Back in 2003, 19 years ago, Charlie Carter the captain of Kilkenny announced his intercounty retirement live on local radio.
Carter suffered a serious injury in 2002 which impacted his season as a whole. However, Carter looked to have been in good form for the new season after being nominated by Gowran to be the captain for the upcoming campaign. A strong performance from the bench against Tipperary in the national hurling league, salvaging a win for the Cats, seemed to ensure a place on the pitch against Dublin in the Leinster semi-final.
It was a comfortable win on the day but Carter failed to make an appearance during their 3-16 to 0-10 win over Dublin. That snub on the day was deemed the straw that broke the camel’s back, speaking to Eddie Scally on the most recent Clash Act Podcast, the All-Star outlined his thought process;
“It was building up for a while. I had been training hard, I was captain, and I had myself in good nick. I was coming to the end of my tether, I was 33 years of age, I knew I was not going to stay around forever, but I put in a savage effort.”
“It came to the league final, he did not pick me and that was grand. We were down a good few scores, I got brought on 10-15 minutes to go. We got the job done in the end, and I had played my part.”
“It came to Nowlan Park, the first championship match ever in Nowlan Park. The match went on, he (Brian Cody) brought on five subs, and I got left on the line. I said to myself I am going nowhere here. I just was not enjoying it.”
Talking things out can sometimes be the hardest thing do to, and with two strong characters now at loggerheads, something had to give. However, Carter seems happy with the fact he was the one that made the decision to walk away instead of being forced away;
“Brian does not do explanations. It did not finish on a good note, but I made the decision.”
“I had made up my mind, I left down the jersey, back where I got it. I went to the door, I went down the tunnel, and wasn’t there a bloody draft coming in the other door. So when I came out, the door slammed behind me. I nearly jumped myself. The reporters looked up and they had their headline.”
When asked if he had any contact with Brian Cody or even shared a pint ever with him since the Gowran man just laughed.
“You must be joking. If we passed each other, we might acknowledge each other and that is it.”
Listen to the full episode of the Clash Act with Charlie Carter below, or anywhere you do your podcast listening :
