13 YEARS ON from making his junior international debut for Ireland, James Walsh is going out at the top.
Gerry Smith’s team clinched the Quadrangular Tournament in Limerick back in October with the evergreen defender winning Player of the Tournament.
The Cashel native, who is the country’s most capped player at that level with 80 appearances, this week announced that he is stepping away from the international game.
“It’s time for someone else to come along,” Walsh told TheScore.ie. “I’m 13 years in it. We won the Quadrangular so it was a natural place to go.
“To be honest with you, the minute I started talking about it they knew I had made my mind up. I had decided last summer but I didn’t announce it until I met Gerry a few weeks ago.”
The 37-year-old began his schoolboy career with local club Cashel Town but at 15 moved to St Michael’s — where he has been ever since.
At club level, he has several league medals, two FAI Youth Cups, three Munster Junior Cups and four FAI Junior Cup runners-up medals having been on the losing side in 2000, 2002, 2010 and 2011.
It hasn’t been all plain sailing, however, and Walsh missed a large chunk of football after being unfortunate enough to suffer THREE leg breaks over a four-year period.
It took awhile to get back in terms of confidence,” he explains. “Just having the confidence to go into tackles and that.
“All of my youth football was in midfield and even when I broke into the first team I played there the whole time. It was only 99/00 that I actually reverted to centre-back and I’ve been playing there since.”
The IT consultant was first called up the Ireland set-up in 1999 but didn’t make his debut until two years later in a friendly against Northern Ireland at Richmond Park, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Ever since, Walsh has been one of the first names on Smith’s teamsheet and puts winning the Quadrangular up their alongside a runners-up medal in the 2011 European Championships as his international highlights.
Fitness-wise he feels as fresh as ever but the balancing act of fitting an amateur football career in around work and family life has worn him out.
“It was more personal life and commitments with work. Going away with Ireland is all about trying to get time off and fitting things in. I travel an awful lot and am often abroad and that kind of got to me.”
Looking ahead, he has got an international testimonial in the pipeline as well as a few more years with St Michael’s.
I’ll keep it going. This year we’re still fighting on all fronts in terms of the competitions we’ve entered. So I’ve a couple of seasons left in me all going well.”
St Michael’s is also the former side of Ireland international Shane Long but surely Walsh’s achievements and longevity make him an even bigger club legend?
“Shane is a great lad in fairness. Let’s put it all in perspective — I’m an amateur footballer, he’s a professional player playing Premier League football so he’s definitely our number one!”
