The Fossa ace is set to named Footballer of the Year for a third time next month and the Kerry boss thinks they’ve unlocked the secret to getting the best from their star forward
Jack O’Connor says that David Clifford’s call to arms ahead of Kerry’s return to Croke Park this year was fully justified.
The star forward appealed to Kerry fans to support the team in greater numbers ahead of their All-Ireland quarter-final against Armagh, saying that “when you hear the Kerry crowd behind you it’s worth five and six points to you in a game”.
As it happened, Kerry produced a sensational second half performance which turned their season around as they eliminated the holders by 0-32 to 1-21, avenging the previous year’s semi-final loss.
“He was 100% right because after the Armagh semi-final defeat in 2024, I said post-match that I felt the Armagh crowd were a big factor in that game and I got criticism for it at the time but I would say it again tomorrow if I had to say it, because it was a factor,” O’Connor insisted.
“We were well outnumbered in Croke Park that day. David was just stating facts. The crowd, in a tight game, are a factor. To be fair to the Kerry supporters, they responded in spades.
“David has the standing in Kerry that whatever he says goes. If I had said it, they might not have responded. But when David said it, they did respond. He was playing so well this year, there were neutral supporters going to games to watch him perform. Why wouldn’t Kerry come out in big numbers?”
It’s surely only a formality that Clifford will be named Footballer of the Year for a third time in four seasons next month, and O’Connor puts his scintillating form down to the fact that he was granted extended down time last winter.
“In the last couple of years he hasn’t got a proper break. After winning in 2022, Fossa went all the way to the All-Ireland junior final and won it. He didn’t have enough of a break. I know he was rested for a while but he still didn’t get enough of a break.
“The same was true the following year. We made up our mind that winter that he was going to get a proper break so he got the bones of four months by the time he finished his last club game to playing his first start for Kerry which was above in Pomeroy (v Tyrone), he got four months off.
“And that was the first time he had enough time to basically switch off and have enough time to do his own bit of work, to come back and be ready to train properly.
“So it was no wonder he came back really refreshed. His first 2026 start in Pomeroy he scored three goals. That was a big factor.
“He is possibly hitting his prime, 26 years of age. He was just in great form this year, in great physical shape. Great mental shape.”
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