Conor Glass expects his Café 3121 in Maghera will be "bouncing" this week ahead of Glen's meeting with St Brigid's in the All-Ireland senior club football final.
Glass and his girlfriend Niamh opened the café last year. It's named after the Melbourne postcode where he fell in love with the city's coffee culture.
"It's a getaway from football, although customers who come in just want to chat about football," said Glass.
"So it's a bit of both. I love the business side of it. It's a passion of mine and thankfully, I have a fantastic partner and girlfriend in Niamh. She's able to run the cafe when I'm playing matches or training at the weekend.
16 January 2024; Conor Glass of Watty Graham's Glen, Derry, pictured ahead of the AIB GAA Senior Club Championship Football All-Ireland Final against St Brigid's. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
"It definitely helps. A café is the heartbeat of the community and it'll be bouncing this week with people wanting to come in and chat about football. Thankfully, I'm able to provide that service to the community.
"There's a few Melbournians that have come in, and a few Aussies have come into the café and have said it's fantastic coffee. It brings that sense of home to them.
"When Irish people go to the other side of the world, they go straight to an Irish pub. So, having a café for the Australians to come into makes up for them being away."
It's just over three years since Glass decided to end his AFL career with Hawthorn and return to Ireland. He helped Glen win the Derry SFC title for the first time in 2021 and retain their crown in the past two seasons. They also won the Ulster championship in 2022 and 2023 and were controversially beaten by Kilmacud Crokes in last year's All-Ireland final.
7 January 2024; Darragh Dempsey of Kilmacud Crokes in action against Conor Glass of Glen during the AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Club Championship semi-final match between Kilmacud Crokes of Dublin, and Glen of Derry, at Páirc Esler in Newry, Down. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
At a fog covered Páirc Esler in Newry earlier this month, Glen avenged that defeat.
"I wouldn't say it was a monkey off our back but there was a bit of fulfilment to be able to rectify the defeat," said Glass.
"The first half was actually fine, you could see better on the pitch than what the media and stand could see.
"So, there was no problem in terms of the game going ahead. Conor Lane probably made the right decision. But the second half slowly got worse and when you're under pressure in a high performance area, not having full visibility plays a part in it. It was the same for Crokes and we were just lucky to scrape past with a one-point win.
"There might be a kick-pass on to a player 60 metres up the pitch to release a bit of pressure, but you couldn't play the pass because you didn't know if it was a Crokes player, a Glen player or the referee or the umpire. There probably wasn't enough room in the schedule to fit in another game if it had to come to that."
Glass describes Roscommon and Connacht champions St Brigid's as "the most in-form team in the competition".
"They dismantled Corofin in the first 10 minutes of the first half [of the Connacht final]," said Glass.
"Castlehaven was no easy challenge [in the All-Ireland semi-final] so they're a serious talent. They're more successful than we are; they won the All-Ireland 10 years ago so they've been there and done that. That's invaluable to that club.
"The tag as favourites is good to have but it doesn't affect our preparation and the way we go about it."
This season, AIB will honour #TheToughest players in Gaelic Games - those who persevere no matter what, giving their all for their club and community. AIB is in its 33rd year supporting the AIB GAA All-Ireland Club Championships.
