‘Like life you have downfalls in football but it can make you stronger’

Inspiring star

Former Meath footballer and All-star winner Geraldine Doherty revealed in an interview with the Meath Chronicle this week how she struggled with her sexuality at one stage in her life but found the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) specially and the GAA in general very accepting communities.

Doherty, who recently became a selector with the St Ultan's men's team, says the comraderie and acceptance she found in the LGFA and the GAA helped her with those struggles and now she wants to outline what she went through in order to help others.

"I would have struggled with my sexuality and if I can help others in the same situation, young girls perhaps just getting involved in the sport, than it's all worthwhile," said Doherty (39) who enjoyed a lengthy inter-county career with Meath and who won an All-star in 2005.

"I know I'm not the only one who would say this but the LGFA is very good at promoting diversity and equality. I always think you could be anyone, you could be struggling with anything and you go down, play football with your friends and if it can cheer you up and get you through the difficult times in your life then that's brilliant."

"I never talked about my sexuality and it's not a big deal now but I know I would have struggled so I definitely presume there are other young girls out there who have struggled and are struggling - and if my situation could help someone else then surely that's a good thing. I would have found it difficult to come out at first but the help of my family especially and friends made it a lot easier."

She also found love in the LGFA and now Doherty and her partner, Lesley Buchanan are both preparing to become parents as they expecting their first child in April. Both women played football together with St Ultan's.

"We were married in August 2022, it got put back with Covid a couple of times, that delayed us, we obviously had to go through IVF and it's been a busy few months. It's all good thankfully," added Doherty who was a selector with Dunshaughlin Royal Gaels the last three years. Then she was asked to take on a role with the St Ultan's men's team.

"I was going to take a break this year as the baby is due in April but when the lads in the club rang I couldn't say no," she added. "We'll work together and do our best to make it all work. When the club asks you to do something you help out. After all when you think of all the club has done for Lesley and myself, we won championships together with St Ultan's, you don't mind helping out."

INTERVIEW WITH GERALDINE DOHERTY

In an article that can be accessed on the Bohermeen National School website, the school's ethos and history is succinctly explained.

Near the end of the piece a reference is made to some of the school's famous past-pupils; a very select list of former alumni who went on to chalk up some great deeds.

The list contains only five names - top horse racing jockey and trainer Johnny Murtagh; soccer goalkeeper Gary Rogers who had a fine career in League of Ireland football; Damien English who rose to the upper echelons of Irish politics and Ken Rennicks, the former Meath footballer who won an All-star in 1975.

The fifth name on the schools' Mount Rushmore is Geraldine Doherty; also a richly talented footballer who for a decade or more was one of Meath's foremost players. Like the prodigiously talented Rennicks she didn't win an All-Ireland medal but she did garner an All-star award in 2005 (and a trip to Singapore); a fine and lasting testament to her talent.

Doherty is delighted with the way ladies football has blossomed over the last few years, particularly in her native county. New ground, she feels, has been broken, new triumphs achieved, including two All-Ireland SFC titles. Triumphs that have elevated the game, and those involved, to a whole new level.

Now Doherty herself is doing her bit to push the boundaries further. Recently she was appointed a selector with the St Ultan's team. The St Ultan's MEN'S team. She joins a set-up that includes manager Martin Hughes and fellow-selectors Tommy Tallon, Thomas Coyne and Shane Connolly.

Women who are part of management set-ups for men's teams are rare indeed. In her new role Doherty at 39 is something of a pioneer, a woman breaking down more barriers in a sphere for so, so long dominated by males. She had no plans or ambitions to fill such a position but when she was recently asked to step up with her native club she simply couldn't say no.

Having hung up her boots a few years ago she has spent the past three seasons serving as a selector with the Dunshaughlin Royal Gaels ladies team, winners of their first SFC title in 2023. She had originally planned to take a break from the game this year, a well-earned break too, but when her local club came calling she was intrigued.

Something else caused her to pause. She and her partner Lesley Buchanan are expecting their first child in April. Geraldine and Lesley played together with St Ultan’s and found love together.

“Lesley is expecting our first child so that’s why I wasn’t thinking of doing anything with football this year,” she adds. “I was going to take a break as the baby is due in April but when the lads from the club rang me I couldn’t say no.”

Both women had played together with St Ultan’s and won championships on the same teams.

Doherty says that at one stage she struggled with her sexuality now she wants to help others. “I never talked about my sexuality and it’s not a big deal now but I know I would have struggled so I definitely presume there are other young girls out there who struggled and are struggling. If my situation could help someone else, then surely that’s a good thing.” (See front page story).

So Geraldine Doherty is about to embark on a exciting stage in her personal life. She’s also involved in the quest to get St Ultan's back into the Junior A ranks (they were relegated in 2023).

A new chapter in the annals of the local GAA has just opened.

TRIUMPHS AND REGRETS

When Geraldine Doherty met up with the Meath Chronicle during the now departed festive season many people were taking a break from their normal routine, relaxing. She, however, was still busily employed in her job as a health care worker in St John of God Hospital, an independent acute psychiatric teaching hospital in south county Dublin that also offers inpatient and outpatient services to people from all over Ireland.

She stopped off on her way home from a shift in the famous hospital to talk about her new role while also glancing back on her career in football - and what a career it has been.

She played football for Meath at various levels for 15 years or so, from the late 1990s until, she reckons, 2013. A talented forward blessed with that priceless asset - pace - she was an integral part of Meath forward lines. Once provided with a decent supply of ball she had the ability to ransack opposition defences, often finishing off attacking moves by despatching the ball to the net with rapier-like shots that broke the will of opposition defences. Her All-star award was a recognition of just how dangerous she could be.

She recalls the gala night back in 2005 when she was called up to receive her award, watched by her parents Gerry and Mary with the then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern among those in attendance. She looks back on that evening and extracts from it a lasting memory and an invaluable, timeless, lesson.

"It's only when you look back you realise how precious those moments are, it's not something that happens too often to even the greatest of players. When you are 20 you think you might be going up there every so often, every year, but it doesn't work like that. That's what I would be hoping to say to the St Ultan's lads. When you get a good year, when you have the chance to achieve something, go for it because it all goes by just like that (waves her hand). You don't want to be looking back saying I should have done this, I should have done that."

There was also the week in 2006 when she was selected for an Irish Independent Sports Star of the Week accolade; a rare achievement for a Meath female footballer a the time. Any female footballer.

There were some great days with her club St Ultan's, when county titles were won. When the odds - and a powerful Seneschalstown side that dominated the game in Meath for a decade or so - were overcome .

Yet the St Ultan's club woman does have some regrets. She played on Royal County teams composed of many fine, talented footballers - "some of the best players who will ever play for Meath" - but an All-Ireland senior crown proved all too elusive. Always, tantalisingly out of reach. She played on Meath teams that reached All-Ireland quarter-finals. A National League final was reached too but Cork proved best in a showdown that was played out at Parnell Park. Doherty never played in Croke Park expect in a schools game. That's something of a regret.

Yet even in defeat, football gave her great enjoyment. Her time as a player also underlined for her the importance of resilience in sport. In life. She suffered injuries, setbacks, that might have compelled others to hang up the boots. She endured, for instance, several leg breaks. Each time she bounced back.

"Like life you have downfalls in football but it can make you stronger, you get injuries, disappointments, you might get dropped. It teaches you a lot of life lessons," she says referring to her herself in the third person. "It wasn't always easy, you had to come back from serious injuries, you had to be strict with yourself, train on your own. "I always say it's a very lonely time for anyone being injured. When you see these top players doing ACLs, breaking legs, you know the struggle involved. I love to see players coming back after a bad injury, to be part of a team again.”

NEW ROLE

Geraldine Doherty doesn't see much of a difference working with a group of male or female footballers. Or, at least, she doesn't expect to find much of a difference. She feels the concepts of the game are basically the same. Train hard, be committed, honest, be true to yourself and your colleagues.

She knows enough about life and football to appreciate what strategy works best when seeking to get the best out of a bunch of people.

"I never liked the dictator approach. I always liked someone with a bit of knowledge who will try and help you out, improve you as a player. The day of roaring, hands on the table, shouting is over. I think you have to be positive, if someone is negative on the line that feeds into the team, people become less confident, nervousness sets in.

"Whether you play on a men's or a ladies' football team the ultimate aim is the same but I can't say too much on the subject because it’s all new to me. I feel there will be a lot of similarities."

So a new chapter begins for Geraldine Doherty. A new beginning. You suspect she will approach the challenge with all the determination that earned her a place on that list of pupils who once attended Bohermeen NS and went on to become high achievers in their chosen fields. Role models.

GERALDINE DOHERTY ON ...

...ON HER STRUGGLES WITH HER SEXUALITY AND HOW FOOTBALL HELPED

“I came out about 12 years ago and everyone was very supportive. Sport in general is a really supportive environment, it’s about being a team. If someone is having a bad day than someone else will pick up. I did struggle for a few years and I suppose most people do.

“You can be anyone on the football pitch, you have loads of different characters and nobody cares. You come from all sides of life and just be yourself and nobody cares. That’s just what I found in the Gaelic games community. You have all different characters and everyone just gets on with it and you can still be a part of the team, be part of one family. Football is an accepting community. I know Val Mulcahy in ladies football she has been very good. Her story is really inspiring. She has helped me by reading articles about her story. I hope my story helps others. There is always someone. There are plenty now which is good.

“It’s a big thing to come out. I know Donal Og Cusak has come out on the male side but not that many male Gaelic footballers or soccer players. I know in the Premier League they are pushing for people to come out. I just think the LGFA is very accepting and the GAA but not too many male footballers have come out, it’s more on the women’s side.”

ON HOW MEATH’S SUCCESS IN LADIES FOOTBALL IN RECENT YEARS HAS OPENED DOORS

"I feel in the last few years clubs are trying to get more females involved in coaching Gaelic football teams and I definitely feel that's down to Meath doing so well in recent years. The success of the team, I know, has opened a lot of doors for formers players too. It has helped to break down a few walls, made people realise 'Jeez these girls, they do know something about football.' I definitely feel Meath winning their two senior All-Irelands in recent years has done that."

ON HER REGRETS FROM HER PLAYING DAYS

"I regret we didn't win a Leinster when I was playing with Meath because we had a great team, like serious talent. A team that contained some of the best players who will ever play for Meath. The likes of Mary (Sheridan), Jackie (Shiels), Katie (O'Brien), unbelievable but we just never got over the line and we still haven't won a Leinster. Dublin always prove so tough to beat."

ON A GROWING TREND IN LADIES FOOTBALL SHE DOESN'T LIKE

"That idea of teams parking the bus, you can see it creeping into ladies club football. I'm a bit old fashioned in that I like forwards to play in forward positions. I don't like all the forwards having to chase back, defend. I would hate to have to ask someone like Niamh O'Sullivan to have to chase back and defend especially someone of her skill level as a forward. Some rule change might have to be looked at because people will switch off. I hate saying it but it's definitely come into the ladies game more.."