Devastated Vivienne will be Leitrim’s number one supporter in Croke Park

Next Sunday is to be a great day for Leitrim Ladies football but it also promises to be a bittersweet day for Vivienne Egan as the injury stricken star misses out on the biggest day for the Green & Gold Ladies in almost two decades thanks to a devastating injury.

A key figure in Jonny Garrity’s side, the Annaduff player saw her season come to a shuddering halt when she ruptured her ACL during the Connacht Final in May, leaving her on the sidelines cheering on her teammates . Vivienne generously spoke to the Observer, putting aside her disappointment at missing out to share her thoughts on the big game. 

So first question, how is her recovery going? “It’s alright at the minute - I’m a month post up, it's coming on good. It was an awful thing to come to terms with. Absolutely devastated when I heard that it was the end of the season for me. Coming into summer is exactly the time you want to be playing football and to hear you are completely finished, it was devastating. But I suppose it always can be worse and the girls and everyone around me have been excellent to me. The worst part of it is over now. It's just a case of getting recovered and rehabbed, and I'll be back before I know it.”

At the time, Vivienne was so wrapped up in the drama of Leitrim’s 3-13 to 0-19 Connacht Final win over Roscommon and the celebrations afterwards, that she didn’t realise the severity of her injury but the reality soon hit home: “It was very innocuous, there was nothing in it. Went up to catch a ball, landed, came down, went to turn - that was it. Knew I had damage done, didn't think it was severe as it was, but unfortunately, it was the worst possible scenario.

“I totally ruptured my ACL, a grade three tear and did some other bits of damage, but that was  the guts of it. At the time, I  forgot about it and left it to one side because it was such a fantastic day. But Monday morning came and I knew I had a bit of damage done so then it was a case of getting an MRI done. It was 10 days after, I knew I was finished with the season so it wasn't the best outcome, but such is life.”

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Even in the midst of the trauma of the injury, an operation and missing out on Croke Park, Vivienne credits the support she has received from family, friends and teammates for helping her deal with it: “I learnt a lot of myself the last few months. The girls have been absolutely excellent, to be fair. I'm still at training, I'm still there, I'm still a part of it. 

“I can't be there in a playing capacity, but I'm there and they make me feel as much part of it as anyone else so in that regard, I'm very happy. But obviously, you'd love to be playing with all the girls but for now, I'm just gonna have to watch from the sidelines and be the number one supporter.

“I'm absolutely heartbroken but at the end of the day, it's not about me - it's about the team and I know I'm still a part of it. I know the girls feel so bad for me and I couldn't really ask for better support systems around me. I'm absolutely delighted for them and, God if, if we win, I'd be the happiest out of all of them, but it's obviously devastating to watch from on the sidelines.”

She may be injured but Vivienne hasn’t missed a training session or match where possible and when asked by the Observer if she was serving as  almost an auxiliary selector, she laughed, saying “Of course, yeah, just throw in my own opinion there - listened to I'd say!” before adding “The management has been excellent. Match Day is pretty much the same as it was, it is just that I can't play.”

Sitting on the sidelines is not easy! “It's a lot more nerve wracking sitting there watching, sometimes the way our girls do it, you don't want to be sitting on the sidelines! The semi-final was nail biting stuff, but at the end of the day, a one point win is better than anything - but sitting on the sideline watching that last two or three minutes wouldn't do anyone any good!”

Vivienne Egan pictured at the Tyrone game in June after her injury against Roscommon Picture: Willie Donnellan

Tyrone are a significant threat to Leitrim’s ambitions but Vivienne is fully confident the Ladies can get the job done: “Our girls, on their day,  can give anyone a run for their money, and  they'll be looking to back up that performance against Tyrone because it wasn't a fluke, it absolutely wasn't. 

“Tyrone mightn't have been expecting as big a battle as they got but our girls were exceptional that day - it was a fantastic game of football. We all know they can go out and play the exact same way. You just hope that, for everyone's sake, they do and there's a big performance coming again.”

That win over Tyrone earlier in the championship adds to the confidence but Vivienne points to the influence of manager Jonny Garrity: “The confidence has grown and that's a lot of that comes down to Jonny. He really instills a lot of confidence in the girls, he's excellent in what he does. He just tells the girls that, on our day, there's no one that can go out and play as good as us. 

“And to be fair, the girls have proved him right in every regard. There's been no one that on our day that will beat us and it's fantastic to see what a really, really supportive management team can do for a group of girls, because it's a small panel there but it's a really tight knit panel and it's just a great, great, great panel to be a part of.”

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Vivienne remembers travelling to Croke Park back in 2007 to cheer on Leitrim and hopes Sunday’s final will inspire future Leitrim stars: “It is a big deal. What 2007 is the last time and I remember being up there and like, thinking, wow. 

“Obviously the girls don't get as much press as the men and that's just the way it is and hopefully that's going to change, because they're every bit as good.  It is fantastic to be kind of the centre of attention in Leitrim for now and it's such a memorable day, it's fantastic.”

Asked if she thinks Leitrim can bring home the Mary Quinn Cup, Vivienne simply states “Absolutely, absolutely I think they can do.” Might she be tempted to break into a run once the final whistle sounds to mark a Leitrim victory, she laughs as she says “You never know - I’ll be nearly seven or eight weeks post op, I can surely be back running on a straight line anyway!”