time was when he juggled two teams in the air . . . but a couple of decisions had to be made at the back end of last year. Easy calls as it turned out.

Leaving Sligo Rovers was a wrench but it wasn't rocket science at the same time. A new manager came in and wanted a completely full-time set-up; McNamara had been part-timing it for a few years pretty successfully, fitting it around his permanent job in financial services. It was a no-brainer. "There wasn't a decision there for me to be honest. I was never going to be able to go full-time with the soccer, it's too big a risk just for the sake of a couple of years maybe and the money isn't there anyway."

That second decision wasn't long coming either, heading back to the Gaelic variety of football. He'd been at that crossroads before and went the other way. McNamara was part of the Sligo football panel in 2002, played championship football in 2003 and 2004 and there were a couple of non-stop years where football and soccer rolled into one long 12 months of action.

Summer soccer came along and made a choice inevitable.

"I was probably a bit disillusioned with the football at the time, " he explains, "I felt I was being shifted around positions and wasn't settling in anywhere. So I said I'd give the soccer a go, there was a feeling we were going places at the time."

He was right too. McNamara was made captain of Sligo Rovers at the start of 2005, lifted the First Division trophy and was voted on to the PFAI team of the season.

Last season they finished fifth in the Premier Division, reached an FAI Cup semifinal. All going swimmingly until manager Sean Connor upped and left and then it all ended rather suddenly. An enjoyable few years though he reckons.

"It's different to the GAA, it's a long season with games every week, you're kept ticking over and you can maybe go for a few drinks at the weekend. With the football there's the long build-up of training and then the championship. The culture was different too. I was living and playing with lads from Bosnia, the US, and from around Europe at Sligo Rovers. With the GAA it's all local lads."

And the similarities? Well, let's just say it's no coincidence that the 2006 Sligo Rovers centre-back became the 2007 Sligo Gaelic football centre-back. It's where he's always felt more comfortable and where the manager felt he had most to offer.

"I'd have played football up through the ages with Mark [Breheny] who's Tommy's brother and it'd have been at centre-back. And that's where Tommy would have thought I was most effective.

I was hardly going to come in dictating where I wanted to play but it was a relief to know he had the same idea. I'd prefer to be facing onto the ball anyway, to be able to see everything in front of me, as in the soccer, and the concept of it isn't that different."

There were a few hairy moments early on when McNamara would be shepherding a forward Paul McGrath-like away from the supposed danger area only to have the ball belted over his head and over the bar. It didn't have to happen too often before he copped onto the need for a little more tightness and pressure on the ball.

And it's fallen into place now . . . form and sharpness got better as the league went on. Sunday brings Roscommon, a not altogether irrelevant foe as his Dad, Michael Snr, played football for them in the early 1970s. Interesting times in the McNamara house then? "Ah, in fairness, the father will be wanting Sligo to win on Sunday, but I suppose he can't lose either way. I've got all my uncles and everything from Roscommon so there'll be a bit of slagging alright."

Another subtle change from life at Sligo Rovers.

ROSCOMMON G Claffey; S McDermott, A McDermott, P O'Connor; S Daly, D Casey, R Dooner; S O'Neill, M Finneran; J Tiernan, G Cox, C Cregg; D Connellan, K Mannion, G Heneghan SLIGO P Greene; C Harrison, N McGuire, R Donovan; P McGovern, M McNamara, J Davey; S Davey, K Quinn; B Curran, M Breheny, E O'Hara; D Kelly, P Gallagher, A Marren CONNACHT SFC SEMI-FINAL ROSCOMMON v SLIGO Dr Hyde Park, 3.30 Referee J White (Donegal)