Stephens Day - Youth the foundation for future Shamrock Rovers success

It almost felt the case of Christmas coming early for Shamrock Rovers supporters on Friday. Well it certainly felt like Stephens’ Day anyway.

Along with four new signings being unveiled for their 2017 squad, Stephen Bradley was introduced at Tallaght Stadium as Rovers’ new Head Coach by their recently appointed Sporting Director Stephen McPhail. This all happened on the day that Rovers fan favourite Stephen Rice was named as their new Under 17 Head Coach.

Hoops fans are hoping that these are the final pieces of the Rovers puzzle that will be put in place to ensure the club gets back to winning ways. It is five full seasons since the Hoops last lifted the league trophy. Rovers are seeking to lay the foundations for future success by putting structures in place around their own player development at a coaching level and facility level in Roadstone Sports Club.

New plan

When Rovers announced Stephen McPhail’s new role last week their accompanying statement about the club’s development certainly didn’t lack for ambition. The club stated that “the development of young football players ingrained with the club’s DNA from a very early age is the foundation of how we build.

“The coaching our youngsters receive is, we believe, the very best this country has to offer. The measures we continue to put in place not only demonstrate ambition but illustrate a statement of ferocious intent to take this club to a new level.”

The Hoops have been working hard behind the scenes on this basis for the last couple of years. So have Rovers turned the corner with the appointment of 32-year-old Stephen Bradley as Head Coach and 36-year-old Stephen McPhail as the link between Rovers’ Academy, led by Shane Robinson, and their senior management team? Time will tell but let us look in some detail at what is happening over at Tallaght Stadium.

New squad signings

On Friday Rovers announced the signing of Paul Corry, Ryan Connolly, Roberto Lopes and Danny Devine (see here). The new players add competition in their squad as the Hoops look to have a blend of youth and experience as they move to 52 week contracts for all their players.

“We have good young players but we can’t just have the onus on them like last season,” said Stephen McPhail when both he and Stephen Bradley spoke to extratime.ie in Tallaght on Friday. “We are going to protect them a lot more and make sure that the squad is strong in terms of age and experience.”

Bradley echoes those sentiments. “We are not here just to say we are playing loads of kids and say everything is great. We are here to compete and challenge for things.

“It creates massive competition from the start. The lads will know from the first day of pre-season that they are going to have to be on top form to play in this team. For me that has been missing for a long time here.”

For 24-year-old Lopes, who makes the switch from Dalymount Park to Tallaght, the ambition and structure at his new club is something that enticed him to pull on the green and white hooped shirt. “I think it shows the level of the club. They don’t want to settle for just making up the numbers. They want to drive on.”

Paul Corry meanwhile returning to the League of Ireland after a four year spell in England feels that Rovers is the “right fit” for him. “You look at the training ground that’s going up, there’s going to be a new stand as well and it just has the feel of a football club,” said 25-year-old Corry. “The facilities are top notch, everything’s just put in place for you to be the top pro that you can be.” 

New Head Coach and Sporting Director

The club have turned to a combination of Bradley and McPhail both of whom know all about Shamrock Rovers and have a wealth of experience in the game here and in the UK. Bradley grew up in Tallaght before moving to London with Arsenal and he subsequently played for Rovers on the opening night of the stadium in 2009, winning the league title the following season. McPhail meanwhile was a boyhood supporter of the club and played at the top level of the game in the Premier League, Champions League and at international level.

Having been accepted as one of 16 participants on the FAI UEFA Pro-Licence coaching course last week, Bradley can now permanently take up the Head Coach role with Rovers and begin the task of building what he hopes will be a successful Hoops team, with more signings soon to be announced.

“It is a professional club with a proper professional setup,” said Bradley. “A club that is really trying to do things the right way. It is an easy sell to the lads that you are trying to bring in.”

“Stephen played and won trophies here,” said McPhail “and I supported this club as a kid so we want to make the right decisions for this football club. I want to give the opportunity for young players to stay here and be coached like they are in England. To have the standards, training ground and daily routines that are exactly the same (as in the UK).

New investment and board structures

When Rovers exited Examinership in 2005, the club emerged in fan ownership when their investment of €0.25m was matched by Australian based Hoops fan Ray Wilson. Earlier this year Wilson organised an interest free €1.5m loan for club and brought Setanta Sports co-founder Mickey O’Rourke, and Stephen Gleeson, MD of Hyundai Ireland, onto the board. The funding was earmarked for capital investment in the club’s training base at Roadstone and to help on the administration side of the club.

Detail on @ShamrockRovers Roadstone development in Ray Wilson interview with @emmetmalonehttps://t.co/DFtiaLygtepic.twitter.com/PyP8T6nZF6

— Macdara Ferris (@macdarabueller) September 15, 2016

New football club administrators

Earlier in the year the Hoops appointed a new Chief Executive Officer. Brendan Murray, who previously had experience as a senior member of KPMG’s corporate finance team, has been working as CEO since May.

Rovers recently announced that Siobhan Keane will also join the club as Chief Operating Officer. She brings to Tallaght considerable experience having held the role of Sponsorship, Marketing and Events Manager with the FAI for a decade.

New coaching set up

Having managed the Rovers u17 team last season, Aidan Price continues leading the bulk of that squad of players as they step up to u19 level. Price is another former Rovers player involved in their coaching set up, having captained the team to First Division success in 2006 and played for Rovers in the first season in Tallaght.

John Martin, another ex-Hoop, will be Price’s assistant coach while Graham Gartland continues with his coaching role and the former Rovers player is also the club’s Community Officer.

Lining out for the Hoops on the opening night at Tallaght Stadium in 2009 was Stephen Rice and their former captain comes back in to manage their u17 team (see here).

“I am delighted to return to the club where I spent six very happy years in my playing career and where I have my best memories in the game as a player,” said Rice. “There is something exciting happening at the club at the moment.

“Our aim is to give our best young players an alternative to moving to play in the UK at 15 years of age. The Shamrock Rovers Academy will allow our best young players to continue their school education at home and still develop as an elite player with a realistic path to first team football at Rovers.”

New training ground development

Rovers have added to their own investment funds with a €150,000 Government Sports Capital Grant to develop at Roadstone a full size all-weather floodlit pitch along with re-seeding of existing pitches.

That work is on site and the aim is that the senior squad, who in recent years have trained in the AUL close to Dublin Airport, will move to Roadstone so that all Rovers’ teams train in the same venue. The club are now looking to upgrade facilities there soon to have four full size dressing rooms, teaching area, gym and physio space.

New Tallaght Stadium development

South Dublin County Council are currently progressing with plans to develop a €2m third stand in Tallaght Stadium. This would add an additional 2,195 seats bringing the capacity up to 8,000 in total. The aim is eventually to construct a fourth stand in the venue.

Match day experience will also be enhanced after the Rovers members club were granted a full club bar licence which will allow licensed functions to take place in both the Glenmalure Suite and the larger Blue Room in the stadium.

New trophies

The success of these ambitions plans will only be seen if Rovers bring on pitch trophy success back to Tallaght for the first time since the departure of Michael O’Neill as manager in 2011. It may well require patience – something that can be in sort supply sometimes with Hoops supporters!

The fans certainly can’t claim that their club hasn’t produced a plan to bring silverware back to Tallaght – they just hope it will be a successful strategy. As Rovers stated this month “a sustainable long term plan is what will set this club up to be competitive at all levels and importantly to win trophies at first team level.”  

Additional reporting by Josh Dolan.