Football legend O'Connell ready to spill Royal Blood!

 Martin O’Connell become one of the best players to pull on the green and gold jersey of his native Meath, eventually becoming an integral part of the great teams of the 1980s and '90s. His story is contained in his autobiography - 'Royal Blood' - that will be officially launched this evening at the Headfort Arms, Kells, 7.30 - and there's an open invitation. 

O'Connell won three All-Ireland SFC medals in 1987, ‘88 and ‘96, four All-Star awards and ended up on the An Post/GAA Football Team of the Millennium - the only Meath man to do so - but there was a time when it looked like his inter-county career was over before it had even started in earnest. 
In 1987 O’Connell withdrew from the Meath panel confused and frustrated by the fact that he was continually played as a forward when his natural ‘home’ was as a back. 
Eventually manager Sean Boylan called him up, brought him back into the team and selected him as a half-back where O’Connell blossomed. The St Michael’s clubman became one of the great half-backs in the history of Gaelic football with his place in the pantheon of great players underlined with his selection on the Team of the Millennium along with the likes of Kevin Heffernan, Pat Spillane and Mick O’Connell. 
O’Connell’s account of how he departed from the Meath panel only to return and play an integral part in helping the Royal County become one of the superpowers of Gaelic football in the 1980s and ‘90s is told in his autobiography ‘Royal Blood - The Making of a Football Legend.’
The book is published by Hero Books (run by O’Connell’s former team-mate Liam Hayes) and the launch will take place this evening at the Headfort Arms, Hotel, at 7.30pm. Both O’Connell and Hayes emphasis that the launch is an open invitation event to all those who want to show up. 
The book is ghostwritten by David Sheehan of LMFM and during the course of the narrative O’Connell explores various aspects of his life and career from the days as a youngster when he dreamed of pulling on the green and gold jersey to those occasions when he performed before huge crowds as he and his colleagues went in search of glory. 
O’Connell says he took “a month or more” to think about it when he was first approached by Hayes with the idea but then he decided to go for it. “Doing the book brought back a lot of memories, I had a lot of different accounts put away, old Meath Chronicle papers and different reports from papers my mother had,” he recalled. 
“David Sheehan had other reports and they all helped to refresh my mind from my playing career. It was interesting when you start looking back on those days.” 
One of the aspects of his career O’Connell focuses on is that time when he took himself off the panel. 
“I spoke about that in the book and I said it was something I always regretted and I was glad Sean called me back in. 
“I touch on a lot of stuff like that in the book, growing up in Carlanstown. I think it’s a good book, Liam read it, I read it, David Sheehan is happy with it. The parts that didn’t sound too good we worked on and went over it again so hopefully people will find it a good read.”
Meath County Council are to acknowledge the enormous contribution made by Martin O’ Connell prior to the launch this evening. Cllr Wayne Harding Cathaoirleach of Meath County Council indicated the launch will be an ideal opportunity to acknowledge O’Connell’s contribution. 
“It will be an honour to be part of the occasion as Martin is a legend of Meath football and a gentleman both on and off the pitch has given great service to his county,” Cllr Harding added.