Liam Silke (25) Corofin and Galway footballer

At what age did you start playing? I started playing underage for my club when I was six.

Your first game? I don’t remember my first game, but it would have been a challenge against a local club.

Ideal position? Wing back as I have more freedom to get forward and more involved in the game.

Who inspired you? My uncle [Ray] and father [Brian] would have inspired me growing up as I would have seen them winning a lot with Corofin but as I got older and started paying more attention to what was going on on the pitch I would have watched a lot of Kieran Fitzgerald and Michael Comer along with the two Burkes Damien and Alan.

Did you also aspire to play at the top level? Like most people who play GAA I would have always aspired to play senior football for Galway, which I have been lucky enough to do for the last few years.

What do you particularly like about your sport? I love the thrill of winning and challenging myself against the best players in the game.

Greatest influence/role model? My greatest role model growing up was Declan Meehan. He was an attacking defender that I would have consistently watched when I was younger. He was also a selector when I was a part of the Galway U21 All-Ireland winning team in 2013.

Biggest challenge to date? Balancing college in Dublin with playing for Galway and Corofin. I’m in my third year now in Dublin and due to the success of my club and the elongated GAA calendar year, there haven't been many weekends that I haven’t been rushing up and down the motorway!

Greatest achievement? It has to be the three All-Ireland titles in a row with my club which we got this year. Getting to make history with people from my own club as well as two of my brothers is something that will be hard to top.

Favourite memory? Winning my first club All-Ireland with Corofin in 2015. I was quite young at the time and it was all a bit surreal.

Biggest regret, if any? I wouldn’t say I have any regrets, but I would like to have been involved when Galway beat Kerry in Croke Park and then played Dublin in the semi-final in 2018

Fiercest opponents? Kilcoo in the 2020 club final were my toughest opponents. They just never stopped playing their system and were extremely hard to break down.

Strengths/weaknesses? I think my ability to get involved in the attack when my team is going forward would be one of my strengths. One of my weaknesses would be shooting off my left foot. I wish I practiced more when I was younger and I’m trying to make up for lost time now!

If not Gaelic football, what sport would you want to play? I played a good bit of underage soccer when I was younger, so I would probably have continued to play that if it wasn’t for my football commitments.

Relaxation? I listen to music, read the odd book, and I like to watch TV shows, I’m currently watching Westworld.

Favourite sports person? Steven Gerrard.

Best/worst aspect of lockdown. Best aspect of lockdown is having more down time as I’m not too used to it with studying and sport, but I think I’ve had enough now. The worst aspect is there is no sport to play or watch and it's difficult to know whether it’s the weekend or not!

 

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