His old man's duels with Kerry during the greatest rivalry of them all in the 1970s and his father's subsequent friendship with Jimmy Deenihan, the man who introduced him to his wife one night in a Kerry pub and who has stayed close friends ever since. There's a tangle of connections too thick to look past as his phones beeps loud on the table.

"It's one of my cousins down there texting me, " Alan says.

They'll hardly be changing colours will they?

"Well they won't, but they aren't slagging, they know better than that. They've just been wishing me good luck all week. My mam though, she's a converted Dub now so there's only one side she's going to be cheering for.

She's converted a long time ago at this stage."

Alan wasn't even born when father Bernard snr was winning an All Ireland in 1976. Nor was he around when Bernard snr came back from an oil rig off the south of France in 1977 just in time for the semi-final, left the bench and scored a goal in one of the great games of all time. "There was no way I was going to miss that one, " says Bernard snr. "We'd built up a rivalry with them at that stage and it's what made summers special. We knew we were going to end up playing them season after season and we all knew each other so well. We always fancied our chances too. It might not have been the case but we were sure we had the upper hand on them although in 1977 it took something special. Tony Hanahoe dropped in a sideline ball and John O'Keeffe stuck his hand out and David Hickey ended up with the goal. The next thing there was a bit of a melee in the middle of the field and Pat O'Neill came in with a fantastic tackle and Hanahoe had it and then me and suddenly another goal. Great days."

Brogan picked up another All Ireland medal that season, an All Star in '79, but it's that goal he will be remembered for. His commentary creates a grainy image we've all seen a thousand times, one he watched with Alan on many occasions since, although he reckons its only in recent years his son has got beyond the black and white. Bernard snr was an athletic midfielder, a perfect complement to Brian Mullins and hugely talented in numerous other sports. He was cast at a different forge to his son, but regardless of size and shape, there was a destiny about Alan making it through a series of events only Gaelic games can hurtle at you.

By four he'd taken Alan to his first All Ireland final, Kerry-Tyrone 1986, but he'd have to wait until he was 13 before he got his first chance to see his own county in an All Ireland final. "Yeah, was 1995 and was amazing, " says Alan. "We were in the Hogan Stand because my Dad reckoned the Hill was too rough at that stage. Myself and my cousin James were there at the final whistle and everyone was going on the pitch and my uncle Jimmy was a selector on that side and he grabbed the two of us and deposited us in the dressing room.

It was chaos. The place was going ballistic.

There were heroes of mine everywhere, people like Dessie Farrell and Jason Sherlock scattered around the place." It was Sherlock that would end up giving Brogan his very own shot at the big time.

He's come a long way from that first game with Dublin. It was February 2002 and Sherlock was being rested after a long winter with Na Fianna. Brogan was brought in for the league clash with Donegal, buried a goal early in the second half and ended up with 1-3 to his name. He never looked back. He kicked 2-20 in Paul Caffrey's debut season of 2005 while picking up a Leinster medal. Last year there was another provincial title and an All Star.

This season there was Laois and that ending with sportsmanship worthy of the Irish Tour de France. That was him right in the middle of it, waving his hands in opposition faces in a moment that threatened to take away all the good that had gone before.

"There was a bit of goading going on. The game was over as a contest and it's something we should have avoided, but things happen in football and a lot of people seem to be ignoring that fact. I got over it. Laois did too. I spoke with some of them and it wasn't anything personal. After that game I went away. Had to leave town. Nah, only joking. I was going away and thought it would be over by the time I came back and it surprised me how much mileage people got out of it. I was in college with Colm Parkinson too and we talked and it was grand. He said they would bear no grudges."

But Darren Rooney said there was a grudge. He said their physios were abused by Dublin players and he couldn't look you in the eye.

"It did get nasty, but that happens in nearly every game of football. It was just more visible. It's over now and I want to forget about it and they need to forget about it. If I could go back I absolutely would not do it. I never meant anything personal and if it offended people I'll apologise here and now but it didn't take away from our performance because the only thing I worry about is whether or not we win a match. That's it. If we win, I walk away happy. We won and I walked away happy."

Make of that what you will, but he did walk away with a goal and a point and he knows well his brother Bernard scored the same.

Alan got his goal in the second half off the left foot, Bernard got his in the first off the right.

Then again, they were always different. "He wouldn't have been as much into Gaelic as I was. I would have gone anywhere to watch a game of football but he'd never have gone. He would have played as much soccer and he only started taking football really serious at 16 or 17, but he broke into the Dublin team and thankfully he kept his spot and did well.

Because that would have played on my mind.

When he came into the team I would have been worried about him. He's my brother and I want him to do well and at the start I used to try pick him out with a few passes so he could get his confidence. He's the same as anyone else now though and he's got the championship games under his belt and he really stepped up the last day against Derry.

Now he's got a job to do against Kerry, just as I do."

Marc O Se used to slag Alan about only seeing Croke Park because they played in the Leinster championship. Tadhg Kennelly slagged him when he went to Australia in 2003 as well. The two had known each other as kids and Kennelly had kept an eye on his progress.

Over a beer in a Sydney bar he told Alan he'd better hurry up and win an All Ireland because he planned to return to Kerry one day and that would be the end of it. He'd never end up with All Ireland medals like his father.

He's not sure where those medals are though.

One might be in the granny's, but he hasn't seen them in years.

"That wouldn't be the case with me. I don't think they'd even see the mantelpiece, I'd be too busy showing them to everyone. It would be amazing, and if I could walk away with three Leinsters and an All Ireland that would be special. We are good enough to do it too.

Before we would have been criticised for being selfish. Now we are knocking the ball around. We know if we get fouled it's a point because Mark Vaughan is unreal. If all goes well, we'll be in an All Ireland final."

The same confidence that came from his father's lips 30 years ago.