Armagh captain Aidan ​Forker on the mend as the Ulster Championship approaches

​He appeared inconsistently throughout the 2025 season, owing to a mixture of injuries and suspension.

Then, he had surgery on his ankle following the conclusion of the season and has been nursing a back injury also.

Thankfully for the 34-year-old, he has been on the mend, and made his 2026 debut by coming off the bench against Dublin in the penultimate league game, and the Maghery man is delighted to be back in amongst the fold and hoping to stake a claim to play on Sunday, when Armagh host fierce rivals Tyrone.

“I’m finally pain free after many, many months, I’d say over a year at this stage. I’m definitely feeling a lot more like myself,” he said at the Ulster Championship media launch.

“I’m happy to be adding to training, I’m nearly a month back in full, so I’m pushing hard and I’m happiest when on the pitch and injury free and pain free.

“It has been a long road for me in terms of the surgery and my back and stuff. I’ve had a lot of help from the medical team and I’m happy to try and contribute and push to try and play.

“There’s a lot of work that’s been done and I’m feeling more like myself. I think I’m moving quite well but I suppose missing preseason and the majority of the league, it’s going to be hard to break in because the boys are going rightly.

“I think it’s my turn to maybe contribute in a different sense and that’s fair enough. I’m happy to do that of course but I’ll not accept that too much either, I really want to play and I feel like I can add to it.

“It’s not really a decision for me to make but all I can do is control my own approach to training, push hard and drive the boys during in house games and stuff like that, that’s my role at the moment.”

Forker is one of many men Armagh have missed for prolonged periods of time during the league due to injury.

That list includes Rory Grugan, Barry McCambridge, Ciaran Mackin, Andrew Murnin, Joe McElroy and Aaron McKay. Throw in the retirements of players like Stefan Campbell and Niall Grimley, as well as Rian O’Neill and Connaire Mackin stepping away from the panel, and it’s not hard to see why Armagh found themselves involved in a relegation battle this year.

Speaking of players retiring, with Forker in his mid thirties the question will always come up for him about when he will step away, but the Armagh legend say that ‘it’s not an easy team to walk away from’.

“We worked very hard as a core group for many years to get Armagh to this level and I know the quality that we have and I feel like there’s something there for us in terms of medals again,” he said.

“The appetite is there from the group and I think, to be honest, the setup is second to none. I always remind the boys, especially the older boys, we’re living our best days and we probably don’t know it really so it’s not an easy team to walk away from.

“From a very practical point of view, we’re in the first division, we’re at the top table and we’re right there with the top teams. I feel like personally I can add to it and we can maybe do something.

“It’s going to be hard for sure but it’s hard every year. I feel we’re right up there with the top teams, that’s where you want to be as an athlete so I’m trying to squeeze as much out of that as possible.”

Armagh’s ethos is ‘we before me’

As previously mentioned, Forker hasn’t played much football this season or last, but when asked as to whether he’s frustrated by that fact, he said that he ‘trusts fully in the management to make the right decision’.

“Any athlete worth their salt wants to play,” he said. “I can’t get too frustrated, I’m only back and where am I going to fit in because there’s not too many boys not playing well?

“Our whole ethos, as everyone knows, is we before me and making your teammates look better than you. I was the one trying to drive that pre-2024 and it was easy for me to do when I was playing but now it’s an even bigger challenge when I’m not getting selected.

“I’m hoping that’s going to change personally but it mightn’t so it’s time for me to live that a wee bit. I want to play, I want to play in the big days because all the boys from 1-42 or whatever it is, do the same hours of gym and rehab and give as much to it as anyone else.

“It’s just a personal level of wanting it and desiring it. The appetite is still there for me, it’s not necessarily frustration because I trust fully in the management to make the right decision.”

As Forker says, the appetite is still there, and how could it not be with a mouth-watering game to come on Sunday, when Tyrone come to town?

“It’s an easy one to get up for,” he said.

“We’ve had some ding-dongs over the years, my own debut was against Tyrone in a preliminary match and we’ve had some bad defeats over the years and some decent wins.

“There’s never anything really in it, no matter how good teams are going or not going. I don’t think it counts for much when it’s Armagh and Tyrone. It’s exciting for everyone.”