Forde retains his drive
News round-up: Gavin Cummiskey talks to Wexford’s Matty Forde who says he almost quit the game after last year’s stamping incident.
The issue of player welfare came back under the microscope yesterday when Wexford’s most accomplished footballer Matty Forde admitted he contemplated quitting the game last year in the wake of persistent media exposure.
Forde also cited a bias towards his plight after receiving a 12-week suspension for stamping on Offaly’s Shane Sullivan in the Leinster football championship semi-final at Croke Park on July 2nd, 2006. Video evidence appeared damning, in slow motion at least, but Forde continues to protest his innocence. However, it was the attention he received in the aftermath that almost saw him lost to the game.
“I put up with a good bit of abuse last year after the game. Listening to stuff being shouted on the street and when I was out at night. At the end of the day we’re not professionals and we do have to work the next morning after a game so from that point of view it can be very hard to take.”
Did you seriously contemplate quitting the game?
“Absolutely. When you are walking down the street and people are shouting stuff at you it’s not particularly nice. Phone calls to my home and stuff like that. It’s not the ideal scenario. We’re not professional players. If we were getting paid 50,000 a week or whatever you’ll accept it but not in the position we’re in.”
The handling of Forde’s case last summer prompted Wexford County Board chairman Sen Quirke to call it a “trial by media”. There was a 13-day gap from the incident to handing down the suspension. Also, it was missed by Donegal referee Jimmy White but twice replayed on the Croke Park big screen.
Wexford lost to Offaly but played Monaghan in the qualifiers a week later. As his case was yet to be heard, Forde played, scoring 0-6 of his team’s eight points. His personal hearing was on a Saturday, just hours before the fourth-round qualifier against Fermanagh, leaving no time to appeal. Without their chief marksman Wexford were duly beaten 2-12 to 0-11.
The GAA disciplinary system, since overhauled, came in for severe criticism for its handling of the situation.
Forde wasn’t exactly asking for the media attention to desist - after all he was promoting his own profile at the Adidas media day in Parnell Park yesterday, where this interview took place.
“It was hard to take. Looking around at what happened last year and the other high-profile players that didn’t get suspensions - that was probably the hardest part of it. I apologise for what I did and always will but I’ll continue to say there definitely wasn’t any intention. I’ve never gone on to the field to walk on anyone. There were other high-profile players that went unpunished so from my point of view that was the hardest part.”
This seems to be a reference to Cork defender Anthony Lynch having a red card rescinded, without any immediate explanation, at the same meeting Forde was due to attend. Lynch was cleared to play in the Munster football final replay despite being shown a straight red card for elbowing Kerry’s Kieran Donaghy in the drawn encounter.
The allure of playing at GAA headquarters played a big part in Forde’s decision to return this season.
“I just wanted to get back. The last five or six years have been very good to me football-wise. Obviously I have a lot of commitment to the Wexford team and the Wexford lads. I just wanted to get back kicking a football again. Get back to Croke Park.”
An immediate question that arises from Forde’s grievances is can anything be done by the GAA, or even the Gaelic Players Association, to ensure amateur players are not over-exposed?
"I don’t think there is. People will write in papers what they think is going to be sold. That was definitely the case last year. My incident in particular was even shown on television up until Christmas and into the New Year. I done the crime and I done the time last summer. It should’ve been over when the three-month suspension was up. Can we be protected? I don’t know. The GAA is such a big thing at the moment. It’s our national game so there is going to be huge coverage.
“I don’t know if there’s a lot that can be done to protect the players but I think the media should pull back from it a small bit.”
The same conundrum was put to Kerry forward Paul Galvin, who has also experienced a few scraps with the association’s disciplinary arm in recent times. "The attention wouldn’t really bother me as such but my family probably would take it worse than I do.
“Some of it is too personalised but what are you going to do? I don’t see any benefit in getting involved in it. I just want to play and get an All-Ireland medal. I probably come in for a bit more than most but, yerra, it doesn’t bother me.”
- some role model he is!