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 Charlie Carter Kilkenny | | Sunday, 26th October 2003 |
© Copyright The Sunday Tribune.
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Regrets? Just a few.
By Enda McEvoy
Oct 26th 2003
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Charlie Carter. You’ll remember Charlie Carter. He lines out for Young
Irelands against O’Loughlins in the Kilkenny county hurling final at Nowlan
Park this afternoon, but that’s not really the bit you’re interested in, is
it? You want to know how he is, what way he’s feeling, where did he watch
the All Ireland final (if indeed he watched it at all), what regrets he may
or may not harbour, the might-have-beens he surely nurtures. The man who
lifted the National League trophy in May but wasn’t around to hoist the
McCarthy Cup in September.
Some thumbnail answers as follows. He’s in good form and can’t wait for
today’s match. (“O’Loughlins with their four or five Kilkenny panellists
against poor little Gowran with our one county man,” he jokes, erupting
into
a burst of laughter.) He watched the All Ireland final at home. He has
“very few” regrets over any aspect of his intercounty career. He is host to
one or two might-have beens, however. It would be astonishing if he weren’
t.
“It’s been a funny year. Hopefully it’ll finish on a good note. A year
that could have been great. But circumstances changed during the course of
it.” Ladies and gentleman, we have a winner for the Understatement of 2003
Competition.
The tenth of June, “a date I’ll never forget”, was the day Carter’s
earth
spun on its axis. By choice. His choice. He walked away from intercounty
hurling, “withdrawal of services” rather than “retired” being the term he
employs. He did so aware that Kilkenny were still good enough to win the
All
Ireland. The glint of silverware in the distance wasn’t sufficient to
persuade him to stay.
There’s one element of the episode he’s anxious to set straight. His
motivation for departing. “There seems to be this belief out there that I
packed it in because I wasn’t getting my place on the team. That’s totally
untrue. Or that I wasn’t prepared to settle for the role of impact sub.
That
’s also untrue. I was happy to settle for being an impact sub and coming on
in the last 10 minutes. But there was stuff going on behind the scenes that
I wasn’t happy about, stuff that I thought shouldn’t have happened.
“I’ve no interest in going into it. Other than that, I was happy enough.
I was pleased with how I was playing on the field when I got on the field.
But the intercounty scene is over for me now. I had enough of it. Read
whatever you like into the ‘it’. I’m just delighted to have a county final
to play in.”
By coincidence, Young Irelands were training that same night of 10 June.
Carter was present. The selectors asked him how he was and braced
themselves
for agony aunt duty. In the event, the conversation detained them for no
more than a minute or two. All water under the bridge, Carter said. “Let’s
look forward.” That was the end of it. Denis Philpott, the Young Irelands
coach, hasn’t mentioned the matter to Carter since. Carter’s form has given
him no reason to.
He hit seven points against Fenians in the county quarter-final last
month, popped up for two in the semi-final romp against
Graigue-Ballycallan.
“He’s been absolutely fantastic,” says Philpott. “As a clubman, as a
person,
everything. No fault to be found with him at all.” Well, maybe one fault.
Greed is good, the Young Irelands forwards are counselled Gordon
Gekko-style, at every training session; always go for your own point.
Imagine Philpott’s frustration, then, the Wednesday night before the
semi-final when Carter opted to pass a ball rather than take it on himself
and injured a hamstring in the process. It hampered him against
Graigue-Ballycallan. The subsequent healing process means it shouldn’t
hamper him today.
It was pragmatism, not pique, that drove him to watch the All Ireland
final – and the semi-final and the Leinster final – at home. “I didn’t need
the hassle. It would have been in nobody’s interest for me to be in Croke
Park.” The night before the game, DJ Carey received a text message wishing
him all the best on the morrow. The sender was his predecessor in the
armband. Carter.
The McCarthy Cup found its way to Gowran on the Tuesday evening. With a
few children carrying a giant cutout of Carey as outriders, a piper led the
triumphal procession from the village hall up the street to a reception in
the floodlit GAA field, a band behind him, then the Kilkenny players on a
lorry, then the masses following in their wake. Carter wasn’t forgotten in
the speeches. Carey mentioned him, the Young Irelands chairman Willie
Delaney mentioned him, Kilkenny GAA chairman Ned Quinn acknowledged his
part
in bringing back the National League silverware. And yes, Carter was among
the thousands present on the pitch, accompanied by his baby daughters.
Lining out in the Goal match at Nowlan Park the following night was the
final spoonful of medicine he was required to swallow. It slipped down
relatively easily. “I knew that was the night it was going to be over. Once
the Goal match is finished on the Wednesday night, the intercounty year is
over. I had no problem going in to the Park that night. The club had stood
behind me the whole year. I wasn’t going to let them down.”
Whether he would have come on in the last 10 minutes on 14 September had
he stayed is debatable. Most Kilkenny fans appear to believe so; Carter
himself isn’t so sure. Yet one doesn’t have to be a diehard Gowranite or
Carter loyalist to agree it was a shame for the player’s own sake that he
wasn’t a member of the cast, or even of the chorus line, last month.
“Kilkenny were winners and Charlie wasn’t,” as one Young Ireland clubman
accepts. “It was a terrible pity. Having hurled for the county at all
levels
for so long, this would have been his moment of glory. The only good thing
that’s come out of it from our point of view is that he’s been fierce
determined to do well with the club.”
An inventory of Carter’s personal treasure trove of honours backs up his
“very few regrets” claim. All Ireland senior medals in 1992 as a
non-playing
sub, in 2000 in the number 13 jersey and in 2002, when he came on midway
through the second half against Clare. All Ireland medals at minor,
under-21
and junior. Railway Cup success. Three All Star awards. Two county senior
titles with Young Irelands. Not forgetting this year’s NHL final. “Having
an
important part to play when I came on and getting to lift the cup, that
will
always stand out.”
Not forgetting either his 13 adult years in the black and amber, an
achievement he reckons will keep him warm to the end of his days. “That’s
something to be happy about, I think. And you have to be realistic as well.
You get the jersey off someone and at the end of the day you give it back
to
someone. You never own it. You’re only keeping it warm for the next lad.”
His popularity with his public will endure. Although no recent
intercounty forward boasted such a high scores-to-shots ratio, Carter’s
dash
and accuracy are only part of it. There’s his personability, his
bubbliness.
There’s his stature; as fans of Joe Deane or Tommy Walsh will confirm,
hurling folk take pride in finding a place in their hearts for a good
little
‘un sooner than they do for a good big ‘un. And there’s his permanent
visibility around the place, in business, at matches, at the dogs or the
races. “The bit of farming he does, an oul’ greyhound here, an oul’ horse
there,” says Philpott. “He seems to appeal to everyone.”
Nowlan Park this afternoon has its own appeal in the form of a clash of>the last two Kilkenny champions, a feature event replete with sideshows. O’
Loughlins, who won their first county title the year before last, have Andy
and Martin and Jimmy Comerford, whose father Tim just happens to be a
native
of Gowran, and Sean and Brian Dowling. Young Irelands, their successors as
champions, contain the All Ireland-winning captain, DJ Carey. And the All
Ireland-winning captain who wasn’t, Charlie Carter.
A very funny year for him. It may yet unspool a happy ending.
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