“I wasn’t just happy to be part of the 26” – Alan Dillon talks retirement

One of the greats?

Think of a player that lives and breaths Mayo GAA. Andy Moran may be loved for coming back every year but Alan Dillon did the exact same. Time and time again when you thought he'd hang up the boots, Dillon came back roaring. He was on that undying pursuit of an All-Ireland title, a pursuit that only the toughest of hearts could take. Year on year they tried and failed but year on year Dillon came back. He came back for the cold winter training, the lifting of weights and the running that it takes to cut it at inter-county level. He came back to give his county his all. https://twitter.com/MayoGAA/status/935410634652602368 But at 35-years-old and finding playing time limited, the former captain decided to call it a day.

"I wasn’t just happy to be part of the 26," Dillon told Colm Parkinson in an enthralling interview on the GAA Hour.  "I always challenged myself to make an impact and to affect games and play some part. "This year was the year that I said to myself I’ve gone as far as I’ve gone and thanks a million for the ride. "You acknowledge that you need to take a step back and enjoy life and enjoy getting back to your club."

https://twitter.com/TheGAAHour/status/936276108215013376 It was a sad end to Dillon's career. They lost by a single point to three-in-a-row Dublin, but it wasn't the crushing loss that made the Mayo man call it a day. His mind was seemingly made up long before:

"I’d probably known for a while that this was probably my exit year and you say to yourself that you’ve gone as far as you’ve gone with this current team and once you’re happy with that decision and you make it I think it’s more or less a monkey off your back."

Every career will have their regrets. 'Did I train enough that year?' 'Why didn't I do this that year?' But for Dillon he'll leave with a clean conscience knowing he gave it his all over the years:

"I’m delighted now to say I’ve given it my all over the last 15 years and look back on it with some pride when I was in the twilight or in the peak of my career."

When the two-time All-Star announced his retirement on Tuesday he was flooded with tributes. Aidan O'Shea gave the best one of the lot:

"I'd be close to Alan," O'Shea said. "I work with him and he lives down the road from me as well. I've gotten very close to Alan over the last nine or ten years. "I was in Chicago with him a couple of weeks ago and he would have informed me then that he'd be making his decision. He let the group know this morning before the press release. "It's sad to see him go because he's obviously a really, really good footballer. I looked up to him as a young fella, got to play with him and now obviously a very good friend of his. "Classy player, one of the smartest players I've ever played with and a great passer of a ball, he always spotted things. A big loss to us, obviously gutted for him that we didn't get over the line while he was a part of the squad and it's just sad to see him go."

https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/935547814121279490 It's always going to be an emotional experience officially hanging up the boots, especially after putting in as much as Dillon did and it all became so much that he had to turn off his social media:

"You don’t really expect some of the messages from some of the players you would have played against and some of the players I played with. "It has kind of blown me away the last couple of days and probably never expected it and it’s nice to look back on. "It’s just about putting the process in place to pull the trigger and release a statement. "Once you find you’re at peace with it, I suppose at the start it gets a bit emotional but yesterday and Tuesday I got plenty of messages and that kind of stuff so I had to log out of a lot of the social media kind of things to get my head together." "You have to appreciate the support and goodwill messages and delighted that I made the decision now and I can just move forward."

You can listen to the full show below https://soundcloud.com/sportsjoe-gaa-hour/alan-dillon-jamie-barron-interviews-and-more-sense-from-the-cpa