KERRY team manager PaidÝ O'SÚ has a big fan in former Supreme Court Judge Hugh O'Flaherty.
The Caherciveen man, who was at the centre of a major political row last year as the Sheedy affair festered, believes O'SÚ ranks as one of the all time great footballers of Kerry.
And he is now adding the accolade of being a very successful manager of Kerry teams.
"I think that the year just past has been a vintage one, for not alone Kerry, but for football as a whole as we had some great games," O'Flaherty said in a tell-all sportin interview on Radio Kerry's Terrace Talk programme.
O'Flaherty recalled with fondness his early days when he lived at Mangerton View in Killarney before moving on to Caherciveen. He remembers vividly the intense rivalry between local clubs Dr. Crokes and Legion.
"I remember that Billy O'Shea and myself needed a footabll pumped one time and down we went to Pat O'Meara's public house and in I went. I was asked by Pat to declare my alliegence for either the Crokes or the Legion. I suppose it was the devilment breaking out in me at that time because I went out and told Billy that we had better get this right so one of us declared for the Legion and the other for the Crokes. In the heel of the hunt we got our ball pumped," he quipped.
He went on to outline how, when he moved to Caheciveen, he became a staunch St. Mary's man and also a follower of South Kerry football.
"In fact the man who should be given great credit for improving football down in South Kerry was the late great Gerald O'Sullivan, a former Legion man," he said.
"He came down to South Kerry, which was very remote in those days, at a time when we had no Mick O'Dwyer, no Mick O'Connell, no Jack O'Shea or Maurice Fitzgerald, who afterwards became some of the all time greats of Gaelic football both here and nationally," he recalled.
"Gerald declared for St Mary's and did terrific things for football in South Kerry," O'Flaherty reflected.
Hugh O'Flaherty also spoke about the time that the great Paul Russell, who penned a column for a newspaper, got the 1955 All-Ireland between Kerry and Dublin all wrong.
"He predicted the demolition of the Kerry team by Dublin and, of course, Kerry won that game which was one of the all time great All-Ireland finals," said O'Flaherty.
"Paul Russell, I am afraid, was excruciated because of his false prediction but I often think that maybe his preference for Dublin may have helped the Kerry resurgance.
"Earlier that year, Dublin had given Kerry a mighty hammering in a Whit Sunday tournament so they were hot favourities for the title. I think the 1955 All-Ireland has to rank as one of the great contests of all time," he added.
O'Flaherty spoke of the importance that Kerry football played during his sometimes hectic and very succesful life that saw him rise to the very top of the legal profession.
"I actually boast that I played with the great Mick O'Connell at midfield at local level and, needless to say, he went on to do great things and I evaporated from the scene," he laughed.
"It was always a great interest for me and I can remember meeting Monsignor Sean Quinlan coming out of Croke Park one day and he said to me 'I am glad to see you are still going to see the matches' which was one of the few passions left to us".
Hugh O'Flaherty disputes the theory that hurling is the greater field game which is the opinion of many.
"Brendan Kennelly, Dr. Eamon O'Sullivan, Joe Lennon and myself happen to think that football is probably a more ancient game, so we should not yield to hurling.
"Hurling is a great game but Gaelic football, played man to man with people abiding by the rules, is a wonderful game," said O'Flaherty, considered to be one of the top legal brains in the country.
And O'Flaherty is adament that hurling could and should be stronger in Kerry.
"It is ironic that the first All-Ireland won by Kerry was won by the hurlers and they have won nothing since. I have been debating with people for years that there is probably more hurling played in Kerry than in Offaly for example, and they have have a wonderful record recently.
"I think what is missing is that there is not a centre where hurling is strong. In football Tralee has three great clubs, Killarney has two and so on.
"In some way there is not a centre for hurling in North Kerry, it is part of the Golden Vale. I think it would be terrific if every effort was made to bring a hurling All-Ireland to Kerry. It can be done, I believe," he remarked.
As to the secret of success for Kerry football, O'Flaherty attributes it all to an extension of the county.
"In the olden days a footballer would be selected from Tralee, Killarney, Castleisland, Dingle and maybe an occasional player from North Kerry and South Kerry. Now, believe it or not, this last year we won an All-Ireland without a single player from Tralee or Killarney which must be some sort of a record," he said.
"In fact I think there has been no player from the town of Killarney on a winning Kerry team since Johnny Culloty. Yet here we are with Tralee having three great clubs and Killarney having two, which was the fortress of Kerry football, and yet we are now now drawing players from smaller clubs around the county".
O'Flaherty does not believe that the new Championship format is ideal and reckons Cork may have been unlucky to have had to live in the shadow of the Kingdom
"I would like to see the knockout system in operation but let me say this - through the great Kerry years from 1975 to 1986, Mick O'Dwyer stated that, during that era, the second best team in the country was Cork. So if Cork had the benifit of the new format in those years, maybe Kerry would not have enjoyed the success that they did," he opined.
During the so-called glory years, there was great diisappointment when Kerry failed to achieve that historic five-in-a-row but it was an emotion not shared by the former Supreme Court judge.
"I think the fact that Kerry did not achieve that feat was no big deal for two reasons. It was much more important than one of the great footballers in Ireland at that time, Matt Connor, should have got an All-Ireland medal than any five-in-a-row .
"Also if Kerry had done the five-in-a-row there would have been no three-in-a=row afterwards so losing to Offaly was not the the end of the world as many people made out at the time," stated O'Flaherty.
So what about the all time great Gaelic players that he had seen?
"There is little doubt but there are two - Mick O'Connell in football and Christy Ring in hurling. I remember talking to Jack Lynch about Christy Ring and he was the greatest. In fact, my son played hurling with Christy on Ballinskelligs beach. Christy believed that hurling was not indigenous and could be learned, so that brings me back to my earlier point that Kerry could win the hurling All-Ireland," he said.
"As regards Mick O'Connell, well what could you say? He was the greatest," said O'Flaherty.
"He also commanded such respect that people like PaidÝ O'SÚ and Jack O'Shea, when in his presence, always yielded to him. In places like Sligo and Carlow just introduce O'Connell and straight away people recognise him, he is a great man," he added.
"In fact O'Connell has transported what he achieved as a player to other areas of his life with the wonderful work he does for the afflicted," O'Flaherty added.
The Killaney born legal eagle remembers some great players down through the years and, apart from O'Connell, the great stars that came to mind included Jack O'Shea, Tadghie Lyne, Paudie Sheehy, Mickey Sheehy, Eoin Liston and John Egan, with the latter described by O'Fleherty as "a man who never did a stupid thing".
Maurice Fitzgerald, a great friend of his, is another great in the eyes of a man who has seen more Kerry players than most playing at the highest level.