Tomas O' Flatharta on his playing past , relationship with Paidi O' Se and managerial roles to date.

Tomas O' Flatharta discusses his playing career, relationship with Paidi O' Se and how he never planned to be a GAA  manager.

By Steven Kelly

It is fair to say that An Ghaeltacht native Tomas O' Flatharta has had a huge impact on Gaelic football all his life.                        

Hailing from the beautiful west coast of Kerry Tomas would go on to manage at the highest level, including stints at Laois,

Westmeath and Galway. His upbringing was centred around football and family life. "I am from a family of 7. I grew up on a 

family farm in An Ghaeltacht, which is located on the west coast of Kerry. It is a quite remote area. My childhood was revolved around helping out at home and playing football as much as I possibly could. I remember playing for the u12 team and I used to be fierce upset. 

We would only get to play 3 games a year, which is mad when you think about it. Tomas remembers much about players that he looked up to at the time. 

"Of course I remember Kerry had an amazing team at the time. Everybody from my area wanted to be the great Mick O' Connell. 

He had everything. I remember going to a Waterville vs West Kerry game, I was only about 11 years old. I got the bus into Dingle.

That was a big deal at the time. Anyways Mick played for Waterville and he gave an exhibition of football. I'll never forget it."                                                                  

Tomas remembers coming into his own as an adult player. He played underage for Kerry but remembers playing for An Ghaeltacht with particular

pride."Oh god, I remember playing senior football. You would play senior football in your region and then if you were good enough could go forward

in the Kerry senior championship. I played in the South Kerry championship with An Ghaeltacht. We were blessed with big names like Michael O' Se

and Paidi O' Se. Our club always had a player on the Kerry team as far back as I can remember. The big teams in the championship at the time

would have been the likes of Dr Crokes, Austin Stakes from Killarney and Tralee and then within the South Kerry division, you would have the likes of Renard and 

Valentia."

Many fans of Gaelic Football people find the whole dynamic of club football within Kerry quite confusing to understand. Tomas tells us his views on the situation. "Well, basically you can play for your club within South Kerry which allows everybody to play senior football. 

You then represent South Kerry, but if you win the whole championship with the regional side they cannot go on

and play in the Munster and All-Ireland club championship. The funny thing about it is East Kerry won a club All- Ireland years ago.

I think the rule is fair nowadays." Tomas later moved up to Dublin where he played club football for both Cuala and

Kilmacud Crokes.This is where his managerial career began. "To be honest I never planned to be a manager whatsoever.

I got asked to coach an u16 with Kilmacud Crokes after I had stopped playing. It was never my intention if I'm being honest. I got involved up to Intermediate level.

When Paidi O'Se went in as Westmeath boss in 2004 I was asked to go in as coach with him. 

That was obviously a successful time as we beat Laois after a replay in 2004. I learnt as a coach and later a manager 

that honesty, commitment, good communicators and positive players were the main things I looked for in a set of players. It doesn't matter at what level. If you have those  things you will be successful."

Tomas had stints as a manager with various teams over the years including Westmeath, Galway and Laois. These roles brought various challenges along the way. "With Westmeath, myself and Paidi always looked to raise the standards there and I think we were quite successful in doing so. That 2004 Leinster Championship was down to a lot of hard work on and off the field. Then I suppose when I went into Galway expectations are always high in a county of that magnitude.              

That brought its own challenges. And with Laois, I would consider my time there quite successful, in that we maintained our Division 2 status. have is that we didn't make it to division one, which I felt we were more than capable of doing."                                                                                                                                                                                                           

O' Flatharta worked with the legendary Kerryman and fellow club man over the years. 

He experienced first hand the man on and off the pitch. "Paidi was a great character. Sadly, he is no longer with us.

He was a Kerryman through and through. He did things that people didn't realise. He brought tourism to Kerry. 

He was always good at making you feel good about yourself. He was a great friend. 

I even could say that he was very good to visit people in the hospital and even one or two people in prison.

His management style he himself described as looking after everything above the neck. He didn't care about the league.

came alive. It was what he thrived on."

The main rhetoric in 2021 remains the dominance of Dublin. Going for a 7th title in a row is unprecedented. 

Tomas thinks we need to look at improving other counties first. 

"I am not for splitting Dublin in half. I don't think that is the problem here. I think it is so easy to try to pick at Dublin.

They are a fantastic side but from a coaching viewpoint, they have got their house in order. It cannot be blamed on money.                                               

If that was the case why are they not winning hurling All- Ireland titles? I think the view needs to change to how do we develop the smaller counties? I think this can be done by having proper coaching at the grassroots level. If you look at schools level, for example, counties are years behind in that aspect of developing our young players. 

The concerns I would have for Gaelic football going forward is are we still getting the entertainment value. 

The game has changed and will continue to evolve. It is about holding onto the ball and the nature of a man to man 

contest has slightly disappeared from our game."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Flatharta has managed many fine players over the years. "I suppose I am lucky in that I have been around a                                                                                              

high-level calibre of players. Players like Ross Munnelly, Michael Meehan and John Kane.                                                                                    

These guys set the standards for me and it was a culture I tried to instill in the groups I had in Westmeath, Galway and Laois. 

My management style was mainly to give players the freedom to express themselves and to create enjoyment and character-building both individually and collectively.          I am glad to have had the opportunity and who knows what the future holds. Looking ahead I am just looking forward to a championship and hopefully getting to return to games as soon as possible. You miss the buzz of a packed Croke Park on a matchday. Hopefully, that is not too far away."

Tomas has a deep love for football and Kerry this will remain close in his heart. The love and passion he has for the game is as apparent as ever.

A possible Kerry role could not be ruled out in the not too distant future. For now, he will sit back on watch on with interest, hoping Kerry can derail the Dubs in 2021.