IN the period of Connaught football between Galway's All-Ireland wins of 1966 and 1998, a host of stars stood tall in all five counties.

While All-Ireland success was missing, players of the caliber of Dermot Earley and Eamonn McManus of Roscommon, Willie Joe Padden and Liam McHale of Mayo, Sligo's Mickey Kerins and Mick Martin of Leitrim all had distinguished careers over long periods.

Galway also had some players that ploughed long in often painful furloughs in that time, with Gay McManus, Val Daly, Tommy Joe Gilmore and Tom Naughton springing to mind.

The players lucky enough to join the three in a row squad and play with that brilliant team were Jimmy Duggan, who was called up after tremendous displays for St. Jarlath's and played for Corofin, despite his having been born in Mayo, and Liam Sammon from Fr. Griffin Road in Galway City. Both won All-Ireland medals in '66 with Duggan at number eight along side Pateen Donnellon, while Sammon was at corner forward.

Sammon went on to play in a further three All-Ireland finals with losses against Offaly in '71, 1-14 to 2-8, Cork (with a boy wonder Jimmy Barry Murphy) in '73, 3-17 to 2-13. Before, Dublin with Heffo's Army defeated them in '74, 0-14 to 1-6.

He holds seven Connaught Champion-ship medals as well representing his province in Railway Cup Competition and UCG in Sigerson Cup. He won all-stars in '71 as a midfielder and '73 at number 12.

An outstanding footballer, he has four county medals with Fr. Griffin's. In the first year of the All-Ireland club championships, Fr Griffin's did not play in the semifinal against Bryansford of Down after they won the Connaught Champion-ship 2-9 to 1-10 over Castlebar, due to Sammon's unavailability. He was in San Francisco for all-star exhibition against Kerry.

That was not his only visit stateside as he also played as a weekender for, as he said, "The Gaels" Connemara.

An outstanding CV for his career, Sammon took time to speak to the Irish Voice from Ireland last week to discuss the upcoming trip to New York, and also a look back at the year gone by and some highlights of his career.

Sammon was clearly looking forward to the trip to New York to defend the Connaught League title, while also already thinking of the task in hand in the championship next year.

While Tyrone will naturally start as favorites for the Sam Maguire in 2009, there are five or six counties that would definitely be looked on as serious challengers to the title, with Galway ranking alongside Kerry, Cork, Armagh and Dublin as legitimate candidates.

EK: You have an All-Ireland medal and played in four finals. Some recollections.

LS: Jimmy Duggan and I were extremely fortunate to join the three in a row side side. They were an outstanding team. It was a side that was broken up far too soon. I still regret that some of the players from the seventies didn't get an All-Ireland medal. Some of the preparations in the seventies hurt our chances in those finals.

You played in New York in '67 and after that. Yes, I played with the Gaels as a weekender in the seventies, some of the other lads were here also, Tommy Joe Gilmore. It was really about the trip for Galway in '67. That was a brilliant New York team, however, with some top class players. A lot had played inter county before they left.

What do you think of the New York team today and the challenge on Sunday?

I don't know much about the side but I am sure that the home pitch advantage will help them. Any time you play a team on their sod it has to help.

Our itinerary is still not set in stone, but we definitely want to bring the FBD cup back with us.

Galway had a successful year this year, pushing Kerry all the way.

While we played well against Kerry, the result at the end was not good enough. To lose means the year was not a success. There is very little between the sides, however, and it bodes well for the future.

The county board gave me three years as manager with a review each year; this year was a step in the right direction. We will have a couple of sessions before departing for New York with next year's under-21s involved as well. Some clubs are still in county championships, but most of the players will be involved.

Who are a few players that stood out over the years?

Recently Dara O'Shea has been outstanding for Kerry for over 12 years. A tremendous career that is not over yet. Michael Donnellon retired too early but he was hurt by injuries. He was a huge loss to the county. Michael Meehan had an outstanding year this year, and the display by Sean Kavanagh in the All-Ireland was fantastic.

Coaching is a huge part of your life now with a couple of coaching manuals in publication and available in Elvery's in Galway.

I had a great opportunity with the first Ireland representative teams in '84 and '86. I have also been involved in the schools and underage over the years, while also being part of Galway senior team staffs. It has changed a lot over the years.