Dinny Corcoran: 'I'd a great relationship with the people at Bohs and I loved my time there'

Dinny Corcoran

Dinny Corcoran Credit: Eddie Lennon (ETPhotos)

Nowadays labelled a League of Ireland veteran, with a host of different domestic clubs once his employer, Dinny Corcoran is currently on the books of Wexford FC, and is glad to be back on the pitch and injury free.

At the beginning of his career unable to make a breakthrough at St. Patrick’s Athletic, the striker linked up with new entity Sporting Fingal in 2008, becoming an integral player during the club’s debut League of Ireland season.

“There was definitely a vibe with a new club starting up and I’m from the Fingal area myself, so it was exciting,” said Corcoran when extratime.com caught up with the player this week. “I was 19 at the time and it was my first taste of League of Ireland football at senior level. I really enjoyed it there and it was good while it lasted, which unfortunately wasn’t too long.

On a rapid upward trajectory, Sporting Fingal won promotion to the Premier Division in 2009, in addition to beating Sligo Rovers in that year’s FAI Cup final, but the Portrane native only experienced a handful of appearances throughout those seasons.

“I was still very young, so I couldn’t really be unhappy with it. We had a good squad then and it was hard to get into. There were enjoyable moments, but I would like to have been more a part of it. It does take away a bit that I didn’t play much, but they were still great memories and a fantastic achievement for the club.”

Short spells at Shelbourne, Drogheda United, Bohemians (twice) and UCD preceded Dinny and other teammates following his former manager at Dalymount Park Owen Heary to Sligo Rovers at the end of 2014, but although expectations were high, ultimately the westerners failed to live up to them.

“I think we had a very good team on paper and really expected to have a good year. I think with the players we had, maybe we played the wrong style of football. We played long-ball football, with a lot of hustle and bustle, but we had great footballers.”

A brief return to St. Patrick’s Athletic resulted in Corcoran putting pen to paper for a third time for Bohemians in late 2016. Stability of sorts ensued, with the striker hitting the ground running for the Gypsies where he spent the next four years at the club.

“It’s mostly one-year contracts in the league. If you pick up an injury or play out of form, you’re not going to get a contract for the next year, so it’s very tough in that regard.

"I was lucky that I started well with Bohemians in 2017 and ended up with a two-year contract, which was nice and obviously, I stayed on in 2020.



"I had a great relationship with the people at Bohs and I loved my time there. It was great to stay there for many years, which is rare in Irish football now.”

Yet another reappearance, this time at Drogheda United, brings us up to the present day, where Dinny dons Wexford FC’s colours and appreciates being fit and available to contribute to a potential push for promotion. He recently hit the landmark of 100 career goals.

“The main reason I moved was to play again. Between injuries and that, the past few years have been bad for me, in terms of getting game time.

"My main aim was just to play and I’ve been doing that quite a bit this year so far. I would have liked to score more goals and probably should have, but it’s great to be playing again.

"Our aim for this year is to get into the play-offs. We’re hanging around the play-off spots at the moment, but there’s a long way to go. We’re definitely focused on that and from there anything can happen, so hopefully we’ll get promoted.”



    About Dan Lucey

    Dan Lucey is an interviewer for extraTime.com. He has penned articles for both Cork City and Luton Town’s official programmes.

    Dan has written numerous interviews and was a regular attendee at League … View Full Profile