Going Down the Academic Route
Credit:
If you had a brother or a son, what club would you prefer to see him play for if he had a choice? Would it be (i) your local team or (ii) the team that you have always supported, or (iii) the most successful team in the land, the team that play in Europe regularly and win countless trophies? Personally speaking, I would be very happy if he started his League of Ireland career with University College Dublin (UCD).
I’m sure you are asking, why would I be happy to see my brother/son play for a team that rarely competes for domestic trophies or participates in Europe, a club that are usually languishing in the lower half of the Premier Division, if not in the First Division? Well my answer is pretty simple. UCD give young players the opportunity to play football at the highest level in this country.
UCD help young soccer players develop their full potential with a well stocked reservoir of coaching and training techniques. The training facilities and support staff at Belfield are second to none. And to top it off, they put you through college and if you work hard enough, hopefully you will reap the rewards when you end your playing career because as we all know, football is a short term occupation.
In 2005 I was playing football for Rivervalley Rangers in the 4th Division of the Athletic Union League (AUL) when I first heard of the UCD Sports Scholarship programme. A friend of mine was playing in the Super League side with UCD and he told me about the Scholarship. At the time, I had, more or less, given up on my lifelong ambition to be a professional footballer. I sent in my application form with the assistance of Diarmuid McNally, now Assistant Manager at UCD. I couldn’t make the first two trial periods after I sustained an injury in training with my local side. Nevertheless I was allowed to proceed past these preliminary trials to the main trials in which Ronan Finn (now of Shamrock Rovers) was playing alongside me. I managed to do reasonably well in the first game and in the final game where we played the UCD Under 21 team, I scored two quick goals and then had the misfortune to pull my hamstring after 15 minutes. I thought that was my chance gone but Eddie Wallace who was assistant manager to Pete Mahon at the time called me aside after the game and offered me a Sports Scholarship to UCD.
I should add at this stage that I was already in UCD at the time studying a degree in Sports Management. I signed a three year deal with UCD in June 2005 comprising 11 contract weeks in 2005 season, and 36 contract weeks in 2006 and 2007 seasons. UCD paid for my college registration fees for the three years of my scholarship/contract. I also had unlimited access to the facilities at the Crunch Fitness centre at Belfield. On the playing front, I proceeded very quickly from the under 21 side to the first team where I got my first start in an away game to Bray Wanderers which we won 1-0. Pete had brought me on as a substitute in a number of games previous to this. My second start for the first team was in the League Cup Final defeat to Derry City a few days later where I scored my first League of Ireland goal. Unfortunately we lost the game 2-1.
As I mentioned earlier, Pete was manager of UCD at the time and I have him to thank for giving me the opportunity to play League of Ireland football. Pete worked with limited resources but managed week in week out to put 11 players on the pitch who were tactically aware, fit, determined, motivated and confident of getting a result. He trusts his players, respects them and in return the players had 100% respect for him. He is honest, straight talking and absolutely leaves you in no doubt what he expects from you both in training and on match days. To me, he is one of the most honest men in the League.
Martin Russell was coach of the UCD first team at the time I was there and he developed my game to a whole new level. When Pete moved on from UCD, I was delighted when the club appointed Martin to succeed him. In one way, managing UCD is one of the most difficult jobs in the league as there is a huge turnover of players from one season to the next. Just look at the exodus of players from Belfield this season – the McMillan brothers (Evan and David) and Brian Shortall to St. Pat’s, Greg Bolger and Keith Ward to Dundalk, Andy Boyle and Chris Mulhall to Shelbourne, Ciaran Kilduff to Shamrock Rovers and Billy Brennan to Lisburn Distillery. It is also one of the most rewarding jobs around as there is a conveyor belt of new talent coming through each season and you can mould these players into your way of playing.
UCD have a history of developing young players who go on to star in the League of Ireland. Tony McDonnell is one of those players. Mr. UCD, as he is commonly referred to, is a legend in this league having played over 300 games for the College. I had the pleasure of playing with Tony and he was a fantastic captain and role model to the younger lads when we were there. UCD developed Gary Dicker, now at Brighton, and Conor Sammon now plying his trade at Premier League side Wigan Athletic following spells at Derry City and Kilmarnock. A number of my former team mates at UCD are now playing for other clubs in the league. Ronan Finn and Paddy Kavanagh with Shamrock Rovers, Shane McFaul, Derek Doyle, Conor Kenna, Brian Shortall, Evan McMillan and Ian Bermingham at St. Pat’s, Greg Bolger at Dundalk and Alan McNally at Drogheda United. In addition, who can forget former UCD players like Jason Sherlock and Kevin Moran, to name but two.
UCD is where it all started for me in League of Ireland. I spent three very happy years in Belfield on both the playing and academic fronts. In my final year with UCD, I was very proud and pleased when I won the Supporters Player of the Year Award and I left College with an Honours Degree in Sports Management. I cannot thank UCD enough for what they did for my career, both on a football level and an educational one too.
I left UCD at the end of the 2007 season when I signed for Sporting Fingal and as most people are aware, I signed for Shelbourne last month following the collapse of Fingal. I have been very lucky to play for three of the great managers in the League of Ireland to date – Pete Mahon at UCD, Liam Buckley at Sporting Fingal and now Alan Matthews at Shelbourne
Finally, I would like to thank Curran Property Management who are based on Main Street Swords for sponsoring me for the 2011 season at Shelbourne FC.
I’m sure you are asking, why would I be happy to see my brother/son play for a team that rarely competes for domestic trophies or participates in Europe, a club that are usually languishing in the lower half of the Premier Division, if not in the First Division? Well my answer is pretty simple. UCD give young players the opportunity to play football at the highest level in this country.
UCD help young soccer players develop their full potential with a well stocked reservoir of coaching and training techniques. The training facilities and support staff at Belfield are second to none. And to top it off, they put you through college and if you work hard enough, hopefully you will reap the rewards when you end your playing career because as we all know, football is a short term occupation.
In 2005 I was playing football for Rivervalley Rangers in the 4th Division of the Athletic Union League (AUL) when I first heard of the UCD Sports Scholarship programme. A friend of mine was playing in the Super League side with UCD and he told me about the Scholarship. At the time, I had, more or less, given up on my lifelong ambition to be a professional footballer. I sent in my application form with the assistance of Diarmuid McNally, now Assistant Manager at UCD. I couldn’t make the first two trial periods after I sustained an injury in training with my local side. Nevertheless I was allowed to proceed past these preliminary trials to the main trials in which Ronan Finn (now of Shamrock Rovers) was playing alongside me. I managed to do reasonably well in the first game and in the final game where we played the UCD Under 21 team, I scored two quick goals and then had the misfortune to pull my hamstring after 15 minutes. I thought that was my chance gone but Eddie Wallace who was assistant manager to Pete Mahon at the time called me aside after the game and offered me a Sports Scholarship to UCD.
I should add at this stage that I was already in UCD at the time studying a degree in Sports Management. I signed a three year deal with UCD in June 2005 comprising 11 contract weeks in 2005 season, and 36 contract weeks in 2006 and 2007 seasons. UCD paid for my college registration fees for the three years of my scholarship/contract. I also had unlimited access to the facilities at the Crunch Fitness centre at Belfield. On the playing front, I proceeded very quickly from the under 21 side to the first team where I got my first start in an away game to Bray Wanderers which we won 1-0. Pete had brought me on as a substitute in a number of games previous to this. My second start for the first team was in the League Cup Final defeat to Derry City a few days later where I scored my first League of Ireland goal. Unfortunately we lost the game 2-1.
As I mentioned earlier, Pete was manager of UCD at the time and I have him to thank for giving me the opportunity to play League of Ireland football. Pete worked with limited resources but managed week in week out to put 11 players on the pitch who were tactically aware, fit, determined, motivated and confident of getting a result. He trusts his players, respects them and in return the players had 100% respect for him. He is honest, straight talking and absolutely leaves you in no doubt what he expects from you both in training and on match days. To me, he is one of the most honest men in the League.
Martin Russell was coach of the UCD first team at the time I was there and he developed my game to a whole new level. When Pete moved on from UCD, I was delighted when the club appointed Martin to succeed him. In one way, managing UCD is one of the most difficult jobs in the league as there is a huge turnover of players from one season to the next. Just look at the exodus of players from Belfield this season – the McMillan brothers (Evan and David) and Brian Shortall to St. Pat’s, Greg Bolger and Keith Ward to Dundalk, Andy Boyle and Chris Mulhall to Shelbourne, Ciaran Kilduff to Shamrock Rovers and Billy Brennan to Lisburn Distillery. It is also one of the most rewarding jobs around as there is a conveyor belt of new talent coming through each season and you can mould these players into your way of playing.
UCD have a history of developing young players who go on to star in the League of Ireland. Tony McDonnell is one of those players. Mr. UCD, as he is commonly referred to, is a legend in this league having played over 300 games for the College. I had the pleasure of playing with Tony and he was a fantastic captain and role model to the younger lads when we were there. UCD developed Gary Dicker, now at Brighton, and Conor Sammon now plying his trade at Premier League side Wigan Athletic following spells at Derry City and Kilmarnock. A number of my former team mates at UCD are now playing for other clubs in the league. Ronan Finn and Paddy Kavanagh with Shamrock Rovers, Shane McFaul, Derek Doyle, Conor Kenna, Brian Shortall, Evan McMillan and Ian Bermingham at St. Pat’s, Greg Bolger at Dundalk and Alan McNally at Drogheda United. In addition, who can forget former UCD players like Jason Sherlock and Kevin Moran, to name but two.
UCD is where it all started for me in League of Ireland. I spent three very happy years in Belfield on both the playing and academic fronts. In my final year with UCD, I was very proud and pleased when I won the Supporters Player of the Year Award and I left College with an Honours Degree in Sports Management. I cannot thank UCD enough for what they did for my career, both on a football level and an educational one too.
I left UCD at the end of the 2007 season when I signed for Sporting Fingal and as most people are aware, I signed for Shelbourne last month following the collapse of Fingal. I have been very lucky to play for three of the great managers in the League of Ireland to date – Pete Mahon at UCD, Liam Buckley at Sporting Fingal and now Alan Matthews at Shelbourne
Finally, I would like to thank Curran Property Management who are based on Main Street Swords for sponsoring me for the 2011 season at Shelbourne FC.
