His thoughts go back to the Market Green in Balbriggan.
“Playing three-and-in. Jumpers for goalposts. Pretending I was Joe Corrigan. And Paddy Cullen,” he laughs.
Paddy’s penalty save in the 1974 All-Ireland Football final against Galway was a moment in time.
“Even now when I see it on television, I get a lump in my throat. That save was so crucial in the story of Dublin football.
“Heffo’s Army. The Jacks Are Back. They had come out of nowhere. Paddy was such a hero to me.
“I am still in awe of him. I’m still like a 13-year-old around him. I met him recently at a lunch for the 1974 team. It was great to see him.
“A couple of years ago, he organised a gathering in Croke Park of Dublin’s All-Ireland-winning goalkeepers.
“Paddy O’Flaherty, Pascal Flynn, Paddy himself, myself and Stephen Cluxton. We had a meal at the Croke Park Hotel.
“I had never met Paddy O’Flaherty or Pascal Flynn before. It was such an enjoyable occasion.
“The five of us span such a long stretch of time from Paddy O’Flaherty’s All-Ireland in 1958 up to the present day.
“We didn’t come from big clubs – Paddy O’Flaherty (Binn Éadair), Pascal (St Mary’s of Saggart), Paddy Cullen (O’Connell Boys), Stephen (Parnell’s) and I was O’Dwyer’s.”
Back in ’74, O’Dwyer’s had two players on the Dublin team – Georgie Wilson and Stephen Rooney.
“They came back to Balbriggan with the cup and went around the town. That was massive.”
A few years before that, O’Dwyer’s won Division 1 of the Dublin Senior football league.
“That was a big deal. My father was a selector on the side.”
John would eventually play for the O’Dwyer’s seniors. “I played rugby before the football. I was a skinny hooker,” he grins.
“I first played football at Under-13 level. There wasn’t much juvenile football then.
“I began in goal, but when I was playing with Dublin, I played outfield for the club because my fitness improved so much from being with the Dubs.
“I enjoyed playing outfield. I think it helped my goalkeeping. It gave me a better awareness of the game.
Colm O’Rourke of has a shot on goal despite the best efforts of Gerry Hargan and goalkeeper John O’Leary of Dublin in the 1983 Leinster SFC quarter-final replay. Photo: Ray McManus/Sportsfile.
“With O’Dwyer’s, we played in Division 1 and Division 2. We did well in the old Fingal Championship.
“We got to the Dublin Senior Championship quarter-final in ‘96. Sylvester’s beat us and went on to win it.
“O’Dwyer’s will have their new clubhouse and pitches shortly. They will be top-class facilities, and it’s brilliant for the club.”
John was the pride of the parish when Dublin won the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship in 1979.
He valued the advice of the coach, Buster Leaney. “He said don’t let the ball go out of play if you can. That way you can immediately start an attack again.
“If you let the ball go out, you are then taking a kick-out. The opposition has time to re-group, and in those days, the kick-out would be aimed at midfield, so it would be a 50-50 ball. I used that advice all through my career.”
The following year he arrived home from his job in the bank in Wexford, looking forward to standing on Hill 16 to cheer on the Dubs in the Leinster final against Offaly.
“It was a Friday. There was a message to report to Parnell Park the following morning for training. Paddy [Cullen] had retired. Mick Kennedy was playing in goal. Mick became one of the great defenders.
“There were a couple of goalkeepers at the training. Among them was Mick O’Brien, who played for Athlone Town.
“I was named as sub. Mick Kennedy would be playing. On the Sunday morning, I met Tommy Drumm walking down Clonliffe Road.
“He asked, ‘Would you like to be playing today?’ I replied with the standard answer: ‘Of course, I would’. But I had no expectations whatsoever.
“Then in the dressing-room, Kevin Heffernan gave me the jersey and said: ‘You’re in today, John!’
“I think he didn’t want to tell me the day before in case I’d get too nervous. That was his way. He was such a brilliant thinker on the game.”
John’s parents were on the Hill. The first they knew he would be playing was when the team was announced over the tannoy.
A Dublin follower then turned to his mother and, not knowing who she was, said: “Who the hell is this guy, O’Leary?”
Down in the dressing room, Kevin Heffernan hadn’t said much. “Just simple instructions that never really changed over the years.
“Recently, I asked Tommy Drumm if he knew I’d be playing that day. He said he didn’t.
“Looking back now, I realise it was a case of him just being friendly to a young rookie.”
Offaly won by two points. Matt Connor scored the goal. He was the best forward John ever played against.
Kevin Heffernan’s mind was again working overtime in 1983. The All-Ireland semi-final replay against Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoímh.
John got a severe bout of food poisoning on the eve of the game. Kevin came up with a cocktail of brandy and 7-Up.
John was still feeling weak on the Sunday, but the perfect tonic was the sight of thousands of Dubs on the banks of the Lee.
“It was one of those days when you’d wish you were a fan because the atmosphere was just so good.
“When we arrived at the ground, we went out for a stroll on the pitch. The Dublin fans were singing to Barney Rock.
‘Barney, Barney, give us a wave,’ and we held up his hand and waved to the crowd.
“It’s amazing how relaxed we were back then. I was 22. It was fantastic. I was so lucky to have played with such wonderful footballers.”
Twelve years later, the Dubs won Sam again. John was the captain.
On that Sunday night, the County Board Chairman, John Bailey, arranged a Garda escort to take John back to O’Dwyer’s with the trophy.
“Nobody was expecting me. I went in the back door of the clubhouse. The place was packed. The DJ was playing the music when I came in behind him.
“It’s a night I’ll never forget. It meant so much. I felt so privileged to bring home the cup to the club where it had all started for me.
“I spent a bit of time there before returning to the hotel with Sam.”
John is a fan now. “I joke that I played with some of the players’ fathers – the likes of Bernard Brogan, Barney Rock, John McCarthy, Noel McCaffrey and Maurice O’Callaghan!
“It’s remarkable what Dublin have done in recent times. The culture that’s in the group. The management. The leaders on the field. It’s been an incredible life experience for all those guys.”
He has high praise for Dublin’s number 1. “I was a selector with the Dublin Under-21s and I remember Stephen starting off. It was his attitude that struck me the most.
“He brings so much to the dressing room in terms of his leadership and example. And what you see on the pitch is just phenomenal.”
John finished his coffee. He retired last year from the Permanent TSB.
He lives in Swords. He does some coaching at Fingal Ravens. He’s an ambassador for the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation.
He loves the scent of the summer days. He plays cricket for the famous Glasnevin Gravediggers pub in the Taverners League.
“It’s a marvellous sport. You can’t beat playing in the Phoenix Park on a Friday evening at 6 o’clock.”
He smiles as he remembers once more the Market Green in Balbriggan. Imagining that he was Paddy Cullen.
“Little thinking that I would replace him and play for Dublin for 18 years.”
The old Manchester City names come easily to him – Bell, Summerbee and Lee, Tony Book, Tommy Booth, Rodney Marsh.
“I used to collect all the cards and stick them in the album. That was a big thing for us back then.”
Over the years, many a young Dublin fan had the picture of John O’Leary on their bedroom wall.
