The last thing Aidan O’Shea needs any reminding about is his extraordinary longevity. Which is understandable, because after 18 years as a Mayo senior footballer, including 97 championship appearances in the green and red, he’s still not done counting.
Three months shy of his 36th birthday, O’Shea already has the record for the most outfield appearances in the championship. Only former Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton, with his 128, has more. Perhaps more impressively, O’Shea has only missed one championship game for Mayo since making his debut as an 18-year-old Leaving Certificate student back in 2009.
The only championship game Mayo played without him was the Connacht semi-final against Leitrim, back in 2012, and that was purely on precautionary grounds. When it comes to the big showdowns he’s always been there.
Part of the secret to his longevity may well be in his appearance. When O’Shea pops up on Zoom call on Wednesday, at a media event organised by football championship sponsors AIB, he doesn’t look a day past 30, talking up the fresh possibilities this year under manager Andy Moran as if he’s starting out all over again.
“It’s not something that’s driving me to play on, put it that way,” he says of his now 18 uninterrupted seasons. “And I’m well used to the questions about retirement. Sure they’ve been retiring me since I was about 29.
“Obviously the fact that we’ve had pretty long campaigns throughout that period has added to that number. And missing only one championship game in those seasons so far, there’s a bit of luck involved in that.
“But I say to the squad you can be as talented as you want, but you’ve got to be available. And that’s something I live by, in terms of league games, championship games, whatever. You’ve got to be available to play.”
Kobe McDonald, right, celebrates with Aidan O’Shea after scoring Mayo’s second goal against Monaghan last February. Photograph: Tom Maher/INPHO
Indeed, between league and championship, O’Shea last summer passed the 200-game mark for Mayo. But he doesn’t need any reminding either about the number of finals he’s lost, especially not the six All-Ireland finals (including the 2016 replay), three of which Mayo lost by a point. Or indeed the last two Connacht finals Mayo have lost to closest rivals Galway.
“I would also take inspiration from players in other sports,” he says. “You look at the AFL, and Scott Pendlebury will top all appearance records in about four weeks’ time. He’s 38 years of age, and still plays in the middle for Collingwood. So it is possible to continue to play for a little bit later than people might think.”
What is helping to drive him on, he says, is Moran’s fresh approach as manager, his former team-mate also bringing out the very best in the younger players.
“With Andy I think refreshing would be the first word I’d say. Like his energy is insane. The second you meet him, he puts you in good form. You just get that bounce of energy off him.
“And basically he told us straight, the last couple of years haven’t been good enough. And I think that’s been really good for the group. It’s not like someone you’re reminiscing about playing with, or anything. We just get on with the next training session, the next game, and I think the boys are enjoying the last few months with him.
“It’s why I play and so it’s probably, if not more enjoyable now, I think I appreciate those things a little bit more. And, yeah, don’t take it for granted.”
Andy Moran was appointed manager last August for a three-year term. Photograph: Andrew Paton/INPHO
O’Shea’s own routine has changed little over the years, if only to afford himself a little more “TLC”, and then “just the boring stuff with saunas, ice baths, a bit of chiropractor, just my general routine in a week”.
Mayo are out against London in the Connacht quarter-final on April 11th, and O’Shea doesn’t need any reminder either of the dangerously close call there back in 2010 when they just about progressed after extra-time.
Like O’Shea was at 18 back in 2009, there’s another Leaving Cert student breaking on to the Mayo team now in Kobe McDonald, son of another of O’Shea’s former colleagues, Ciarán McDonald, the former player and Mayo selector. Although committed to St Kilda in Australia later this season, McDonald jnr is expected to shine for Mayo this summer.
“I’ve known Kobe for a good few years, obviously through his dad, and you wouldn’t think he’s only just turned 18 in December. Not just the way he plays in the football, but the way he carries himself off it. It probably bodes well for a life in a professional sport. Unfortunately for us, but it’s good for him.”
During his Leaving Cert at St Gerald’s in Castlebar in 2009, O’Shea wrote a popular diary for The Irish Times, often highlighting the difficult balancing act between study and training.
Which raises the question, what would the advice be to his younger self, or to that Leaving Cert student of 2026?
“It’s probably information overload now, you have to be careful what you take in, make sure it’s filtered right. But I think I’d probably be envious of kids starting off their careers now, compared to when I started. It was probably a lot looser and there wasn’t the same level of discipline or engagement, and maybe it took me that year or two to understand that.
“But I think I probably would be a bit more inquisitive, and a bit more challenging to myself, earlier in my career.”