2013 Press Releases
Clancy's winning formula
"As Cork head for Killarney on Sunday to take on the might of Kerry in the Munster SFC final, there are surely two very proud parents over in Grange, just outside Fermoy."
*Reproduced with permission from The Irish Examiner on Thursday 4th July 2013
Determination and education Clancy’s winning formula
By Diarmuid O’Flynn
As Cork head for Killarney on Sunday to take on the might of Kerry in the Munster SFC final, there are surely two very proud parents over in Grange, just outside Fermoy.
Why? Because on the field for Cork will be Tomás Clancy, as personable and as talented a youngster as any parent could ever wish for. He’s a first-class student, “Just finished my Chemistry degree, staying on for another four years to do the PhD,” but of course there’s a lot more to Tomás than study.
He’s a footballer par excellence, a tight-marking defender who has tasted the potential glamour of the forwards but rejects it. He’s also humble, knows how lucky he is to be where he is and is suitably grateful, to his parents in the first place, to his club and college thereafter.
“My father is massive into soccer, played with Fermoy, though he played football with Grange; my mother would be big into GAA alright. It’s been a while since Fermoy had a player on the Cork team, I think it’s 60 years. We just work hard and if we’re good enough we put our hands up for selection. I think college is a major step, you get noticed then.”
It’s difficult in a small club though to get yourself noticed, which is where college and UCC comes in. Sigerson Cup, Cork county SFC — this was a different level.
Tomás set himself a few targets and step by step, progress was made. The College starting 15, Cork U21, Cork juniors and now, Cork seniors.
“I just took it in small bits. I focused on UCC first and made that. We won the county with UCC in 2011, that was massive, and then I was with the juniors for two years and I won the All-Ireland with them in ’11 too.” That turned out to be his breakthrough year as he also won the Sigerson with UCC, then broke on to a multi-talented U21 team, helping them to Munster honours that same year.
“It was massive. I only came on in the Munster semi-final against Tipperary, that was my first time in the inter-county scene. It took a while to get used to but that experience really helped me, it was great preparation for this, I knew what I had to do.”
‘This’ of course is the senior setup, and ‘this’ is where he has always wanted to be.
“In 2011, having won the county with UCC and the junior All-Ireland, I always felt that if I worked really hard I’d get the trial. I got that then this year and worked hard to get my hand in there; once I got my foot in the door I never looked back.”
He heads into Fitzgerald Stadium this Sunday, the biggest game possible in the Munster football calendar; it isn’t his first experience of such an occasion, but it is his first as a player.
“I remember when I was a kid it was absolutely electric, you were just caught up in the moment. As a player it’s going to be completely different, trying to block out everything else and focus on the game and that Munster medal.”