From Academy Dreamer to First Teamer- a look at those who are following their club's development pathway in the League of Ireland

At the outset of an article on youth players, it's important to clarify that Academies do not produce players, they help provide a supportive environment which aids their development. Every player learns and develops in their own unique way and there is no perfect way to ensure that a player reaches their potential.

Because the League of Ireland starts at Under 14 level, it does not mean that those who don't make the Under 15 squad aren't cut out for elite adult football. Some players benefit from playing adult football earlier than others, some develop quicker at home, some benefit from having another job or education to occupy their off time. Treaty United's strong showing in the First Division last year showed the strength of the junior leagues in the area with former Limerick FC Under 17 player Callum McNamara (21) blossoming for Newmarket Celtic while also preparing for a life off the field with the ETB course in Limerick.

There is also a small selection of players who leave the League of Ireland underage setup to join an English club while on the cusp of becoming a regular at a senior League of Ireland club- the most high profile recent departures include the likes of James Furlong, Andrew Moran, Gavin Bazunu, Evan Ferguson, Jake O'Brien and Val Adedokun. Former Athlone Town U15 league winner Dylan Gavin, Cork City U18 attacker Ricardo Dinanga, Galway United’s Dara  Costelloe and ex Dundalk FC U17 midfielder Gabriel Adebambo also departed underage setups to join Charlton Athletic, Coventry City, Burnley and Stoke City respectively in the past 12 months.

Other players develop in a League of Ireland underage academy before moving to another club to play their trade at senior level- Shamrock Rovers Academy players John Ryan (18) and Evan Caffrey (19) and Thomas Lonergan (18) of St Patrick's Athletic underage are all with the UCD first team, Shelbourne's Jack Moylan (20) is an ex Bohemians Academy graduate as is Len O'Sullivan- now at Wexford. Bray Wanderers are also the beneficiaries of some Cabinteely Green Line graduates such as Ben Feeney.

Similarly, some clubs decide that temporary first team action at another club is the most appropriate way of allowing a player to develop. In recent seasons we have seen this approach taken by clubs such as Bohemians with Jack Moylan (Wexford loan) , Dundalk with Andrew Quinn (Bray Wanderers loan), Sligo Rovers with Luke McNicholas (Cliftonville loan), Shamrock Rovers with Darragh Nugent (Drogheda United loan) and Derry City with Caolan McLaughlin (Institute loan).

However, taking all this on board, it is still worth taking a look at some of the first team players who have remained with their clubs from the moment they started playing in the Underage Leagues- who are they? What does the season ahead possibly look like for them? Are there any lessons clubs can take from the journeys of these young players?

The following article contains a selection of players throughout the league who have been with their clubs in an unbroken manner since first joining as young teens. While it doesn't claim to be exhaustive in nature, neither does the author possess Nostradamus like qualities- who would have thought 12 months ago Dundalk's Val Adedokun would be lining up against Cesc Fabregas, as he did last week in Monaco for a Brentford B friendly? Or Killian Philips (19) who had a breakthrough year in the Drogheda United first team in 2021, having spent the 2020 season primarily with the Under 19s, would earn a move to Premier League outfit Crystal Palace's Under 23 side? 

Last month, the Underage Leagues for 2022 were launched to great fanfare at Abbottstown. With a number of changes proposed for the season ahead- which kicks off this weekend- including the allowance of some overage players and changing the time formats, hopes are high that the pathway to senior football in the League of Ireland will produce more players of a high quality, capable of playing at an elite level, in this country or beyond. With Brexit and other recent factors, we have seen how mainland European clubs such as Inter Milan (Kevin Zefi), Udinese (James Abankwah) and AC Milan (Cathal Heffernan) are now possible destinations for players.

Squads across the League of Ireland are littered with players who have played in the Underage Leagues, some are still eligible for Under 19s and some played Under 19 with their current club having left another League of Ireland or schoolboy club- the likes of St Patrick’s Athletic’s Jamie Lennon (Shelbourne) Shamrock Rovers' Aidomo Emakhu (Shelbourne) Treaty's Josh Quinlivan (Cork City), Derry's Eoin Toal (Armagh City) Dundalk's Mayowa Animasahun (Bohemians), Longford Town's Ben Lynch (Athlone Town), Dawson Devoy ( left Bohs 17s for Watford before returning to Bohs 19s) Longford Town's Aaron McCabe (Cavan Monaghan FC) and UCD's Colm Whelan and Dara Keane (both Waterford) . This piece, while not exhaustive, aims to primarily cast a light on those who have remained with their club since Under 15 or Under 17 level and are poised to feature regularly with their first team in the season ahead. 

Prior to the start of this season, John Mahon, Aodh Dervin and Mark Coyle were three former underage players who had gone on to establish themselves as the cornerstones of the starting eleven at Sligo Rovers, Longford Town and Finn Harps respectively. However, the off season saw Dervin and Coyle lured from their boyhood clubs to full time football at Shelbourne under the  tutelage of former Republic of Ireland winger Damien Duff. Mahon joined Scottish Premier League side St Johnstone while another former Sligo Rovers Academy graduate Johnny Kenny pitched up at Celtic after a stellar season for the Bit O’Red.

Remaining at the Showgrounds for 2022 however, is Ed McGinty (22). The Scottish born stopper joined Sligo from Hibernians’ Academy in 2016 and was the number one for their Under 19s in 2017, signing his first professional deal at the club in August before establishing himself in the Rovers first team towards the end of the 2018 season and has been the undisputed number one at the club since.

Capped at Under 21 level, he is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the league and is currently the only first team regular goalkeeper across both divisions to have remained with his club unbroken since underage level. However, he’s not the only promising young goalkeeper at the club with Luke McNicholas (22), who has been involved in Republic of Ireland underage squads, currently on loan at Cliftonville in the Northern Irish Premier League and the highly rated 16 year old Conor Walsh- involved with the ROI Under 17s and  already on a professional contract at the club.

Moving out the field we find another teenager from the west currently making waves in the First Division and also on a professional contract. 2021 saw Alex Murphy represent Galway United at Under 17, Under 19 and senior level, making his debut in the Tribesmen’s win over Athlone Town in June. The left footed 17 year old joined Galway Under 15s in 2019 from Corrib Celtic and provided the assist for Ed McCarthy’s winner against Cork City in their opening game of the season. With international caps under his belt and rumours of interest from abroad, Murphy may not be at Eamon Deacy Park for much longer.

On the other side of defence, Derry City youngster Ronan Boyce burst onto the senior League of Ireland scene last season with 6 goals while operating in a right wing back role. Similar to Murphy, the Donegal native is on a professional deal- signing a new 4 year contract recently- and has been proclaimed by current manager Ruaidhri Higgins as a possible future captain of the club. The 21 year old made his competitive debut for the Candystripes against Cork City in 2019, having been a member of the Under 17s since 2017. On the back of the 2021 season, he was named in the PFAI Team of the Season and is making his way back into the side after injury, appearing as a second half substitute against both Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers before starting last night's win over Shelbourne.

With former Waterford FC manager Alan Reynolds now involved in Derry City’s management group, one of his former players is currently in situ as first choice right back at the Blues. At the end of a turbulent 2019 season, Reynolds spoke about giving Academy graduate Darragh Power a chance in the first team. The 21 year old, who played with both the Under 17s and Under 19s- where he won the Under 19s league title in 2019- is now one of the first names on the teamsheet at the RSC and has racked up over 50 league appearances for the club. Last night's bench against Galway United also featured ex Under 19 player Callum Stringer (19) and current Under 17 Romeo Akachukwu (15), who is entering his fourth season with the Blues.

Power isn’t the only Academy member to currently play a role in the first team squad with Niall O’Keeffe (22) also approaching 50 games for the Blues, whose first team squad contains other former Academy graduates with experience of playing with Waterford such as Tunmise Sobowale and Shane Griffin- although they have spent time away from the club, at Athlone Town and Wexford respectively. 

While Power is regarded as an established member of the Waterford first team, there are a couple of other right backs who are now operating in the Premier Division and harbour hopes of breaking into the first team in the season ahead. In Drogheda, Balbriggan native Mo Boudiaf (19) joined United’s Under 17s squad from Glebe North in 2019 and progressed quickly to their Under 19s where he was part of their successful Shield winning squad last season- scoring twice in the final against Waterford after making his senior Drogheda United debut the night before. Currently it appears that Georgie Poynton is the front runner for the right sided defensive position but don’t be surprised to see the versatile Boudiaf feature regularly throughout the season.

At Poynton’s former club Shelbourne, David Toure (17) is also primed for first team action in 2022. Having been part of their Under 17s squad when current senior boss Damien Duff was in charge, Toure is well known to the management, while he has also recently been involved in Andy Reid’s Under 18s international squad. After signing from Stella Maris in 2019, playing U15s, 17s and 19s with Shels and debuting last season for the first team against Cabinteely in the First Division, Toure currently finds himself behind multiple First Division winner JR Wilson in the battle for the right back spot. However, Shelbourne hold high hopes for the player as he signed a professional deal with the club last season- as did attacker Jad Hakiki who was their Under 17 Player of the Year in 2021 after arriving at the club from Bray Wanderers the previous season and who was also involved with the Republic of Ireland Under 18s over the winter.

Moving into midfield we find an established Premier Division operator who also has international experience. The versatile Leitrim native Niall Morahan (21) has been at Sligo Rovers since joining as a 15 year old in 2015 and has since made himself a key player in the Bit O’ Red first team. He signed a two year deal with the club in November, after winning the club’s Player of the Year in 2020 and will be aiming to break a century of appearances for the club this season having ended the last campaign on 75. In 2019 he was part of Tom Mohan’s Republic of Ireland Under 19s at the European Championships, while off the field he is studying Business in IT Sligo as part of their scholarship programme. As the aforementioned McGinty, Mahon, Kenny and Morahan suggest, Sligo have a thriving pathway to the first team and there are a number of others including Darren Collins and Mark Byrne who have been around the senior squad for a couple of seasons now.

Preseason 2021 saw Johnny Kenny score prolifically in a number of friendly games to be given his chance up front for the season- a chance he grabbed with both hands. This off season, another former underage product Cillian Heaney (20) made his senior debut for the club against Athlone Town and netted a brace. Could the IT Sligo student, who also scored for the Irish Colleges and Universities in December be poised for a step up to the first team and follow in the footsteps of Kenny? 

Also in the west, it could be a big season ahead for Wilson Waweru (21) who joined Galway United from Mervue United as a 16 year old in 2017. He played with the Tribesmen at Under 17 and Under 19 level and made his senior debut in 2018 under former Under 17 manager Alan Murphy- after the latter was appointed to the senior post. Waweru scored 8 league goals last season and is poised for another strong campaign in 2022. Another former Under 17 promoted under Murphy’s reign was Francely Lomboto (21)- the ex Galway Hibernians forward signed his first professional deal with United in 2020 and scored twice in the league that season. However, a broken leg suffered ahead of the 2021 season stalled his progress- could 2022 be his breakthrough season?  

While these questions regarding Heaney and Waweru will only be answered during the season, what’s not in doubt is the goalscoring ability of Darragh Burns. The 19 year old winger won Young Player of the Year with St Patrick’s Athletic last season, as well as picking up the Goal of the Season award and he found the net on the opening day of the 2022 season with a superb strike from distance against Shelbourne. Having represented the Inchicore outfit at Under 17, Under 19 and senior level- picking up silverware with all three sides- the former St Kevin’s Boys player is already a familiar face to fans around the league and is one of the brightest prospects around. 

This time next season we could be saying the same about Jamie Mullins, the 17 year old who became Bohemians youngest goalscorer in the league last summer. With the departure of Ross Tierney to Motherwell in January, the focus will now turn to Dawson Devoy (20) and Mullins for that central midfield attacking role. Mullins represented Bohemians at Under 15s level in 2019 and was still eligible for their Under 17s when scoring for the senior squad in 2021. He signed a professional contract with the club in 2021 and has captained his country at Under 15s level. 

Another to wear the armband for his country is Cork City striker Cian Murphy. The 21 year old Tipperary native was skipper for the Irish Schoolboys during their successful Centenary Shield campaign of 2018- a feat achieved under the stewardship of William O’Connor, the current UCD assistant manager. Murphy, who has played with City’s Under 17s and Under 19s squad, debuted for the senior side in 2018 and has gone on to become a focal point of the Leesiders’ attack, notching over a dozen league goals last season.

In fact, Colin Healy’s team have a number of recent ex Academy players in their first team squad, most notably goalkeeper David Harrington (21), Murphy, Uniss Kargbo (20), Josh Honohan (20), Ronan Hurley (22), Alec Byrne (22) and Cian Bargary (21) - many of whom played regularly throughout the 2021 First Division season. Indeed Cork City themselves are almost worthy of a youth piece entirely dedicated to the club, their connection with UCC and the emphasis on young local players. Their current manager Colin Healy was previously Head of Youth development at the club, a role he combined with managing their Under 19s and aiding the transition of these players to the first team. 

Their near neighbours Cobh Ramblers have one of the longest serving former Academy players in the league in the shape of defender Ben O’Riordan. The 24 year old was part of the Under 19s side in 2015 and has been part of the furniture at St Colman’s Park since, racking up over 130 appearances for the Rams. 

Further east along the coast, Wexford’s Evan Farrell has represented the Slaneysiders at Under 15, Under 17, Under 19 and senior level since 2017 and scored his first senior goal for the club in their last game of the 2021 season. Moving north we meet another forward who has worn his current club’s jersey from Under 15 to senior level. Darragh Lynch (18) scored 6 league goals for the Seagulls at the latter end of the 2020 season, however- similar to the aforementioned Lomboto- his 2021 campaign saw the youngster pick up an injury in pre-season to stall his development. 2022 could be his breakthrough season at the club if he can get enough gametime.

There may be a number of others who make the step up this season. At Finn Harps, Luke Rudden (20) and Nathan Logue (20) have both been at the club since Under 15 level and are named in Ollie Horgan's senior squad for the 2022 campaign- Rudden, who has signed a professional deal with the club, scored in Harps' final league game of 2021 and has appeared a number of times off the bench for Harps already this season while Logue is leaving for a scholarship in the USA at the end of the summer and is currently studying at IT Sligo.

Athlone Town have promoted Aaron McBride (20), Oisín Duffy (21) and Cameron Mulready (19) to their senior squad for 2022, all three having previously played Under 17s and Under 19s with the club. Last night all three featured in their defeat to Wexford- McBride and Duffy starting with Mulready appearing from the bench which included another couple of former Academy players including Sam Krebs and Donal Curtin.

At Dundalk, a number of their former Academy players such as Andrew Quinn and Georgie Poynton are playing in the Premier Division for neighbours Drogheda United. However, in the senior squad at Oriel Park only Mark Hanratty (19) who made his senior debut for the club aged 16 after signing from Home Farm, is on a professional contract and has been mentioned by Head Coach Stephen O' Donnell in preseason. Winger Ryan O'Kane and the defensive minded Mayowa Animasahun are two local teens in the Lilywhites squad, however they've returned to the town from spells at Warrenpoint Town and Bohemians respectively.

O'Donnell's former club St Patrick's Athletic have a well worn pathway from the Academy to the first team with Ben McCormack (20) poised to join the aforementioned Burns as a regular starter by the season end. McCormack has played with both the Republic of Ireland and St Patrick’s Athletic since Under 15 level and signed his first professional contract with the club in 2019. This season, 16 year old Adam Murphy made his senior debut for the club in the league, after signing from Belvedere in 2020 and playing with Pat's Under 15s that season.

At Derry City, former Foyle Harps midfielder Evan McLaughlin received a taste of the first team towards the end of the 2021 campaign- scoring on his debut against Waterford. Despite the influx of midfield talent over the off season, the former Under 17s player could be another to catch a break and become a fixture in Ruaidhri Higgins' outfit before the end of the year. He's one of a number of teenagers enjoying professional contracts at the Ryan McBride Brandywell this season, many of whom were part of their successful 2021 Under 19 Enda McGuill Cup winning side including Gerard Storey and Caoimhin Porter. 20 year old Jack Malone, another former Under 17 in 2017, is another youngster seeking to make his mark in the Candystripe engine room this season following a taste of the action at the end of 2021.

The first block of the current revised Underage Leagues began with the short Under 19 season of 2014 and not one player involved in the opening matchday squad has remained at the same club- Dan Blackbyrne and Cian Coleman the only two at the same club but both had spells away before returning to Bray Wanderers and Cork City respectively. 

As the 2022 campaigns kick off with Under 14, 15, 17 and 19 versions it will be interesting to  see in eight years time if things will change. As the above article has outlined, most clubs now have some former Under 17 and 19 players around the first team and hopefully the more structured pathway will provide players with better opportunities to develop within their own club. 

There are many challenges ahead for the league and the relationship with schoolboy clubs is integral to the development of the league itself- the partnerships already formed between League of Ireland clubs and their grassroots counterparts has proven to be productive already with many of the players mentioned in the piece above. 

As mentioned at the outset, there is no 'one size fits all' approach to youth development and every player's journey to adult football takes different twists and turns, however a stable and progressive pathway to the first team certainly assists along the way and it will be interesting to see how the aforementioned players progress this season.