Blast from the past: Paul Donnelly
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Paul Donnelly was one of the heroes of the Irish U18 side that won the European Championships back in 1998. In a team that featured Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne and Stephen McPhail, good things were expected of Donnelly, who was with Leeds at the time of the tournament.
A series of injuries halted his chances of making it big in Britain, but Donnelly returned to play in the League of Ireland with St Patricks Athletic, Kilkenny City and Kildare County.
“I was playing for Home Farm when Leeds looked at me. I had been with Tolka Rovers before that and I decided to go over for a few trials. A couple of teams were interested at the time but Leeds felt right, they had a lot of Irish lads going over at the time also and it just made sense.”
Donnelly was with Leeds from 1996, during which time players such as Ian Harte, Gary Kelly and Stephen McPhail were amongst the Irish contingent.
“I went over during the Christmas and Easter holidays, and then signed for them. I got injured in my first year there – I injured the cartilage in my knee in training.”
“I got the operation over there also. The doctor told me I had two options. Firstly, I could repair the knee totally, which would take a long time to recover from. Or secondly, I could get some cartilage removed and the recovery time would be shorter.”
“Being young and naïve I took the second option, the quick fix – that was the root of all my injury problems after that. I had five operations in total on my knee.”
Despite suffering what would turn out to be a recurring knee injury, Donnelly’s biggest achievement was playing for Brian Kerr’s U18’s in Cyprus in 1998 – scoring a penalty in the final against a German side which starred future full-internationals Sebastian Deisler and Timo Hildebrand.
Donnelly is honest in his appraisal of the squad, citing McPhail as the most prominent talent in that side, despite never making it as a Premier league regular.
“People are still talking about that tournament. None of the players back then were big names but obviously they are famous lads now. It’s strange that some of the better players back then couldn’t push on. “
“Robbie Keane and Richard Dunne always looked a cut above, even then. But also, Barry Quinn and Stephen McPhail in particular looked good back then. I thought Stephen was the best of the lot though.”
“I think St Pats signed me on the back of that tournament - Liam Buckley was the manager back then. I needed an operation at Pats after about five or six games because my knee went again. Then after a few years I needed another operation and that was, I think, to do with me leaving eventually.”
Despite several successful years at St Pats, winning plenty of silverware, Donnelly made the move to Kilkenny and then Kildare as his career wound down.
“Aiden Fitzpatrick was with Kilkenny at the time and he had been at Pats already and asked me to sign down there. I took the operation which I needed, missed six months, and signed for them for the second half of the season.”
“The travelling was a nightmare. The lads were young and mainly from Dublin so we weren’t really accepted there. Then John Ryan asked me to join him at Kildare and I really enjoyed my first year there.”
“I was advised by doctors at the time to pack it in. But John asked me to stay on another year so I did it, although I probably shouldn’t have. I was told if I want to play with my kids and things like that then I should stop playing football, so I eventually did.”
Donnelly is now coaching St Kevins Boys U16 side in Drumcondra – one of the biggest schoolboy clubs in the country with ex-players such as Damian Duff, Liam Brady, Ian Harte, Stephen Carr and Alan Maybury – and has certainly not lost the hunger for football.
“I’m doing my coaching badges at the moment. I have my youth certificate and am looking to do my Uefa B Licence later this year.”
“Looking at the LOI now it seems to be going downhill. There are less players coming over from England, and there are a lot of youngsters in the league – maybe that’s a good thing. But the move to full-time was a mistake – it was a gamble on European football but it hasn’t paid off.”
Donnelly was talking exclusively to extratime.ie
A series of injuries halted his chances of making it big in Britain, but Donnelly returned to play in the League of Ireland with St Patricks Athletic, Kilkenny City and Kildare County.
“I was playing for Home Farm when Leeds looked at me. I had been with Tolka Rovers before that and I decided to go over for a few trials. A couple of teams were interested at the time but Leeds felt right, they had a lot of Irish lads going over at the time also and it just made sense.”
Donnelly was with Leeds from 1996, during which time players such as Ian Harte, Gary Kelly and Stephen McPhail were amongst the Irish contingent.
“I went over during the Christmas and Easter holidays, and then signed for them. I got injured in my first year there – I injured the cartilage in my knee in training.”
“I got the operation over there also. The doctor told me I had two options. Firstly, I could repair the knee totally, which would take a long time to recover from. Or secondly, I could get some cartilage removed and the recovery time would be shorter.”
“Being young and naïve I took the second option, the quick fix – that was the root of all my injury problems after that. I had five operations in total on my knee.”
Despite suffering what would turn out to be a recurring knee injury, Donnelly’s biggest achievement was playing for Brian Kerr’s U18’s in Cyprus in 1998 – scoring a penalty in the final against a German side which starred future full-internationals Sebastian Deisler and Timo Hildebrand.
Donnelly is honest in his appraisal of the squad, citing McPhail as the most prominent talent in that side, despite never making it as a Premier league regular.
“People are still talking about that tournament. None of the players back then were big names but obviously they are famous lads now. It’s strange that some of the better players back then couldn’t push on. “
“Robbie Keane and Richard Dunne always looked a cut above, even then. But also, Barry Quinn and Stephen McPhail in particular looked good back then. I thought Stephen was the best of the lot though.”
“I think St Pats signed me on the back of that tournament - Liam Buckley was the manager back then. I needed an operation at Pats after about five or six games because my knee went again. Then after a few years I needed another operation and that was, I think, to do with me leaving eventually.”
Despite several successful years at St Pats, winning plenty of silverware, Donnelly made the move to Kilkenny and then Kildare as his career wound down.
“Aiden Fitzpatrick was with Kilkenny at the time and he had been at Pats already and asked me to sign down there. I took the operation which I needed, missed six months, and signed for them for the second half of the season.”
“The travelling was a nightmare. The lads were young and mainly from Dublin so we weren’t really accepted there. Then John Ryan asked me to join him at Kildare and I really enjoyed my first year there.”
“I was advised by doctors at the time to pack it in. But John asked me to stay on another year so I did it, although I probably shouldn’t have. I was told if I want to play with my kids and things like that then I should stop playing football, so I eventually did.”
Donnelly is now coaching St Kevins Boys U16 side in Drumcondra – one of the biggest schoolboy clubs in the country with ex-players such as Damian Duff, Liam Brady, Ian Harte, Stephen Carr and Alan Maybury – and has certainly not lost the hunger for football.
“I’m doing my coaching badges at the moment. I have my youth certificate and am looking to do my Uefa B Licence later this year.”
“Looking at the LOI now it seems to be going downhill. There are less players coming over from England, and there are a lot of youngsters in the league – maybe that’s a good thing. But the move to full-time was a mistake – it was a gamble on European football but it hasn’t paid off.”
Donnelly was talking exclusively to extratime.ie
About Gordon Hunt
Gordon Hunt is one of extratime's Dublin based reporters. Having worked with the site since it's inception, Gordon's name is carved into the foundations of extratime's tower block. View Full Profile