‘I didn’t say anything’ - Cillian O’Connor on Mayo decision

Mayo star Cillian O’Connor has said he didn’t retire from inter-county football at the start of the season. The Ballintubber man stated this week that, when he stepped away, he was asked not to be definitive about it.

In November of last year, it was revealed that sharpshooter O’Connor had opted out of lining out for the Green and Red for 2025, in a move which was seen as a huge blow for the county.

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The Ballintubber clubman’s scoring statistics speak for themselves, and his 46-533 tally is incredulous to say the least.

This week, speaking on William Hill’s ‘The Square Ball’ podcast, the inter-county superstar has spoken on the circumstances surrounding his decision to step away from the limelight.

“I didn’t say anything, I think someone did an interview and said that,” O’Connor stated with regard to the news breaking of his decision.

“I didn’t put anything out. I rang the management, and met the management. I rang a few senior and younger players and told them.

“I met Kevin (McStay) in the Autumn and we had a few good, frank conversations. Kevin was keen in the end, when he had accepted I was going, to ask me not to draw a line under anything and not to be definitive.

“If he had asked me to draw a line, one way or the other, I would have been happy to go and leave it at that. I wasn’t going to put out a statement anyway.”

The two-time All-Star also spoke of how he’d been finding life on the other side of the fence in his year watching Mayo from the terraces.

“It’s been different obviously,” he mused. “I’d say elements of it have been enjoyable. It’s been nice in a way too, first time since 2011, and even including Minor and Under-21 since ‘08 to be outside it, to step off that roller coaster for a bit and enjoy it a bit more and appreciate the skills that everyone's showing at the weekends and not be as intense and uptight.

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“When you're watching games, it could be two teams at the other side of the country, but if we’re still in the championship, you’re thinking ‘if we get one of these now, what am I gonna do?’

“It's nice to be able to breathe a bit.”