minutes before Ciaráin Murtagh kicked a point. Boos were heard from Hill 16 as impatience grew with Roscommon's patience.
"We felt at that moment the best way to get a score was to do that," says Carroll.
"It was a roasting hot day. We just took the sting out of it a little bit. There was a great atmosphere that day. You do remember the booing.
"When you hear the noise, maybe there's an acknowledgement, 'Okay, we're in a real game here'. That just gives you that little bit of buzz as well.
"You're in Croke Park, you're in a championship game, and you're competitive with a team as good as Dublin, going toe-to-toe with them. That's kind of like, 'This is where I want to be'. It was really enjoyable, as tiring as it was at times!"
28 May 2023; James McCarthy of Dublin in action against Roscommon players David Murray, left, and goalkeeper Conor Carroll during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 1 match between Dublin and Roscommon at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Roscommon beat Sligo by 10 points a week after the draw with Dublin. Their season then hit a sharp decline as they lost to Kildare by a point in the final group stage game and were eliminated from the championship when Cork beat them by the same margin.
"Individually, there was a lot of learning in it," says Carroll.
"Certainly, there's higher levels I can reach. As a collective, I think we started strong, but we were looking to make a dent on the All-Ireland Series, and we didn't."
In late September, Carroll was woken on a Friday morning by siblings who'd already seen the PwC GAA/GPA Young Football Player of the Year nominations.
"Seeing my parents and my family, brothers, the excitement they got and the text messages they were getting, you'll always remember it. I'll always remember that morning. They were all just buzzing off of it. It was great," says Carroll.
"As players, we kind of try and play down everything and nearly forget about it as soon as it has happened and worry about the next thing.
"When you see the happiness that brings everyone else, it's a nice one. It's probably nicer that it brings so much joy for them."
