Former Donegal captain Michael Murphy has claimed that there was never a case of him doing a U-turn on his Donegal retirement after the return of his old manager, Jim McGuinness, this year.
The Glenswilly native was Donegal County captain since December 2010 until his retirement from inter-county football in November 2022.
This year, Murphy's old boss, Jim McGuinness, returned to take up the reins as Donegal's senior football manager. The pair won an All-Ireland together in 2012 and three Ulster Senior Football titles in 2011, 2012, and 2014.
There have been rumours of McGuinness and Murphy reuniting, but Murphy has once again put those rumours to bed.
"We chat a lot; we always do still chat a lot. We chat every couple of weeks, and since he came back in, that hasn't stopped," Murphy said at the GAAGO 2024 season launch at Croke Park this week.
"For me, it hasn't changed since day one when I made the call to retire. That was it; I was out. Just because Jim has come back, as much as there's loyalty there from me to him, and from me to Donegal, it still doesn't change in terms of the playing point of view.
Although he won't be returning as a player, Murphy did leave the door open for another role with his old team.
"Definitely, it was never a case of ever going back, and that's still the case now. I'll try to give to Donegal in another way. I'm heavily involved with my own club, and I'll get back involved with Donegal at underage now and give back in that way. No playing for me; it's job done 100%."
🗣 "It happens every now and then, where there's an excitement like this going into a year."
🗣 "There's a friendly coming up... and Facebook is buzzing."
Michael Murphy discusses the return of Jim McGuinness with @TomasORuanaidh. | 🏐@AIB_GAA | #TheToughest pic.twitter.com/DIG61dE5Du— Off The Ball (@offtheball) December 4, 2023
This year, Donegal had been going through turmoil off the pitch. The departures of former head coaches Paddy Carr and Aidan O’Rourke left the county in a state of disarray before McGuinness' return to Donegal this year.
Murphy has praised McGuinness for raising the "excitement" levels once again after last year's off-field issues.
"There were a lot of stories going on and a lot of negativity going around. In general, anyone you were meeting around the street was just down. It was a sad place to be around – Donegal - for the past year.
"Credit to Jim, he has put everything on the line. He's come in, he's grabbed it, he's taken it, and the excitement levels are back.
"You know things are going to be done well and done right, and the lads who are there will have the best opportunity now to push forward.
"I think it will bring excitement not just to Donegal, but to the game too. Knowing the man Jim is, he's an innovator. He won't be crying about rule changes; he'll be looking to try to find a way to work within the rules, and I just think it's great for the GAA in general."
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