There will be one Donegal man in Meath colours this Saturday night

In normal circumstances Michael Doherty would be wearing the green and gold of Donegal on Saturday night in Ballybofey to watch Donegal take on Meath.

Instead the former Dungloe footballer will be kitted out in the green and gold of Meath. Michael, who is now domiciled in the Royal county where he has been living for the best part of the last two and a half decades, is the Meath logistics man.

He is the man that does all the running and racing and administrative work for the manager. Michael has been the Meath logistics man for the last two years and is really enjoying every minute of it.

“It’s a pretty time-consuming and demanding job but I’m enjoying it though it is very hard work,” said Michael, who is a member of the Donaghmore/Ashbourne club on the north Dublin-Meath border.

“The logistics manager looks after booking the hotels for away trips, team catering, transport, players’ expenses and also working closely with the medical team.

“Basically anything the manager and team want I get or at least try to get. I also liaise with the county board and the team’s two representatives on the GPA.

“I enjoy it even though it is pretty time-consuming. As I say there are seven days in the week and, between my paid job and the logistics job, I work ten days a week.”

Michael won an Intermediate championship and a number of league titles playing with his native Dungloe in the latter part of the 1980s right through the 1990s and the early years of the 00s.

He was a tidy wing-back that played at all levels for the club and comes from a family with a proud GAA tradition.

Michael is a GAA man to his fingertips and a loyal Donegal footballer bordering on, if not crossing, the line to being a fanatical follower.

Before getting the call from Andy McEntee two and half years ago the Donegal games he would miss in any one year would have been very few and far between.

“I used to go to most senior games. I often drove up from Ashbourne on Wednesday nights to Dr McKenna Cup games. Unfortunately, that has not been as easy since I got involved with Meath though I have seen them twice this year.

“I saw them against Queen’s and I was in Newry for the Down game.

“They looked good in those games and there are a lot of very good young footballers coming through in Donegal, though I thought Down, in particular, were very poor.”

Michael and Andy McEntee first got to know each other back in 2006 when McEntee, then a rookie manager, was appointed manager ofthe Donaghmore/Ashbourne senior team.

“We appointed him in 2006. In fact I was the chairman of the club football committee at the time and I interviewed him for the job.

“We won the intermediate championship the following year and Andy’s management career took off after that and he subsequently went on win an All-Ireland club title with Ballyboden St Endas.

“We hit it off and worked well during his time with Donaghmore/Ashbourne and when he was appointed Meath manager he asked me to come on board as the logistics manager.

“He is into his third season and we are all looking forward to the new season. We got off to a good start on Sunday against Tipperary in Navan, and we are away to Donegal this Saturday, which will be a stiffer test altogether.

“We have four home games and three away, Donegal, Clare and Cork are the away games and we still have Armagh, Kildare and Fermanagh at home.

“It is a very tight division and there are no easy games and last weekend’s draws are probably making it a bit more difficult.

“It has been 12 years since Meath were in Division One which is far too long for a county with the tradition and history of Meath. But history alone won’t get us there; the only thing that gets you there is results.

“It will be strange alright being in the Meath colours in Saturday night in Ballybofey. But I’m looking forward to it and the banter with the crowd at home.”