Maslov was, however, more prominently associated with the sporting career of Gavin, who focused on the conclusion of “A Theory of Human Motivation” – the now 80-year old paper that introduced the hierarchy of needs: “What a man can be, he must be.”, the then Dublin manager mentioned this influence.
“And football is about the collective too. We’re not individuals in a sporting sense. And yet we are in a personal sense. It’s about that person. We take a very player-centred approach in Dublin, as I’m sure all the intercounty managers do. “It’s about the individual, satisfying his needs, having respect and building up his self-esteem to the point where he can be creative.
“It’s Maslow’s theory of self-actualisation. He would have said himself that the history of the world is the history of people selling themselves short. In the management team, our job is to get those players not to sell themselves short. To be the best they can be.” The Leaving Certificate paper makes no reference to Gavin’s sporting achievement in becoming the first person in the history of the GAA to manage a team to five successive All-Irelands.