Kildare's White withdraws from panel
Midfielder Gary White has left the Kildare senior football panel as he prepares to embark on a six-month tour of duty with the Irish Army.
White was heavily involved in the Lilywhites' O'Byrne Cup success and their winning start to the Allianz Football League, but work commitments mean that he is now out of Kieran McGeeney's plans for the rest of the season.
The 25-year-old, who is a lieutenant in the Transport corps of the Defence Forces, says he has to put his family and career before football as he prepares for his trip to the Lebanon in early May.
“It’s not like it’s Johnny Doyle leaving the squad, so it isn’t really big news,” White told the Kildare Nationalist.
“It is disappointing for me personally alright, especially the way it’s going at the moment but I have to think of the bigger picture.
"My three-year-old daughter Holly comes before football and that means my career must come before football. I will play away for Sarsfields for another month or so but will have to pack that up then too as I can’t take the risk of picking up an injury.”
White has been a Kildare panellist since 2008, McGeeney's first season in charge of the county, and partnered Padraig O'Neill in centre-field for the recent Division 1 victories over Donegal and Cork.
The impending absence of 'Chalky' will be felt by Kildare and also his club Sarsfields, whom he scored 1-1 for in their opening Aldridge Cup win over Naas on Saturday.
