‘I was prepared to contribute in any way possible’ admits Michael Murphy

Michael Murphy says he’s never taken his time with Donegal for granted - and that it feels just as special now as it did when he first pulled on a senior inter-county football jersey.

That’s an 18-year span, from his 2007 All-Ireland qualifier debut against Leitrim in Carrick-on-Shannon, right up until Saturday’s epic extra-time win over Armagh in the Ulster final.

Finnbarr Roarty, Donegal’s latest teenage protege, was probably still in nappies, just beginning to crawl around the living room floor back home in Glenties.

It’s hard to wrap your head around the fact that they both shared the same stage last weekend in Clones.

Murphy has seen and done it all on Ulster final day - but there was something unique, for him personally, about this latest coronation.

So often the man hoisting the Ulster SFC title, this time he was on the sideline with his teammates as current skipper Patrick McBrearty thrust the cup into the warm evening air.

Looking down at Murphy from the press area, there was, for once, no need for the usual game face.

Unguarded and looking on like thousands of other Donegal fans who had flooded the pitch, his face beamed - like a proud dad watching his son bring home the prom queen.

Except his joy was in seeing Patrick bring home the Anglo Celt.

At the same time, a combustible undercurrent lingered, as tempers flared and verbal barbs were traded in the aftermath of the final whistle.

But Murphy - like Sean Connery in Goldfinger or Bruce Willis in Die Hard with a Vengeance - just knew which wire to cut.

As he moved through the sea of agitated Orchard men, a quiet word and extended hand brought some much-needed calm.

I’m making light of the situation now, but for the game’s player of the match - the one most responsible for Armagh’s latest Ulster final heartache - to be acknowledged and appreciated by those same crestfallen players spoke volumes.

Leaning back against the tunnel wall, long after the dust had settled and with St Tiernach’s Park now empty, Murphy finally had a moment for some quiet reflection.

“It was every bit as nice - no difference at all,” he told DonegalLive, speaking from beneath the Gerry Arthur Stand.

“As I said before, any time you're captain of a team, you're really just up there as the steady man. No better man than Patrick, who was up there two years in a row. A fantastic captain.

“You’re just there to try and help whenever you can. Ulster finals are so special. I've come up here as a supporter many, many times.

“You’d come down with tears in your eyes as a young fella when it didn’t go Donegal’s way. So you could never get enough of this feeling.

“It’s brilliant just to share it with the people of Donegal. That’s the crucial thing about it.”

Murphy’s retirement U-turn was a seismic announcement - but the responsibility of getting himself back into shape, not just to perform, but to be 'Michael Murphy', was surely something he wrestled with.

Sport is full of ‘tried but failed’ stories - but Murphy’s re-emergence borders on Empire Strikes Back or Terminator 2 territory. You could argue he’s exceeding even the wildest expectations.

Even his first game back - that league clash with Armagh in Ballybofey back in February - was box office.

Comeback

Aidan Forker, Armagh’s All-Ireland-winning captain, melted in comical fashion, but Murphy didn’t even flinch.

He hit the ground running - and hasn’t looked back. At 35, in sweltering conditions last Saturday, he was still covering the necessary ground deep into extra time.

By his own admission, he “cramped up” at that stage and had to be withdrawn - but many much younger players were also faltering by then.

Neil McGee, in a previous conversation, said the work Murphy put in from the moment he answered Jim McGuinness’ call would be unimaginable to most.

And that grind started behind closed doors - away from a squad that already had a full season under McGuinness under their belts.

But the best TV pundit of the 2024 GAA season isn’t as candid as he once was.

The shrewdness - and modesty - that cloaked every carefully chosen word first time around is back.

Still, he explained that no promises were made to him - and he couldn’t make any either.

The mind can be willing, but the body always has the final say.

“Aye, listen, I’ve enjoyed it so far. It was obviously tough trying to get the body back up to some sort of level.

“That was for me and my own head - to get right, to build up to the levels of what these boys had. And I know I’m not going to reach the levels a lot of them are at, but to get to a level where I could contribute.

“That’s what I made peace with right away. It was about coming back and helping out at training. If I could help in any way there - brilliant.

“If I could help out for five minutes in a game, that would be brilliant too. It was just about helping the team, pushing it on.

“I was also in a period of my life where I felt I could give it that bit of time, that bit of effort, to go again.

“And it’s great to be able to do that. It’s back to the team - and everybody enjoying it.”

And Donegal supporters had waited long enough.

It felt like an eternity as McGuinness teased Murphy’s inclusion round after round during the NFL.

When his number finally flashed up under the lights at MacCumhaill Park back in Ferbruary, the reception for the 2012 All-Ireland winning captain made the hairs stand on the back of your neck.

And Murphy says it felt just the same as it did 18 long seasons ago, when Brian McIver told him he was starting against Leitrim.

Nerves

“If I’m being honest, it was a bit of everything - nerves, excitement, all of that.

“If I’m really being honest, every day you go out and put on the top - it’s the cliched answer to give - but honestly, every time I go out and play for Donegal, I just love it.

“I love it every bit as much as I did the first time. You have that enjoyment.

“It’s tough, it’s difficult, it’s hard, it’s great - but that’s what it’s all about.

“There are ups and downs along the way. When it’s sweet, like today, it’s amazing. When you come up short, it hurts.

“We’re just trying to give it everything, as best we can - and push things forward, hopefully leave it in a better place for the young lads coming through.

“There were tons of them out there today. Those couple of last passes between Stephen McMenamin and Finnbarr Roarty - my God, it was amazing.

“It gave you goosebumps. Two lads just bringing it. And Niall O'Donnell kicking the winner - it was just amazing, for the team and the supporters.”

The Gaelic football landscape that Murphy left - and returned to - has also changed.

Of course, he helped shape some of that as part of Jim Gavin’s Football Review Committee (FRC).

But there can’t be many left who still think the old way was better.

This Ulster final, because of the FRC’s efforts, is already an instant classic.

It had everything.

And anyone watching - in a packed Clones or back home on the couch - wouldn't have been able to take their eyes off it, right from the first minute, up until the nervy final few seconds of extra time.

“For so many years, we used to say it was a 70-minute game,” Murphy said. “It’s every bit that now - and the extra 20 minutes just added to the chaos. It’s so manic out there.

“You have to live within it. People popping up everywhere, people popping off, people popping in.

“It ebbs and flows in such a way that you just have to live in some sort of chaos out there.

“You’ve seen it again today. It’s happened in every one of our championship games so far - no one is ever really out of it.

“Armagh are a great side. They pegged it back when we were six or seven up.

“On the pitch, a few years ago, you might’ve looked up at the scoreboard and tried to keep things calm and see it out.

“But there’s no such thing anymore - games go right to the wire.”