KEVIN FEELY hopes Kildare’s home comforts can banish the memory of a dismal year away from Newbridge.
The Lilywhites captain says they head into tomorrow night’s Leinster SFC quarter-final against Westmeath knowing that playing at their revamped headquarters gives them a “little bit of an extra energy boost”.
St Conleth’s Park shut for a major 18-month redevelopment in March 2023, but as it was improving, the team started to crumble on the field.
A horrendous 2024 campaign saw Kildare relegated to Division 3 of the NFL before a Leinster semi-final loss to Louth condemned them to the Tailteann Cup.
It got no better as Glenn Ryan’s homeless troops were knocked out of the second-tier championship by Laois at the quarter-final stage.
Ryan departed and was replaced by 2023 All-Ireland-winning Under-20 boss Brian Flanagan.
The only way was up and skipper Feely was delighted when their spruced-up home opened in October.
A pre-season friendly against Galway on January 7 drew almost 4,000 punters and Kildare’s players could feel the love.
That buzz helped get the Lilywhites to promotion back to Division 2 despite losing to Offaly in last month’s final.
And Newbridge should be buzzing as the Lake County visit tomorrow night, with both teams needing to make the Leinster final if they are to play Sam Maguire football.
Speaking in Newbridge, Feely, 32, said: “It’s made a bigger difference than I thought it would actually. The very first game we played here against Galway, a challenge match, and it was the most pleasant surprise actually with the atmosphere.
“The crowd that was there, the real sense of pride that it seemed like every player felt in having the facilities that we have now with the dressing rooms and the new stand and the bigger pitch . . .
“It was a bigger sense of pride than I thought it would be and that carried over into the league. It definitely seemed to give us that little bit of an extra energy boost in the league games we played here.”
Kildare secured commanding NFL wins over Fermanagh, Laois and Antrim on their own patch.
Feely added: “Undoubtedly our three home games were our three best performances in the league, so it’s been huge for us, I think.”
The Lilies and Westmeath are swapping divisions in the league next year with the Lake men having dropped down from Division 2.
Whoever wins tomorrow night will face Louth — also vying to stay out of the Tailteann — or Laois in the Leinster semi-finals two weeks later.
Aware it is a tough road to the provincial decider, Athy man Feely added: “Certainly the main ambition is to win every game and try and get into an All-Ireland series.
“But to say that it’s essential for us to be in an All-Ireland series when we know how competitive this Leinster campaign is going to be is probably going a little bit too far.
“It could well be that we end up in the Tailteann Cup and if we do, we just have to make sure we bring our best performance to that as well. We were fully deserving of being in Division 3 at the start of the year.
“We were at best a quarter-final team in the Tailteann Cup off the back of last year, which kind of tells its own story in terms of where we were starting off.
“But with our new management team, with a big squad change . . . it was a goal to get out of Division 3 and it’s a big step forward.
“Our ambition is to try to be in an All-Ireland series but in terms of our development and progression from last year, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if we do end up in the Tailteann Cup.”