After back-to-back Footballer of the Year awards, 2024 was a decidedly trickier year for David Clifford in a Kerry jersey.
The Fossa man endured a tougher time on the pitch in the championship, with the Kingdom exiting the All-Ireland at the semi-final stage in a shock defeat to Armagh.
Though Clifford has been nominated for a PwC All-Star, it is likely to be the first time since 2020 that the superstar corner-forward will be missing from the GAA All-Star selection.
In truth, it was not a year to remember for Kerry, who have fallen backwards since their 2022 All-Ireland triumph. It remains to be seen how much representation they will have on the All-Star team but one would hazard a guess that most of the green and gold selections will be of a Donegal variety.
The struggles endured by another team in green, the Irish national soccer team, have been far more egregious in recent months.
7 September 2024; Republic of Ireland players Jayson Molumby, left, and Dara O'Shea during the UEFA Nations League B Group 2 match between Republic of Ireland and England at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
New head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson was thrown in at the deep end with a double-header against England and Greece earlier this month, with back-to-back 2-0 defeats worsening an already bleak mood as the hangover from the Stephen Kenny era continues.
There is undoubted talent in the Irish setup but something has failed to click in recent years for this young group of players.
One man who has seen that raw talent first-hand is, surprisingly, David Clifford.
In an interview with last week's Sunday Independent, the Kerry star revealed that he had come up against two of the current Ireland team at underage level, saying that Dara O'Shea and Jayson Molumby had run rings around his Killarney Celtic team.
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David Clifford recalls coming up against current Ireland internationals
David Clifford's soccer background is well known in GAA spheres, with the Kerryman playing for both school and club teams through his teenage years.
A school final would see him face St. Jude's with current Ireland international Dara O'Shea in the lineup, while a boys' cup final saw 15-year-old Clifford come up against O'Shea's now-Ireland teammate Jayson Molumby.
Clifford revealed to the Sunday Independent that Molumby had bamboozled the Killarney defence with mazy runs, while he picked out O'Shea as a truly special player.
[They] were streets ahead of us. [Molumby] just took the ball off their goalie, dribbled in and out through the whole of our team — goal. [O'Shea] was a different level altogether.
There have been some (less than serious) suggestions on social media in recent times that Clifford could have forged a professional soccer career had he turned away from the GAA.
However, he himself was modest when the topic was put to him in his chat with the Independent.
I played until I was 16 and if it was going to happen, it would’ve happened. It wasn’t bad like, but it was probably the top level I was short of. I would have done the trials, definitely, and taken in the experience, but genuinely now, I’m not just [being modest], but I probably wasn’t good enough.
Messrs Clifford, O'Shea, and Molumby will hope that 2025 is a brighter year in green.
