End of football career left a bitter taste

PAUL Doolin enjoyed a decorated career in the League of Ireland - both as a player and manager - and so he is bitterly disappointed at the circumstances in which he cut ties with the game in 2016.

After leaving Drogheda around the time of the club’s examinership he had a season in charge of Cork City in 2009, leading them to a creditable third-place finish before lightning struck twice in the space of 12 months as the Leesiders also suffered financial problems and were relegated to the First Division.

Doolin’s ability wasn’t in question and by the following spring he was appointed as manager of Republic

of Ireland Under-23s, before switching to the 18s and 19s and steering the latter to the European Championship semi-finals.

He’d previously said that such success wasn’t welcomed in the cash-strapped FAI, who were apparently worried about financing such a run in a major tournament, and after leaving his post in 2016 and opting to work in the civil service he spoke of ‘horrendous politics’ in the Association.

‘At first I certainly did miss it,’ he told the Drogheda Independent when asked how he felt about being out of the game.

‘I was hoping to get a job -

I wasn’t expecting a job - but I didn’t have one offer. I applied for Shamrock Rovers - and I played there for four years and didn’t even get a call back and I think that’s disrespectful.

‘The same with Galway. I remember reading on their website that they were looking for a successful person, a qualified person, a person that knows the players, so I said ‘I think I might have that’ and applied and didn’t hear anything back.

‘At this stage am I missing it? No. I have a family, I’m around more, where I wasn’t for maybe 36 years. I wouldn’t say I’m officially retired, but what disappoints me more than anything is that they’ve sort of pushed us to the side.

‘When I finished with the FAI I was 53 and you’re probably in your best years, but it was just ‘out you go’.

‘There are fellas that get jobs nowadays who aren’t fully qualified. If you’re trying to market a league, push it on and sell it to people, the first thing you need is qualified people working in the league.

‘A lot of clubs are appointing people who are nearly there, some are on courses and some don’t even have a licence.’ in the first game I was saying [to the players] ‘see this player here, he strikes and he’s clever’.

‘He took a corner late in that game and the ball ended coming back to him. He shaped to put the ball in, but then he didn’t. He went past Richie Baker and put it in [to the net] at the near post.

‘I was disappointed after talking about him, and then to go over there and go down so soon in the game, people were probably saying this is a hiding here, but we were brilliant.

‘I still remember us going at the death. These were fellas who were top international players, and in my opinion we should have won the game and qualified. To be a goal down, 2-1 down, get back to 2-2 and still have the main chances. That’s not counting Ollie Cahill’s chance late on after Shane Robinson’s and Adam Hughes’.

‘Hughes was a goalscorer and I often wonder how did he put it over the bar? How? He must have been inside the six-yard box or just outside it. It was an open goal. Anywhere bar where he put it.’

One week later Drogheda were knocked out of the FAI Cup as well, and from there it was downhill on and off the field and a 10-point deduction for going into examinership saw them end the season just above the relegation zone.

‘I remember meeting the directors and I wasn’t aware of what was coming, but they seemed to know. They were saying what was coming down the road, that what was coming down the road had never happened. There was a recession coming and people were going to lose their houses and lose everything,’ said Doolin.

‘When the recession hit, so many people committed suicide over that, which puts things in perspective.

‘It was unfortunate for the club. I say unfortunate, but in hindsight was it a blessing? If they had that ground, would they have been able to continue?

‘Maybe if they’d scaled it back a little bit and continue maybe in a different way, but it just went ‘boom’.

‘It’s probably just as well the stadium didn’t happen, because it may not have been able to fulfil the promise with the ideas, letting the offices out and things like that.

‘It would have been brilliant. I remember saying this to various reporters, that we’ve heard this so many times from other clubs, but I thought this was real - and then, sure, it was gone.

‘I remember then the last opportunity we had was the Setanta Cup semi-final in United Park. Glentoran beat us 1-0 and to this day I don’t know how they beat us. I think it was the only chance they had and we just couldn’t score.’