Development squad controversy forgotten as Offaly captain leads from the front

OFFALY minor footballers have embarked on an incredible, almost belief defying journey in 2025 while their captain Cian McNamee has come his own very scenic route to becoming just the seventh man to lead the county to Leinster provincial honours in this grade, and the first since 1989.

Brilliant as Offaly staged a terrific late recovery to leave treble seeking Louth shell shocked in Newbridge on Monday evening, McNamee has been one of the star players the whole year. One of the shining lights when their season looked like unravelling early on following heavy defeats by Dublin and Louth, he has taken his football to a new level in the big knockout games since – improving by the game, adding new dimensions to his play and leading by example.

Some of his football in Offaly's 2-20 to 3-14 win in Newbridge took the breath away as he hit the ground running, got and set up crucial scores and took on his man at pace at every opportunity – knowing when to go and when to give it.

Back in 2022, McNamee was one of four players dropped from the Offaly development squad after missing training as he was playing a national U14 soccer league quarter-final for Edenderry Town. It made national headlines and the decision makers at the fulcrum of it all were hauled over the coals by some – mainly from outside the GAA community but some within it. A lot of noise was made on social media by some and in the middle of all the hullabaloo and dramatic allegations that Offaly was bringing the ban back, the County Board stuck steadfastly to their guns.

Chairman Michael Duignan explained their policy very clearly at the time and subsequently re-iterated it at a development squad launch in Faithful Fields. They were trying to “change the culture” of Offaly GAA and had no problem with players playing other sports and in fact encouraged it at that young age but if they wanted to be on a county squad, they couldn't miss training over them – he outlined that the development squads had a short window each year to do their work and it had to be done to get players up to the right athleticism and physicality for adult county football and hurling.

It laid down a serious marker, sent out a powerful message and like all controversies, it soon lost traction and was then forgotten about. Considering his youth at the time, the name of one of the four dropped players, Cian McNamee was not put out in the public domain but even the dogs on the street were discussing it.

Even at that age, talk of his talent had begun to circulate in a way that was very reminiscent of older brother Niall at the same stage. It was clear back then that he was another budding county footballer in the making and the funny thing in the middle of it all was that absolutely nobody feared or expected that he would be lost to football. You never know of course but all the money was on McNamee returning to the fold at the first opportunity and playing county football at every level.

The reasons were simple: football seeps through his veins and he bears one of Offaly football's most cherished surnames. Niall McNamee was Offaly's star player for well over a decade, the bright light during a generally dark era – up very high in the pantheon of Offaly's great forwards, he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as folk heroes such as Matt Connor and Tony McTague and in a different era, he would have won the medals and All-Stars that adorn their homes, enjoyed the national fame they got.

Another brother Alan was a great Offaly midfielder for years, a powerful servant during those turbulent years in the 2000s, when controversy was never far away and the great days were only brief respites. The record holder of Offaly Senior Football Championship medals, Alan McNamee has defied logic as he moves through his 40s, still playing senior football with Rhode and contributing very well.

Cian's father John also oozes GAA and football. He was in Carmelite College in Moate during a golden era for football there in the 1970s and 1980s. He won a Leinster Colleges senior football medal with them in 1977 – they were beaten in that All-Ireland final while they captured ultimate honours in 1976 and 1981. He won an U21 football medal with Rhode in 1975 and played at all levels for them while he was a stalwart player for St Brigid's for years in the 1980s and 1990s after switching to them - his oldest sons have been absolutely pivotal to Rhode's great era of dominance from 1998 on and the wider McNamee family is immersed in Rhode at all levels.

Living in one of Offaly football's great heartlands in Rhode, the game was always going to tug at Cian McNamee's heart, he was always going to be influenced by the multitude of football heroes on his doorstep. He spoke with genuine passion and emotion about how much football meant to him and how he dreamt of days like this in a Newbridge acceptance speech that was straight from the heart and off the cuff.

After his development squad sabbatical, it had not been long before he began to focus on football and he showed his promise on the Offaly minor football team last year, handed the captaincy this year.

In some ways, you wonder if he should be asked about the development squad furore of just a short few years ago but it is very much part of his story and the background to this win; there is not many any way close to the GAA pulse in Offaly not aware of his involvement in 2022 and it adds a sense of romance to it all.

It was always going to surface at some stage during his football career anyway and if ever, there was a perfectly opportune time to ask him about the impact of it all, it was on Monday evening, in the bowels of the dressing room complex at the impressively renovated St Conleth's Park - with the Leinster Cup under one arm and the satisfaction of knowing that he had been one of Offaly's heroes.

He smiled when the question was asked and it was suggested that he was always going to end up playing football. “Oh no, I was always going to play football. I enjoyed playing the soccer but it was just for a while. I am not playing now at all, it is gone for a long time.”

Looking at his forward play for Offaly, you would imagine McNamee would have been a deadly striker in soccer but he was actually in goals on that Edenderry team.

Was it hard to take when you were left off the development squad? “Ah I don't know. I was very young so I didn't really pass much remarks on it to be honest.”

Five points down during the second half, Offaly staged a sensational recovery to leave Louth reeling and with no answer to the relentless nature of their football when they scented blood.

McNamee remarked: “I am lost for words, unbelievable. The boys fought for every ball. We knew if we stayed in the hunt for the last ten minutes, we would win the game. We have the last two games. It is a team with some spirit, they never give up. Even when we are four or five points down, we are never beaten.”

Offaly had entered the championship with high aspirations but as Dublin and Louth handed them their hides on a plate, it looked like it wasn't going to happen for them. McNamee and team mates, however, took it on their chin, quickly forgetting about it and preparing for the next challenge.

“I don't think we ever really thought like that. We knew the talent we had and we just hadn't performed in the first two games. We knew if we put the head down we would be back in this position and we proved it there tonight.”

As the Offaly Rover was blasted out with great gusto by his team mates and officials in the dressing room a few metres away, McNamee was asked about where they found the resolve to clean out Louth in those sensational closing minutes.

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“It was the same last week against Kildare and we came back and won that game as well. These boys are never beaten. They have some spirit. The togetherness of this group is second to none.”