Dubs midfielder Fenton continues to soar above the rest
LAST year, following his remarkable maiden season as a Dublin senior footballer, Brian Fenton returned to his roots in Raheny where friends and family told him that his first year as an inter-county player couldn’t have gone much better.
Established as the team’s main midfielder and man of the match in the All-Ireland final, at 22, he didn’t have much left to conquer.
‘Yeah, I remember last year, talking with close friends around the club in Raheny and they’d be saying “things couldn’t have gone better for you in 2015.” I used to turn around jokingly and say “ah sure I will be pushing for Player of the Year next year.” That’s how far off my radar it was. It wasn’t a realistic option to me at all so I would joke about it.’
Twelve months on and it’s no laughing matter. Fenton’s consistency in midfield has seen him short-listed for Footballer of the Year alongside Dublin team-mate Ciarán Kilkenny and Mayo’s Lee Keegan. The tall Raheny native still gives the impression that he can’t quite believe how his career has taken off in the past 18 months, insisting that he is far from the most skilful player around.
‘In that Dublin team, and all around the country, there are players that are more skilful, better players who can kick better scores than I can so on a personal level, I am just honoured to be nominated alongside Ciarán, who’s a spectacular footballer, and Lee who is one of the best footballers Mayo has ever produced.
‘I am honoured to be nominated but I’m just one player in a big group of players. I just try to go out and do my job. I don’t try to do anything spectacular. Those sort of personal recognitions are the cheery on top but I think you’d trade an All Star for an All-Ireland any day, so to win Sam was definitely the main goal.’
Perhaps, the most impressive aspect of Fenton’s season was that he was able to establish himself as arguably the top midfielder in the game even after notice was served of his talent. He famously never played minor for Dublin and only played for the Under 21s for a season, so it was like Fenton dropped from the sky last year. Given all of that, the 23-year-old admits that he was worried about the dreaded ‘second season syndrome’ in 2016.
‘Of course that was a fear because I had come in under the radar last year. I would meet people in the club, people who really know football and they were saying “you came in under the radar, nobody knew you but this year, you will be a marked man. People will know you. They will have watched clips on tape.”
‘That was a big fear of mine, having that extra attention, maybe not getting as many possessions or as many kick-passes or scores in a game. It’s very clichéd but you just take every game as it comes — you study your opponent and I suppose I was lucky that I just seemed to get on the ball and things were going my way.’ Having underwent shoulder surgery during the winter, those fears manifested themselves in the League game against Cork, his first start of the season. ‘I was worried that I might not be as fit and in that game against Cork, I was whipped off at half-time. ‘I was having an absolute stinker to be honest. That was definitely a wake-up call — I needed to get my sharpness up and my fitness up after the surgery. I knew then that if I wanted this year to be in any way as good as last year then I needed to pull up my socks as they say. So yeah that fear was always there going into this year but thankfully it went the right way.’ The drive to win back-to-back Sam Maguires consumed every aspect of Fenton’s life during the summer, so he is determined to take a break from the goldfish bowl that goes with county football in the winter.
‘I like to step away from it, completely,’ Fenton explains of the offseason. ‘Over the winter, I will still be training myself, trying to keep fit but I will definitely try to take a step back, take it easy, hang out with friends, spend more time with my girlfriend and family. I might try to get to Kerry with my Dad a couple of times.
‘You use the off-season as much as you can to regain some of the friendships that you neglected throughout the year. I’d be interested in loads of different sports but I don’t pick up a basketball like Kieran Donaghy or take up MMA like Philly McMahon. I just sort of do my own thing, enjoy the time off and enjoy some nights out.’
Given the rise and rise of Fenton, it is hard to know how much further the midfielder can soar. But he’s not about to rest on his laurels.
‘The competition within the squad is driving players on. For me in midfield, there are so many options around that it will drive me on next year. Emmet Ó Conghaile is coming back from injury, Michael Darragh Macauley was flying at the end of this year. There is real competition there and I am so lucky to play among such a panel of players. It stands to us, we all drive each other on. We look at the older lads with everything they have achieved and they are still driving on and striving for success. That can only inspire you.’
Brian Fenton has been named as the Gaelic Writers’ Association 2016 Football Personality of the Year.