I Dun the right thing with Lilies
DUNDALK stalwart Brian Gartland wonders how his career might have panned out after a sliding doors moment five years ago.
The big defender took a chance by joining Stephen Kenny’s Lilywhites from Portadown midway through the 2013 season.
Little did he realise that there was a revolution brewing in the border town – one that has armed him with four league titles, one FAI Cup and inroads in Europe.
Had he seized on the other options, he would have faced relegation with Shelbourne or mid-table mediocrity with Drogheda who did reach the cup final that year.
Ahead of Sunday’s decider with arch rivals Cork City, Gartland said: “I was training with Shels for two or three weeks.
“If Johnny Mcdonnell had offered me anything in the two weeks before, I probably would have just signed.
“I’d have been happy to get playing down south because I was sick of travelling having been with Portadown and Monaghan before that.
“I played for Shels in a friendly against Peterborough and had a decent game, a very good game.
“He offered me something then and I said, ‘Look I need a little bit more,’ – it wasn’t much at all.
“Then I had a voicemail from Stephen Kenny when I was off the phone from him and that was the one that was completely out of the blue.”
Kenny was certainly persistent and refused to take no for an answer. He phoned Gartland four or five more times that day.
And pressed on what swayed him to Dundalk in the end, Gartland said: “I signed because that’s what Stephen sold to me – success.”