Seamus Coleman's phone call that helped Galway star Paul Conroy on road to recovery from double leg break

One of the greatest days for the Galway footballers in recent years was a dark one on a personal note for one of the Tribesmen's stalwarts.

During the Westerners' Super 8s win over Kerry at Croke Park in July, 2018, Paul Conroy went in for a 50-50 ball with Sean O'Shea.

What initially seemed an innocuous incident left its mark on the Galway midfielder.

Conroy broke both of his legs, which resulted in him relying on a wheelchair for the ensuing weeks. He would not return to his teaching job until the following January, and did not feature for Galway again until 2020.

The road to recovery was a difficult one. But one phone call did offer him encouragement, and remind him there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Republic of Ireland and Everton soccer star Seamus Coleman had just been through a similar journey, having suffered a broken leg during a World Cup qualifier against Wales in March 2017, an injury that would rule the Donegal native out of action until the following January.

"I was 29 at the time," Conroy reflects on his double leg break.

"Some people would say, 'You'll find it very hard to get back', and you try to stay away from them type of people.

"You try and stay with the people who have the experience. At the time, I remember talking to Seamus Coleman, he gave me a ring because he had a similar injury. Things like that help you along the way."

Coleman, who is a first cousin of Dublin manager Dessie Farrell, is a keen follower of Gaelic games. Conroy had no previous connection with the Premier League star, other than going through a similar experience, but the Donegal native reached out to him.

"He [had] seen it in the media and he gave me a ring, which was brilliant. He reached out to me on Instagram and he gave me a shout and offered his support," Conroy said.

"I was well impressed with that, I've been shouting for Everton a bit since!

"David Nolan, he would have played for Connacht Rugby and he did the same thing.

"It gives you comfort to talk to people who have recovered from it because they can give you a lot of advice, you know, whether it's going into the sea after a couple of weeks or a couple of months and Seamus Coleman was the same. He left himself open there for questions.

"You kind of wouldn't expect it off a professional footballer even though I don't know why you wouldn't expect it but, you know, you'd just think that they wouldn't reach out to someone in the west of Ireland, but fair play to him."

I was well impressed...You wouldn't expect it off a professional footballer.

Galway eyeing a return to the big time

Conroy has worked his way back to the top level, and, at 32, he remains a key member of Padraic Joyce's plans.

He hit 1-2 in the recent win over Down, as they have made a storming start to their Division 2 campaign in the hope of bouncing straight back from last year's shock relegation.

Although the St James' club man acknowledges the top flight is "where it's at", he says there are advantages to playing in the second tier.

"Sometimes I think depending on the age profile of the panel, and the experience of the players, sometimes maybe Division 2 can be a good place to get some experience," he said.

"Instead of marking a David Clifford or a Con O'Callaghan in your first game, you might get some more experience as a corner back, marking someone not as on-fire at the minute as the likes of them lads.

"We're playing Mayo in weeks now. Momentum is really important. It's very important, the league. There's probably more emphasis on the league this year. And you want to be getting a bit of momentum, find your strongest 20 players, and see what works best for you."

And despite their springtime campaign being away from the limelight of Division 1, Galway are nonetheless eyeing a long summer campaign after enduring two frustrating seasons.

"Pre-Covid, we were playing really good football," he added. "I think any managers that took over teams in the last two years, it has been very difficult because you didn't have the access to players.

"We lost to Mayo in 2020 I think by a point in the Connacht final and they went on to the All-Ireland final and lost to Dublin. Lost to Mayo in last year's Connacht final, we had a very good first half - were five points up at half-time, then in the second half they hit us for two goals and we didn't recover.

"So it has been frustrating, yeah, but you just have to look forward because if you keep looking back we won't go anywhere, so that is what we are trying to do now."