Field enjoyed his first successes, not as a Gaelic footballer but as a hurling goalkeeper with the Blackrock minor team that won Cork MHC titles in 1968 and 1969.
He also played as a schoolboy with Coláiste Chríost Rí and was part of the school team that won a Corn Uí Mhuirí-Hogan Cup double in 1970.
Field first appeared on the inter-county scene as a member of the Cork minor football team in 1970.
Field was Cork's top scorer in his debut season and also won a Munster SFC, however, he suffered a broken leg which ruled him out of Cork's 1973 All-Ireland final defeat of Galway.
Field was also a member of the St. Michael's team that lost three consecutive Cork SFC finals from 1976 to 1978.