Profile: Colm “Wooly” Parkinson

Disappointments. 

Two matches stand out. First one was the minor final we lost to Ballylinan in ‘96. They were good back then and were amalgamated with Arles Kilcruise. I was captain that day and took the loss very badly. It was the only time during my career I cried after a game. I remember Billy Bohane putting his arm around me on the pitch during the trophy presentation saying ‘Don’t worry Wooly, you’ll win a lot more that they will’ … and he was right! Losing the All Ireland club final was heartbreaking. Again because I was captain and should have led the team but played badly. I kicked an easy chance into the goalkeeper’s hands in the last ten minutes, one I would get in my sleep. We lost by a point. I still think about that game a lot. I blame myself for the loss and always will. I think suspending me from all Portlaoise teams was a really petty decision. The suspension punished the Portlaoise intermediate team, who I was going to play for, more than me, and surely didn’t serve the best interests of the club.

Playing regrets. 

I think, in hindsight, going travelling after we won the Leinster in ‘04 is a regret. I trained when I was away and had three more weeks when I returned home before the semi-final so in theory it sounded fine. The problem was when I got back I tweaked my hamstring and couldn’t do the two hard week’s training I needed. It definitely affected my performance in the semi-final and the knock-on effect was a lack of confidence going into the final. Of all the stupid decisions I made during my football career that’s up there as the worst.

Best players played with. 

Ian Fitzgearld – he lost form towards the end of his career but at underage level he was unplayable. When we joined the senior team myself, Ian and Tommy Conroy led the team to a county title in ‘99 against all the odds, beating Stradbally, who were going for three in a row, in the semi-final. We also ended a ‘drought’ of 8 years without a county title. Myself and Ian ran a-muck again in the final ‘02 beating heavy favourites St Josephs. Back then Ian was the man and I was his sidekick. Those two finals mean most to me. They really put the club back on track after a poor decade of results. I think that’s often forgotten. We started winning finals easily after that.

Peter McNulty – Peter was fearless on the field. He was outstanding during our run to the All-Ireland final in ‘05 scoring some breath-taking scores off the outside of his boot from the sideline. He became a regular on the team that year and his confidence and personality really energised myself and the team coming off a few bad years. He is an incredible loss to the club on and off the field.

Cahir Healy. 

No explanation needed

Best players played against. 

Had a few good battles with Joe Higgins. Though he was an outstanding player and, unusual enough for corner backs I marked in Laois, he played the game fairly with no nonsense.