An interview with Alan Cawley

A familiar presence on our televisions and radios, Alan Cawley also represented his fair share of clubs before retiring at 29 to “live in the real world.” In a recent chat with Extratime.ie, Alan discusses his playing career and subsequent move into media work.

Travelling to Yorkshire in 1998, Cawley spent a couple of seasons at Leeds United before signing a two-year contract with Sheffield Wednesday. Unfortunately, he never made a first-team appearance for either.

“I was a regular in Leeds’ reserves,” Cawley explained. “They were doing really well in the Champions League and had the best batch of young fellas in England coming through...Leeds were also spending millions on players. After four years in England, I’d had enough. I could have went into the lower divisions, but made the decision to come home.”

Far from disillusioned, the young midfielder arrived at UCD, grateful for a foothold in League of Ireland football: “I was delighted to get the opportunity with UCD. It was a starting point and I had a good eighteen months with Paul Doolin, who was a brilliant manager.”

Alan’s impressive displays for the Students saw him join Pat Fenlon’s Shelbourne in 2004 and despite a league-winner’s medal that year, his input came later than anticipated: “I was named in the team for the first game of the season and UCD put in an objection to the transfer…they were looking for compensation. Pat called me into the dressing room before kick-off and said: ‘I can’t play you. We’ll get tonight out of the way and deal with this in the morning.’ It wasn’t until eleven weeks later that I made my debut. Shelbourne made a great start and it was tougher to get into the team, but I still contributed to winning the league, so it ended well.”

The following season, an ill-fated loan spell with Longford Town ensued: “It was a disaster. Alan Mathews was the manager and I’m not sure why he wanted me because he played the long ball, very direct...it was something that I was never interested in. I only lasted a few weeks, as it was just the wrong fit.”

2006 witnessed Cawley’s return to UCD and a loan period at Waterford United, but the next season he embarked upon arguably his best run of form for any club, Bray Wanderers: “I got on great with Eddie Gormley and he made me captain. I was ‘Player of the Year’, scored a lot of goals and felt at home. Maybe it was personal contentment and the responsibility of being captain, which I didn’t have before.”

He went on to join St Patrick’s Athletic in 2009, a season with mixed fortunes: “We had an excellent European run, but the league form wasn’t great. I had one of my best games, against Steaua Bucharest in the RDS, but unfortunately we lost. Jeff Kenna inherited a squad who’d been there a long time and didn’t really put his stamp on it. After Jeff lost his job, Pete Mahon came in. Pete was similar to Alan Mathews…direct, physical football and I didn’t fit in with his plans.”

The confidence gained from becoming Ian Foster’s maiden signing for Dundalk slowly ebbed away during an injury-plagued 2010: “In the second game of the season, against Drogheda, I had a triple fracture in my cheekbone from an elbow. I had a steel plate fitted in my face and was out for two months. When I returned, I had trouble from my back – a bulging disc, which led to surgery. Again, it was devastating because I missed another couple of months.”

With thoughts of retirement on his mind, Cawley made the surprising move to Portadown in early 2011: “I had made the decision that I was finished. The Irish League season was still going and Matthew Tipton, who I played with at Dundalk, contacted me about going north. Portadown was one of the best places I ever got treated. I only wished I’d tried something like that earlier. Even now, I go up and take in a game.”

Cawley did hang up his boots after gracing Shamrock Park and explains the reasons for quitting football at just 29: “I packed it in so young because of the recession and to live in the real world. I’d bought a house, had a kid – responsibilities that I’d never had and it was time to get a proper job. The way the media stuff turned out, I don’t regret it.”

Weighing up his football career, the Sligo native admits that not turning out for his hometown club is still a disappointment: “It’s something I do look back on and would change. I supported them as a kid and went to the Showgrounds for years. I would love to have played for Sligo Rovers, but it just never happened.”

Now a regular pundit with 2FM’s Game On and seen Monday nights on screen assessing the latest League of Ireland fixtures, Cawley states how he got his first break in the media: “A fellow Sligo man, who works in RTE, got me involved writing blogs and columns for their website. From there, I joined Soccer Republic and work on the radio. I’m about four years at it now and it’s something I have a real passion for. I go to games every weekend, do my research and try to be honest…hopefully, people respect that and I’d like to think I know what I’m talking about.”      

One standout moment from Cawley's appearances on Soccer Republic was when he sat next to Trevor Croly after criticising his managerial style of Shamrock Rovers the previous week: “I work with Trevor these days and he’s a friend, as well as a colleague. I gave an opinion and didn’t expect him to agree. Now, I regard his view and listen to him…he knows a lot about the game.”