‘It was a very strange one’ – John Small reveals stag do pep talk from Dublin GAA legend inspired delaying...
A CHANCE meeting with Paul Flynn and Darren Daly on a Spanish stag do sparked John Small’s last hurrah.
Small told Dublin boss Dessie Farrell before their 2024 All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Galway that he was retiring from inter-county football.
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John Small pictured at the launch of Guaranteed Irish’s campaign entitled ‘Are You in The Guaranteed Irish Club’Credit: SPORTSFILE
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He revealed a chat with Paul Flynn convinced him to delay his retirementCredit: SPORTSFILE
But it all changed when two different stag parties bumped into each other in Spain last March.
Over a few drinks, Sky Blues legend Flynn convinced his old pal that there was more in the tank – and the seven-time All-Ireland winner gave it one more go.
He told SunSport: “It was a very strange one. I was on my best mate’s brother’s stag, would you believe – we were in Spain and Paul Flynn and Darren Daly were on a different stag in the same place, near Marbella.
“We were just chatting away and had a few drinks and I get on very well with Paul, he was very good to me when I was a younger player.
“He helped me a lot, particularly on the professional side, just about working and kind of the mindset around that stuff as well.
“I was just chatting to them for hours and between one thing and the other, I ended up going back so that’s how it kind of happened.
“There was probably a lot of drink talk I’d say as well! But I remember him saying to me ‘you’re not just going to say on the drink that you’re going to go back and play!’
“And I said, ‘no, I’m a man of my word.’ So anyway, I rang Dessie in the following day or two and said if they wanted to have me back, I’d love to go back.
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“It was a very strange situation and it wasn’t my intention going on the stag that I was going to be back with Dublin the following week.”
Small gave it another lash and reclaimed his spot at centre-back, but it was not to be.
Meath ended their 15-year grip on the Leinster championship before an All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Tyrone.
The 2020 All-Star defender announced his departure for real last October, and is at peace with his choice.
His family and beloved Ballymun Kickhams are getting far more of his time now, along with his career as sales director at business energy brokers Procure.ie.
Now 33, Small took his son, Charlie to Croke Park on Saturday night as Dublin’s new dawn began under Ger Brennan and his brother, Paddy scored 0-2 in a 1-20 to 0-20 loss.
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John Small retired in the wake of Dublin’s loss to Tyrone in the All-Ireland quarter-finalCredit: SPORTSFILE
Small was a vital part of their ultimate golden era when they won six All-Irelands in a row in 2020, and capped it with a last-dance Sam Maguire in 2023.
Looking on from the stands has a different feel to it, but he is backing the current crop to write their own destiny under Brennan ahead of Sunday’s NFL Division 1 round 2 trip to Mayo.
He said: “I think they’ll get a great bounce out of Ger and the new management team and there’ll be a new energy there.
“I think they’re going to play a certain way and they’ll be great to watch. Do I think they can win the All-Ireland? Definitely. They’re definitely in the conversation to win it, and that’d be making their own history.
“In my head, Dublin is never looking outside anything except winning the All-Ireland, and that’s the way it always should be with Dublin football.
“I think that they have got the players that can do it, and definitely think they can make their own history, yeah.”
