Although John Maughan is firmly focused on helping Offaly raid Cusack Park this Sunday afternoon, the former Clare manager admits he holds a special bond with the county he will be trying to overcome, writes Ivan Smyth.
Maughan guided Clare to the All Ireland B Championship in 1991 before 12 months later he was at the helm for arguably Clare football’s greatest day as they beat Kerry in the Munster final.
The Offaly manager is full of praise for the side he managed and the current crop of players.
“I have great affection for Clare. It was the players who made me look good. The gene pool in Clare is fantastic. They are hard, tough, honest and give every last ounce.
“Sometimes you hear of inter county players retiring and they may have regrets over not giving everything but you could never say that about a Clare hurler or footballer. They get every last ounce out of themselves. I’d have great time for Clare.”
“If you look at Clare particularly under Colm Collins they have done remarkably well. I’d have an interest in how they play and do.
“They were superb against Cork in the league last year while Mayo were hanging on for dear life against them last year too. They scored 2-18 against a team that reached the All Ireland final so they have done remarkably well in recent times.”
It was a different time for Clare football before John Maughan took the reins. There was a struggle to find 15 players to take the field on gameday before bringing silverware west of the Shannon.
“I took over in late 1990 and we only had 15 players available to play Sligo in the All Ireland B Championship. I remember one of the lads went off injured and we had nobody to replace him. That’s where we started from but we had a great bunch there and we did some great things.”
The Mayo man knows the importance of this weekend’s game as he admits his Offaly side face a tough task to stay in Division Two.
“This is our Championship. We are not winning an All Ireland or Leinster title right now. We are in with teams should be of similar quality to ourselves. Survival would be a huge success for us. I have huge affection for Clare but we are here to try take care of business”