Brick Moves Closer To Record Number Of Championship Appearances Total

It may have gone un-noticed to many on Saturday afternoon in Tullamore, but when Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh and the Waterford Senior Hurlers took to the field to play Offaly in the first round of the All-Ireland qualifiers, a little bit of history was been made.

The Stradbally man is a vital member of the Waterford set up since 2003 when he was invited into the panel by then manager Justin McCarthy as a twenty year old and since then has gone on to win three Munster Finals, two National Leagues and three All-Stars as well as playing in one All-Ireland Final while along the way served as the captain of the team for a number of years.

On Saturday afternoon last he became the player that has made most championship appearances for Waterford, pulling on the county shirt 66 times one more that Tony Browne who played alongside the Stradbally man for much of his inter county career.

The Stradbally man is currently third in line when it comes to most championship appearances, a position he shares with Kilkenny great JJ Delaney and only another Kilkenny great Henry Shefflin and Tipperary great Brendan Cummins with 71 and 73 championship appearances respectfully have played more senior championship games than the Stradbally man.

For a long number of year’s Rebel Hero from Yesteryear Christy Ring was the player that appeared in most championship games, lining out in the red and white of Cork on 65 appearances between 1940 and 1962, but with the Championship restructured a number of times in the last two decades, giving players even more chances to wear their county colours, players like Donal Óg Cusack, Frank Lohan, Davy Fitzgerald, Lar Corbett, Ben O’Connor and Eoin Kelly have all edged closer to the appearances made by the Cork great but only five players equalled or passed the appearances record that he held for so long.

While the Stradbally man is known nationally as a fine footballer, it’s worth remembering that he is an equally as accomplished as a footballer.

It was in football that Michael or Brick as he is known to Gaelic Games supporters first got his big chance to play with Waterford, playing in the Minor and Under 21 grades for Waterford, helping the Déise County to win an Under 21 Football Championship in 2003 beating Cork and Kerry en-route but failed to get past the All-Ireland semi final.

In this time he managed to line out on two occasions for the Waterford Senior Football team between 2002 and 2003.

He made his Munster Senior Hurling Championship debut that same year, coming on for Tony Browne against Kerry. The following year he won the first of his Munster Final medals, beating Cork in the final but were knocked out of the All-Ireland Championship against Kilkenny.

In 2007 he was captain of the Waterford team that had possibly its best year in recent years, as they beat Kilkenny in the National League Final at Thurles and a few weeks later he captained Waterford to beat Limerick in the Munster Final. Waterford however would lose out to the same opposition in the All-Ireland semi final, where they played three weeks in a row, something the Shannon-siders did earlier in the same year to get past Tipperary in the Munster Championship.

After he completed his primary and secondary education locally, he went to Waterford Institute of Technology where he won Fitzgibbon Cup titles in 2003, 2004 and 2006 while studying Business and Finance at the college.

For many when they finish their playing career it is what they managed to win at club level, playing alongside those that they grew up with, those that they looked up to growing up and those that looked up to them is what matters most, and when the Stradbally man hands back the Red and White shirt for the last time he can do so with some pride.

Since the turn of the millennium Stradbally are the dominant football team in the county winning an impressive nine county senior football titles since 2001, with Ballinacourty and The Nire the only other clubs to win the Conway Cup in this time.

He was part of an impressive Stradbally outfit that won five Conway Cups in a row between 2001 and 2005 inclusive.

When The Nire and Ballinacourty shared the next three titles between them, some would have wondered if the Cove Men would come back and add to their roll of honour. With Walsh still part of the set up this is exactly what they did winning back to back titles in 2009 and 2010.

They failed to retain the title in 2011 but won it back again in 2012. The Nire and Ballinacourty shared the next two titles, before Walsh and Stradbally came back in 2015 to win what some might claim to be their most controversial win, as they were asked to play the County Final on a Friday night and were asked to take on the Cork champions less than twenty four hours later in the Munster Club Championship at Fraher Field.

Walsh and Stradbally will be looking to add to what they have achieved in recent years later on this year.  They safely got through the first round of a new look Senior Football Championship some months back now and in the draw for the second round they were pitted with the 2016 champions The Nire.

The result of Saturday evening game will determine when Stradbally will play that big game. If Waterford win it will be put back about a month at least, while if Waterford were to lose it could be played much sooner, but depending on how much of a rest those involved with the senior inter county panel will be given before they are back in action with their club sides.