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Kieran Cunningham

Derry vs Donegal: Rory Gallagher - Gaelic football's ultimate 'outsider'

There aren't any posters of Rory Gallagher on the walls of the homes of GAA purists.

To them, he is everything the GAA shouldn't be. To them, it's all about your own club, your own county. The pull of home.

But Gallagher has played for two different counties - his native Fermanagh and Cavan. He has managed three too - Donegal, Fermanagh and Derry.

And he has played club football in Dublin and Antrim to boot.

Read more: Our expert panel give their verdict on the 2022 Ulster Final

It all adds to the impression that Gallagher is the ultimate outsider. And it's beyond dispute that he always had an outsider's mentality, seeing the football world differently to others.

Fermanagh have never won an Ulster title, but Gallagher grew up dreaming of doing it, and convinced it was possible.

"I'd think about us winning the All-Ireland, even, when I was 13 or 14. I was very naïve, didn't think that wouldn't happen with Fermanagh."

When, inevitably, his team fell short, he didn't hold back - and there were a few managers who felt the heat of his tongue.

He had talent to burn - and still holds the Ulster Championship scoring record, scoring 3-9 in a win over Monaghan.

He won an All-Ireland club title with St Gall's in Belfast and a Leinster club with St Brigid's of Dublin.

Indeed, Gallagher enjoys the rare distinction of being the subject of an in camera Dublin County Board meeting.

When he was burning it up with Brigid's, Dublin were badly lacking up front - especially when it came to free taking. That meeting discussed the pros and cons of asking Gallagher to wear sky blue.

Gallagher is an outsider in Derry, but he is on the brink of delivering their most memorable season in 24 years.

They have already taken the scalps of All-Ireland champions Tyrone and another Division One outfit in Monaghan. Tomorrow, they face Donegal, a county Gallagher managed - and he was assistant boss to Jim McGuinness when they won the All-Ireland 10 years ago.

"I probably do see things differently. I never had any intention of living locally in Fermanagh and didn't enjoy the level of ambition that was in Fermanagh,'' he said.

He has brought that ambition to Derry, who haven't won an Ulster title since 1998. Would that rank ahead of Donegal's All-Ireland win to Gallagher, given that he's a number one now?

"Definitely not. Winning an All-Ireland is where you want to be. I get amazed at journalists asking that kind of question,'' he said.

"If you watch the Michael Jordan documentary, the players are number one, but it's a collective effort - with players and management and the backroom.

"I would certainly feel that winning on Sunday would be brilliant but winning an All-Ireland is a hell of a lot better."

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness and assistant manager Rory Gallagher back in 2012 at Donegal's home-coming after winning the All-Ireland. (©INPHO/Donna McBride)

There would be personal satisfaction in beating Donegal, though - as Gallagher had a bitter parting of the ways after a couple of years as manager, but that would be a qualified satisfaction.

"I'd definitely not take more satisfaction from beating those Donegal players. There's no doubt that there were others - not the players - who were making life difficult for us in Donegal,'' he said.

"I would have no real respect for them, so to beat them would be nice, but it's certainly not the be-all and end-all.''

Gallagher has always been a football obsessive.

Growing up, he travelled regularly to club championship games in Donegal, Derry and Tyrone - as well as playing in his native Fermanagh.

Video analysis of his own team or future opponents has never been a burden, as he loves watching football.

It makes you wonder, though, what he makes of his own persona on the sideline when he watches games back.

One prominent former intercounty manager described Gallagher as ''the biggest mouth I've ever come across on the line''.

Gallagher is unusually animated on the GAA scene - like Jurgen Klopp on steroids.

Away from the pitch, he's a much calmer man, so does he recognise himself on game day?

"Unfortunately, yeah. It's just the way it is. If some opposition get wound up by it, that's their business,'' he said.

Gallagher, like Brian Cody, has a habit of spitting into his palms and rubbing them together when immersed in battle - a gesture typical of rural Ireland, but it's another that gets some backs up.

"Ah, it's a personal choice. When you're coaching as long as I have been, you're going to trample on a few toes.''

Derry Manager Rory Gallagher celebrates their Ulster SFC victory over Monaghan. (©INPHO/John McVitty)

The empty stands during lockdowns meant TV mics picked up Gallagher's methods on the sideline.

He is very vocal. There is a constant stream of instruction and commands.

"I made the decision to coach during games. It's very intense, the whole day of it,'' he said.

"It's almost a contradiction in that you're telling the boys to stay calm, to be calm in making decisions, but we also want to bring a ferocious amount of intensity on the day. But that intensity is controlled intensity.''

At some point, many bought into the idea that the ideal for managers was Jim Gavin, as inscrutable as Buddha on the line.

That was never going to chime with Gallagher's personality.

"Everybody's different. I remember having a conversation with Jim after we played Dublin in a challenge game with Fermanagh,'' he said.

"I mentioned to him about the hunger of his more experienced players in a nothing game at the end of January. He just said 'well, my job is a lot different to yours'.

"So he had a different way of stimulating his players. He had a ferocious level of competition, and they were unbelievably well coached and managed. If you didn't perform, he'd get someone else to do it.

"We weren't blessed with that, we aren't blessed with that in Derry so we have to get every last ounce out of our players."

In last year's League, Derry hammered Fermanagh by 19 points and there were grumblings in his native county at Gallagher's animated celebration of the Oak Leaf's fourth goal on the day.

"I think I remember our fourth goal being a brilliant goal, actually. If there was a celebration, it was because of that,'' he said.

"If you want the truth, there was an individual that was involved at the time who was talking about changing the way Fermanagh played from my time. Maybe I was having a private laugh." An outsider's laugh.

Read more: Derry vs Donegal: TV and live streaming info for the 2022 Ulster Senior Final

Read more: Tyrone call up trio of U20 stars to senior squad ahead of Armagh showdown

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