'I Snapped Back': Why Conor Mortimer Lost A Minor Season With Mayo

Former All-Star Conor Mortimer has revealed a previously untold story from his underage inter-county career that saw him dropped from the Mayo minor Gaelic football panel in 1999.

Mortimer was a sporting prodigy from a great Mayo footballing family. He was in the reckoning for selection for the Mayo minors for two years but missed the 1999 campaign after exchanging words with a Mayo selector.

Speaking on Electric Ireland's Minor Moments podcast Conor Mortimer revealed how a falling out with a member of the Mayo management team cost him his place on the panel. Mortimer goes on to reveal how he watched the All-Ireland minor final between Mayo and Down from the stands in Croke Park.

1999 was a frugal year for me because I was on the international rules panel in, the U17s international rules panel that toured Australia and I came back from that tour before the second league game against Sligo if I recall, it was on a Wednesday night down in Enniscrone, I played that and then played Galway in the league final a week later.

I was marking a fella who was on the trip with me from Galway, Michael Comer and we were chatting away for a minute or two and one of the selectors kind of said something to me when I was playing in terms of "be quiet" or "shut-up". Me being me as a young fella I snapped back and I didn't get a call for the minors after that.

In that particular year they played Down in the All-Ireland final and I watched that in the Canel End that year.

Conor Mortimer returned to the panel the following year as Mayo lost another All-Ireland final this time to Cork.

It was different for a young fella, when you're 17/18 and you're not being asked to train or play, it's a little bit different when you get a little bit older.

It certainly shaped me moving forward because I came back the following year with a point to prove but I think that's the nature of sport, there's up and downs. When you're playing u16 and coming into minor and u21, you're on a comfortable confident wave up the way but when you get a little bit of a knockdown, you don't train for the knockbacks. You become an adult fairly quickly when you come out of minor.

When Mortimer was approaching senior level he was faced with a choice between pursuing Gaelic football or soccer.

Despite favouring soccer, Mortimer opted for Gaelic football and along with his brothers Kenneth and Trevor he wore the green and red jersey.

I went with GAA, all my family had played and I was doing alright at underage and on county teams. I prefer soccer to this day, I prefer playing it. Was I good enough to play at the highest level? No, every player thinks they are but in reality, you're obviously not. The point of it was I came to 17/18 and if I wanted to really push on and have a career in senior football it was one or the other. I couldn't keep balancing. Eventually I just went and played Gaelic and was quite happy with what I did.

Mortimer's intercounty career ultimately came to an end when he left the Mayo senior panel having been dropped from the starting fifteen for the 2012 Connacht final. He left having won an All-Star in 2006 and as Mayo's top scorer in championship football, a record since taken by Cillian O'Connor.