Donegal star Michael Murphy a big hit at SuperValu #Behindtheball events in Donegal Town and Ballybofey

On Monday night last hundreds of children and many of their parents gathered in both Donegal Town and Ballybofey to meet their hero Michael Murphy at the presentations of the SuperValu #Behindtheball GAA footballs in the SuperValu stores.

From 5.00 pm large numbers of underage players from the south west of the county were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Donegal captain along with Paul Gallagher and the SuperValu team and when he arrived he did not disappoint taking time out to sign jerseys, balls and football boots.

Needless to say it was very much the same over in Ballybofey where the avid Donegal supporters welcomed Michael and the many young players.

These footballs are part of SuperValu’s #Behindtheball Initiative which aims to inspire the future generation of GAA players.

Charlie told the Democrat, “All these clubs have been nominated by local shoppers both in Ballybofey and Donegal Town who donated their Behindtheball tokens at the in store collection points throughout the summer. The clubs successfully collected over 2,000 SuperValu “Behindtheball” tokens to receive the GAA footballs."

As a long-standing sponsor of the GAA All Ireland Football Championships, SuperValu got #BehindTheBall this summer and has reinforced its unwavering support and commitment to local communities across Ireland with the introduction of this new campaign that will help inspire the future stars of the GAA and encourage more people to volunteer for their local GAA club.

SuperValu Ballybofey ran a nine-week programme for grass-root level clubs across the country, an ambitious initiative designed to get children as young as six playing football and exercising more regularly.

There is no doubt that with players the calibre and commitment of Michael Murphy football will be very much alive in Donegal for many years to come.