Back in the big time four years after exiting county football

Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon

WHEN All-Ireland winning Galway ladies footballer Patricia Gleeson retired from inter-county in 2010, it marked the end of a remarkable career that first saw her pull on the maroon and white of Galway at adult level (junior) at the tender age of 14 back in 1999. Or so we thought.

Last November though, Gleeson was offered the opportunity to come out of retirement and soldier for the cause once again. Four years out of the game at the highest level, she could have been forgiven if she gracefully declined the proposition from manager Kevin Reidy and gave way to any misgivings. She didn’t.

“I was a little bit shocked,” says the 29-year-old when recalling Reidy’s phone call last November. “It was a very easy decision though. Straight away I knew I wanted to. I knew I was in good shape and I was fit. I think he gave me two weeks to think about it and I was saying ‘no, I will ring you earlier’. And I did.”

In 2010, Gleeson, who had won a plethora of All-Irelands with the county at underage before claiming a junior crown in 2002 and, more importantly, a coveted senior in 2004, took the “very difficult decision” to retire on professional grounds. A qualified nurse, it had become problematic juggling her inter-county commitment with shift work.

“I was trying to balance work with football and it was tough,” says the Corofin midfielder, who has no less than nine county senior football medals to her name and has represented Ireland in the Ladies Compromise Rules (2006). “You don’t get many people who want to work a Sunday for you.

“Then, I was just getting a lot of recurring injuries and not really getting on top of any one of them. It was a vicious circle. I couldn’t give it 100% and I don’t commit to anything unless I can give it my full commitment. I didn’t feel I was able to play to the best of my ability at that point. So, yeah, I called it a day.”

Although her focus switched to her career – undertaking post grads and courses, which involved a lot of travel up and down to Dublin – she continued to play club football while she also took up yoga and running. The injuries cleared up and last year, she maintains, “was a good year fitness wise”.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t win a county title. Kilkerrin/Clonberne (champions) are so strong at the moment. I picked up a bit of a shoulder injury towards the end of the year and I didn’t play in the county final replay. Then, Kevin gave me a call in November. He was putting a panel together and he asked me.

“I knew I could give the commitment because the job I am in at the moment, I don’t do night duty and I don’t do weekends. I was in the right frame of mind and my fitness was good. So, I thought I would give it a go. Kevin said he could not promise me anything and I said I couldn’t promise him anything either because I did not know how it was going to go. It is early days yet but it is going very well.”

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.