Ethan eager for major move
Playing in one of the ‘big five’ leagues is Boyle’s dream
AS A nation we love a meteoric rise from local starlet to superstar, and that’s the kind of dream kids in Ireland aspire to live up to - from park to Premier League. The fact is that there’s so much in between, so many side streets to walk to reach the end goal.
These pathways aren’t always popular. Teenagers can be temperamental and the hard road isn’t one they are all designed to prosper on. However, for some, it’s just another challenge to overcome and the journey is half the fun anyway.
The last ten years for Ethan Boyle have been that of steady progression. Born in Bristol, he arrived in Wexford at 13 with a dream of playing football at the highest level. When it didn’t come quickly he was keen to adapt, happy to travel the tough road.
‘From my own experience, I was in the same boat,’ Ethan explained. ‘I was so eager to get to England at a young age, which is what a lot of people around me were doing, and you hear a lot about it.
‘When it didn’t happen... I always loved football and I think that as long as you are passionate about it and you do the right things, keep working hard, I think things will naturally progress for you.
‘I feel that’s what happened with me, I kept getting more opportunities. I got the opportunity to go to Waterford, from them to Finn Harps, from there to Shamrock Rovers, from there to Linfield, so I just feel like it’s a natural progression.’
His message to the others who may wait on a call from England that never comes is simple. Hard work is at the core of it but also ‘try not to get frustrated, if it’s what you want to do and feel it’s for you it won’t pass you by’.
After arriving in Wexford, Ethan lined out for North End for four years, and about the experience he said: ‘They are such a good club and had good teams from 16s all the way through to the first team, I really enjoyed my time there.’
He was making steady progress with the Hollygrove boys, but the first step on the ladder to the bigger picture came when an opportunity with Waterford United, as they were at the time, came about in 2014.
‘I went up to go on trial with their Under-19 team and then I made that team,’ he remembered. ‘Then we were just in pre-season for the 19s league and the first team were still playing, I think.
‘I must have been doing well. The manager at the time, Tommy Griffin, asked me would I like to sign with the first team on amateur forms, which obviously I wanted to do.
‘I think I played the rest of that season, about nine games. I played a full year the following season, which was under new management. Roddy Collins came in for that season, or part of that season.
‘I really enjoyed that year when Roddy came in. He made me captain, that was a great achievement for myself, I was still young. I think I was 18, it was obviously a great achievement to be made captain of such a big team.’
The talented right-sided player, who is equally at home in defence or midfield, was impressing hugely despite Waterford’s struggles. When his second season at the RSC was up, there was serious interest in Boyle around the country.
‘I got called into the Irish schools team Under-18s when I was with Waterford. The manager at the time was Ollie Horgan. He was also the manager of Finn Harps. We obviously would have played them in the first division a few times, they got promoted that season.
‘I was at the end of the year with Waterford, I went on trial with Cork for a week training, I was on trial with Shamrock Rovers, also for about a week, they fell through.
‘Ollie kind of gave me the opportunity to go up and play with them so, of course, I wanted to go play at the highest level I could.
‘I moved up there, I lived in a B&B for about a month while they were looking for accommodation, then I lived up there with one other lad for the full season.
‘I didn’t mind, I’ve always said from a young age, I’d go anywhere to play football, there’s no distance I wouldn’t go because it’s always something I wanted to do.
‘I was 18 or 19 but it didn’t really faze me, the chance to go and play in the Premier Division, my first opportunity to go and do that, no matter how far it was going to be I didn’t have a problem going to do that.
‘It was my first time moving away, so I was kind of excited for that as well. I’ve never really been much of a home person, I like to get out and experience things.
‘It was obviously tough at first, I was young and not making a lot of money. In that regard it wasn’t easy but that’s the sacrifice you make if you want to do what you want to do.
‘I’d say the highlights would be I won young player of the year both years I was there, and that meant a lot to me. I think the season we had Paddy McCourt join us, a Celtic legend and a very good player, [I] got to play alongside him for a while.
‘That was quite fun, learned a lot from him, we didn’t really get on the best but he was a good player to play with!’
After impressing in Ballybofey, it was no surprise that the big boys started to nibble again. Sligo Rovers were interested in taking him on board, but a move to Dublin with a building giant of Irish football appealed most.
‘In the end I ended up signing with Shamrock Rovers, which is probably what I wanted to do anyway. I signed with them and played with them for two years, that was a completely different experience than Finn Harps.
‘With Harps we were trying to stay up and with Rovers you are expected to win everything and compete for trophies. I enjoyed it, it was such an experience because I learned so much, but in terms of expectations it was a big jump.
‘I was still young, I was still only 21 when I went there, I loved it. We had the FAI Cup final, which I wasn’t involved in but it was a good experience to be there and be part of it. It was a great bunch of lads that I was playing with.
‘Definitely it helped me going forward, between themselves and Dundalk, they are the biggest clubs in Ireland, in the Republic anyway, for a young lad to go deal with that expectation, whereas I was kind of in the starting eleven from the first game.
‘I held my starting position for the first year and then the second year before I got injured, it gave me such an experience playing in Europe, playing against all these good teams, it gives you a good gauge of where you are at in terms of ability and stuff like that.’
A persistent hamstring injury early in his second season left him sidelined for a significant time and had a detrimental effect on the latter part of the season, but when it came time to leave Rovers at the end of the term there were several options again. Linfield made the most sense.
‘It was kind of sudden,’ Ethan said. ‘I didn’t think I was going to end up down there, I had a couple of options down south, then I got a phone call, there’s a Northern Irish team interested and it was Linfield.
‘I knew they were a big club but I didn’t realise how big they were until I got up there, saw their set-up and looked into them a bit more. I realised how big they are, seeing all they had to offer and the type of players they have was like I felt it was the right thing to do to go up there.’
Boyle started with Linfield in January and was involved right from the off. The Belfast club have won the Northern Irish title 54 times, the latest being just a few days ago when they were confirmed as champions for the shortened 2019-’20 season.
‘I’ve been really enjoying it so far. It was my first time in Belfast, I really like the city and am enjoying being up there.
‘I’m back home in Wexford at the moment but I’m hoping to go back there next week. I think we are meant to go back to training. They are a great club, they are a big deal up there so it feels good to be part of another big team.’
Managed by former Northern Ireland international striker David Healy, Linfield go into the Champions League qualifying stages in the coming months, and it’s another step on the ladder that Boyle is eager to take.
‘Champions League qualifiers is not something I’ve played in and it’s something I’m looking forward to. It’s just the qualifying rounds but it’s still such a big deal to say that you’ve played in it.
‘Obviously there’s the expectation that you can get as far as you can into the later rounds, I mean Linfield nearly got into the Europa League group stages just before I joined and it was huge for them, so it would be amazing if we could do something similar again next season.’
As the stepping stone keeps getting closer to the end goal, Ethan is as hungry as ever to keep making progress. He has had his goals in mind since the beginning, has taken the road less travelled, but feels like the next step is just more hard work away.
‘I’ve always thought from a young age that I wanted to play football as a professional. At the moment I’m lucky to be doing that, I want to go further. I’d love to play in England or in one of the top five leagues: England, Germany, Spain, France or Italy.
‘I just want to get to as high a level as I can, I believe I’m good enough to do that and I just have to keep working hard. I’m only 23 so there’s plenty of time to do that so I’m confident, I hope that can happen.’