SIX months after her back operation in the summer of 2021, Niamh Cotter remembers standing in her surgeon’s office on Dorset Street that had a view of Croke Park and thinking that she would never play in GAA HQ again.
The Glengarriff woman was still in desperate pain with the back injury that had plagued her since early 2020, and the outlook wasn’t promising.
But this Saturday evening the Glengarriff woman will line out for her adopted club, Kilmacud Crokes, when they face four-in-a-row chasing Kilkerrin-Clonberne in the AIB All-Ireland Senior Club Championship final in Croke Park (5pm).
She’s back on the big stage – and it means a lot.
‘It’s been an awful long road,’ Cotter explains.
‘After the semi-final (against Castleisland Desmonds), I burst into tears. It was such a relief and such an emotional day.’
It’s been a remarkable turnaround for the former Cork senior: from contemplating never playing football again to scoring 2-4 in an All-Ireland club semi-final and winning the player-of-the-match award.
Niamh Cotter (right) and Niamh Carr celebrate the win.
Cotter is entitled to tears of joy, given the tears that have been shed since she suffered a back injury in a challenge game in early 2020. It was eventually diagnosed that she damaged the nerve root in the L5-S1 disc in her back – and it would cost her over three years of her football career, including ending her involement with Cork, last playing in the 2020 All-Ireland final loss to Dublin.
‘I ended up having to get two injections into my back, and unfortunately they didn’t provide enough relief so I had to get an operation. After the op in July 2021, it wasn’t plain sailing at all. There were a lot of complications,’ explains Cotter, who transferred from Beara to Kilmacud Crokes in 2020 after starting a Masters in European Law at UCD. These days, she’s a trainee Solicitor at Mason Hayes & Curran in the capital, set to qualify in January.
‘Between everything I was out of action for three and a half years, which was really draining,’ she adds.
‘A few years ago when I was coming back with the club, I would manage two weeks of training and I would have to stop again – the pain would just be too much. Thankfully, last year – touch wood – it improved. I spent three years rehabbing so that paid off and I was able to get a good run of games last year, and that continued into this season.
‘I am so grateful to be back playing. I’ll be honest, there was a time when I thought I wouldn’t get back. I’d say a lot of people thought that as well. To be back on the pitch and playing, it’s been great, and it means so much to me. A lot of people don’t make it back from a serious back injury so I’m very grateful.’
Cotter’s role in Kilmacud ladies’ march to their first All-Ireland club senior football final is a reminder of her talent – slotting into the half-forwad line, she is a central figure in the team bidding to end Kilkerrin-Clonberne’s dominance. Cotter scored three frees in the 1-7 to 1-6 Dublin county final win against St Sylvesters that clinched the three-in-a-row. There was 0-2 against Kildare outfit Eadestown in the Leinster final as, again, Kilmacud completed a three-in-a-row. Next up was the headline-grabbing 2-4 in the All-Ireland semi-final demolition of Castleisland Desmonds.
‘This is my fifth year with Kilmacud, and I think initially I was the most disappointing transfer in history!’ she quips, ‘because I spent the first three years on the bench.
‘I was just unable to tog out, but last season and this has been a huge turnaround. I don’t think I’d be back if it wasn’t for all the great people in the club; they have been so supportive. I’d count some of my team-mates as my best friends.’
Niamh Cotter receives the AIB Player of the Match award from Sadbh Sutton, representing AIB.
Now Kilmacud are getting to watch Cotter in full flight, and the former Cork senior will be key to their hopes of causing a shock in Saturday’s All-Ireland club final.
‘I never thought I’d be able to play in Croke Park again,’ she admits, ‘so I am incredibly excited for the game, and we have a big job to do.
‘We played them in the semi-final last year and brought them to extra-time (Kilmacud lost 0-15 to 1-10, Cotter scoring 0-3). We have to be at our absolute best to compete with them. They are seasoned champions, they know how to win and they have forced every other club in Ireland to raise their game. We are under no illusions about the threat they have, they have a running game that is difficult to stop, but that’s the challenge we are ready for.’
For Cotter, she has already won her biggest game: she’s back playing football with a smile on her face. An All-Ireland club title would be an added bonus, and the perfect early Christmas present for the Beara woman shining under the bright lights of the capital.
