Brolly feels the demands being placed on footballers are excessive, and have reached the point where playing at inter-county level interferes with the players’ ability to live normal lives and develop careers.

“In a way now the players are little more that indentured slaves,” he said, saying the commitment levels today were far in excess of what was expected of him and his teammates when playing for Derry in the ‘90s.

He emphasized that players then were able to marry and start families and also build meaningful working lives while playing for their counties.

"The important thing was that we were developing as people, we were building a career," he said, something he believes is not the case now.

“Now, into an amater sport where the ideals were community-based we have imported professional practices. We are expecting players to play, train and live as though they were professionals.

“Young men are drifting from sinecure to sinecure, scholarship to scholarship,” Brolly continued.

“Players are drifting into these sedentary jobs, they’re not able to work full-time, they’re not able to develop careers. Incessant testing and training camps. Managers are coming in and wringing every last drop they can out of them.

“County football is becoming a very negative experience.”

He used Armagh’s Aaron Kernan, who retired in October 2014, as an example.

He(Aaron) has got a child, he’s got a wife,” said Brolly. “He’s trying to build a career now. One of the great footballers in Ulster has walked away.”

Listen to the full interview here: