Bernard Brogan pays glowing tribute to brother Alan

Bernard Brogan has paid a glowing tribute to his older brother Alan following his intercounty retirement.

“Not everyone gets to write their fairytale. His is written in the stars,” says Bernard.

“It is a nice way to go (after winning All-Ireland and kicking late point). There is always the want to come back and try it again, but you don’t get to leave on such a positive note and he will always be remembered as a very special man the way he walked out.

“He has done it for 14 or 15 years. He was 19 when he went into the senior panel, he has been going at minor since he was 17, he has literally been doing it all his adult life so it will be a big shock for him.”

Bernard says that Alan inspired him to keep working on his game when he was finding it difficult to break into the Dublin team.

“Alan was the hero of the Hill, he was everything I wanted to be and he was there beside me.

“If he hadn’t been there, I probably wouldn’t have put in the commitment or the work to get up there beside him.

“We’ve travelled to training together for 11 years so it’s going to be a lonely journey, it’s going to be different.

“I would have always had him there to chat about ... we would’ve talked about strategies, game-plans.

“I would have bounced a lot of stuff off him. Alan would have been a good sounding board for management as well and they would’ve always got his insight because he knows football,” concludes Bernard.