David Clifford says he has “a strong feeling” of wanting to get back and “right the wrongs” after becoming the first ever back to back Footballer of the Year.

The Kerry superstar, who was honoured at a PwC sponsored gala awards ceremony at Dublin’s RDS this evening, says he still has “a lot of frustration” at some of his misses in the final.

Fossa ace Clifford has had a season to remember and there may still be more to come with a county intermediate final this weekend.

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Clifford landed an All-Ireland junior title with his club back in January, and produced a series of stellar displays as Kerry qualified for the All-Ireland final, only to lose their crown to Dublin.

The East Kerry star hit two points from play in the final and gave a magnificent assist for Kerry’s goal.

But he also had a couple of second half misses that he’d generally convert as Jack O’Connor’s side lost by two.

However, he still did enough to earn the nod for Footballer of the Year from his inter-county peers, who voted from a shortlist which also included Dublin’s Brian Fenton and Derry’s Brendan Rogers.

“It's a nice honour and something that’s probably nice for your family,” said Clifford, who turns 25 in January.

“Maybe it's something you'll more so look back on at the end of your career.

“Ultimately, we didn't win the All-Ireland and that's all that will stick out from 2023.

“I wouldn't say the disappointment goes away. It's just that other things come to the forefront such as club games and work that takes your mind off it.

“But look, different things happen throughout the course of a week and you kind of get drawn back to it.

“So, ultimately the disappointment is still there and probably will always be there.

“But there's also a strong feeling of wanting to get back at it and right the wrongs of this year.”

Clifford continued: “If you ask any sportsperson about any part of their career, they'll probably remember the losses more.

“When you don't perform in a game or miss chances, as it was in my case, there's a lot of frustration with it, you know what I mean?

“A lot of frustration and there's nothing you can really do about it apart from keep working at it and keep practicing and try to be better the next day.

“The great thing about football is that there's always another game.

“There's always a club game, so you probably get plenty of opportunities to work on it in those games and in club training.

“It's probably how I got back at it. I just got back down to club training and playing the club games.”

Clifford says the Kerry team have met since the Dublin defeat but that it’s not the time to address whatever issues they had and how to fix them.

“We've had a couple of meetings here and there, but there's probably not a whole point of value in meeting as a team yet because you don't have the time to change it,” he said.

“When we get back at it as a group we'll be able to really try to address and work on things we need to.”

Earlier this year the Clifford family had to deal with the death of Ellen, the mother of Paudie and David.

“It's been a very tough year and it still is tough but I suppose you're just trying to go out and give your best and obviously for Kerry because that's what she would have wanted us to do,” said Clifford.

“She would have done everything for us. In terms of advice or talking about matches, that wasn't her thing.

“She always knew that we didn't want that from her and she didn't want to be that kind of a mother.

“I suppose it was the support she always gave us that was the big thing.

“No matter what we were doing, she would have always backed us.

“Even if we were wrong in different situations, we were always right in her eyes. So it was always great to have that sort of support.”

Fossa face Milltown/Castlemaine tomorrow in the Kerry intermediate final, and if they win they’ll have jumped two grades in two remarkable seasons.

“It comes down to the work that's been done at underage level in the club over the past 15 years or so,” said Clifford.

“There's a couple of people in the club who really put a huge emphasis on the underage structures.

“Numbers have risen too, and that has fed into our senior set-up.

“A lot of it also comes down to our senior management, Adrian Sheehan and the lads, and obviously bringing in Eamonn Fitzmaurice then was a massive help.

“Just I suppose in terms of bringing in a style of play that suits us. A style of play that makes us hard to beat.

“Then it comes down to the players, really, especially when myself and Paudie haven't been available.

“When they got promoted to Division 2 of the County League, a back to back promotion, that was a huge thing.

“The level the lads got to who aren't involved with Kerry or East Kerry, their level has come on an awful lot.

“But, look it, ultimately if we don't get over the line on Sunday, not a whole pile of that will matter.”

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