‘I hate bullies’ – Actor Brendan Gleeson reveals he once ‘clocked’ another player in football match

Oscar-nominated actor Brendan Gleeson has revealed how he once “clocked” someone on the Gaelic football pitch as he recalled his time playing as full-forward for St Finian’s GAA in Dublin.

The Banshees of Inisherin and Braveheart star was speaking to the Second Captains Saturday on RTÉ Radio 1 on Saturday. 69-year-old Gleeson appeared on the show to compete for the unofficial award for Non-Sportsperson’s Sportsperson 2024.

Previous guests include Conan O’Brien, Malcolm Gladwell, Aisling and Hollywood star Michael Sheen, who earned the title last year.

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Discussing his life as a sports fan, Gleeson spoke about supporting the Dublin football team, saying that they were a big part of his childhood.

“My brother Barry ended up playing with Parnells and he was a big Gaelic fan and he brought me to Croker, I think around 1958.

“That was what I was brought up with but in primary school there was a fantastic Chistian Brother there who took me in different directions. He had a choir which I really loved singing in harmony with and he’d put on concerts and that took me away from the football, it was in the background, I may have played with the juniors but I wasn’t really all that fussed.”

The Dubliner also told the show that his Gaelic football career, during which he played full-forward for St Finian’s GAA club in Swords for seven or eight years, included “great craic”.

“I was a lover not a fighter for the most part, but there were a couple of incidents,” he said, laughing as he recalled “clocking” a competitor on the pitch during one match.

“It was really funny. I remember hitting a fella in the face in Portmarnock entirely by accident because he was hanging onto my jersey and I swung back – and I had been a great advocate of fair play.

“I was never in dirt really – anyway, I swung back to free myself and the jersey and I absolutely clocked him straight in the nose. I frightened the poor fella and he was afraid to come near me, and it was a pure accident, I swear, I didn’t mean to do it.”

Gleeson admitted on the show that he had “no interest in fighting on a football pitch”, but said it was where he had learned “to stand up for yourself”.

“I hate bullies, I really do. I always have… the lessons of sport definitely helped me to stand my ground a little bit. So I’m grateful for that,” he said.