Opinion: Tommy Barrett has his work cut out - to gain public support Treaty Utd need to field local players

Tommy Barrett must wait a little longer to see if he returns to the League of Ireland after being announced by Treaty United as senior manager.

The club has yet to be granted a licence to compete in this year’s senior men’s National League First Division but the club are busy preparing should they be asked to make the step up.

All in the mid-west await to see who will represent them in the men’s division as the licensing process nears its conclusion but Barrett, as always, is a popular choice.

It will be fantastic to see the senior men’s game return to the region after the short but traumatic break came when Limerick ceased competitive action at the end of the 2019 season.

A city synonymous with the league of Ireland since 1937, albeit under different names and entities, has provided plenty highs and lows for supporters to enjoy and lament.

I think everyone in the game agrees that the league is better served with a Limerick representative in it – as the women’s league has been following Treaty’s admission 12 months ago.

Whoever that representative is will be starting from scratch from a playing personnel point of view, with a lot of work to be done assembling a squad before the season kicks off.

Add to that the need for football fitness, which again will begin later than other clubs in the division, and putting together the tactics required to, at best, make the team competitive in the bottom half of the division, and the task seems a big one.

The good news for supporters and the region’s football family is that, despite the obvious hindrances, there is plenty local talent that could be convinced to join the cause and help put the Treaty City back on the map in the national league.

Tadhg Ryan, a local goalkeeper who has had indifferent spells with Huddersfield Town, Cork City and most recently Waterford, is without a club and I’m sure itching to nail down the number one jersey.

Competition could be provided for the netminder’s position by Shane Cusack who, like Ryan, had a stint in England with Colchester United before gaining experience in the League of Ireland with Athlone Town and Limerick.

Cusack last lined out for Newmarket Celtic in the Clare league but, due to the COVID-19 situation around football in the amateur ranks, he is currently a free agent.

Defender Jack Lynch, recently released by Galway United as he cannot commit to full-time football, is also a free agent.

He would surely relish the opportunity to play at this level again having tasted success in the division with Waterford United in 2017 prior to impressing for the Tribesmen last season.

William Fitzgerald, another local talent, excelled under Neil McDonald at Limerick as a teenager to the extent he was included in Stephen Kenny’s home based under-21 squad in 2019, which prompted a move to Waterford.

Fitzgerald, still only 21, was back to full fitness towards the end of last season after a long-term injury.

After being released by the Blues, he could surely be tempted by with an offer of part-time football from his local team, which would allow him to continue his studies off the pitch.

Without doubt the biggest pond to fish in for any League of Ireland club working off a tight budget is obviously the local junior leagues.

Fortunately, in Limerick we have one of the strongest leagues in the country, boasting the current FAI Junior cup champions Fairview Rangers as an obvious example.

The View are the most successful club in the history of junior soccer and, with League of Ireland experience like Shane Costelloe, Clyde O’Connell, Stephen Bradley and Sean McSweeney in their ranks, any manager would be tempted to look at the Fairgreen outfit as part of his recruitment process.

Jason Hughes, formerly of Athlone Town, Sligo Rovers and of course Limerick, as well as Conor Ellis, the former Cork City and Limerick striker, are both plying their trade with Ballynanty Rovers and, with the lack of action on the junior front, could be convinced to make the leap in levels once again.

Pike Rovers stars Shane Walsh and Kieran Red Hanlon both learned their trade in the underage section of Pat Sullivan’s Super Blues.

And if one includes Stephen McGann, also with Pike, who at one point was Limerick’s youngest ever senior debutant, one might assume that Crossagalla will be another stop on the journey to fill a League of Ireland squad for the coming season.

Couple this with an upcoming crop of youngsters like Ger Barry (Ballynanty), Aaron Fitzgerald and Sam Ogundare (Janesboro) and Conor Coughlan (Aisling Annacotty).

All were in the underage set up at Limerick and some were just breaking through on to the senior stage before the club’s omission from the league – suddenly the picture doesn’t look so bleak.

Local youngster Edward McCarthy, who recently returned from a spell in Birmingham City’s academy following a season with Cork City’s under-19 squad, is another a manager might feel deserves a chance at this level.

Aisling Annacotty’s Aaron Murphy and Adam Foley have both proven their pedigree at junior level in the last couple of seasons and might also be on a radar to be convinced to make the step up to the senior ranks.

Securing some, if not all, of the above will be a challenge but with the junior transfer window extended until March 20^th the opportunity is there.

If the senior men’s representative team along Shannonside is to gain public support it is imperative that they field a squad of local players from a city and region that is as always awash with talent.