Trevor takes reins
Father and son hoping to inspire Oscar Traynor side
A father and son duo will take charge of the WDFL’s 2018/19 Oscar Traynor campaign but who is the master and who is the apprentice?
Newtown’s Trevor O’Brien and his father, Declan Carthy, will be the no. 1 and no. 2 respectively for the Garden County but little did they know that they were both in the running for the manager’s post!
O’Brien has proven himself time and time again with Newtown United as they’ve collected enough trophies to sink a fishing trawler and his management skills are continuously recognised at the Tommy Earls Awards night. As for Carthy, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience and is involved with the revived Coolboy Rangers this year.
It was not an easy decision for O’Brien to walk away from Newtown’s first team – he’ll now take charge of their second team – but he felt it was the correct decision to help him realise his dream.
“I thought it wouldn’t be fair to be involved in Newtown’s Premier team and be standing on the sideline against groups of players from the Oscar Traynor team. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always be associated with Newtown (by others) but to be fair I felt this was the right way to do it.
“I am absolutely delighted. I got involved the year that Gary Kelly and Barry Mernagh were joint managers as the goalkeeping coach and straightaway I was hooked and I knew that one day it would be my ambition to be the manager. I put my name forward last year but there was no team so I put my name forward again this year alongside my dad, Declan Carthy. The two of us - unbeknownst to each other - had both applied for the job. It was always my intention if I got it to ask him to be my assistant and likewise; he said if he got it, he would’ve asked me. We work well together and we’re both very passionate about Wicklow football and how we want this team run. We’re total opposites in our opinions of football so it should work out really well.”
The Oscar Traynor team has been dented in recent years with some clubs declining to get involved and some clubs feeling overlooked but O’Brien will be stood with open arms for anyone and if you’re good enough – you will play.
“We had a meeting and I said ‘if the 10 best players in the county come from Ashford and there’s no better players, then those 10 lads will play’. If it happens to be that a lad from Shamrock Celtic is playing out of his skin, then he’ll get a chance.
“The best players in the best positions will play. If players make themselves available then they’ll play. I understand that some lads will have GAA or work or college or whatever; the players that make themselves available will get their chance.”
If O’Brien can get all his ducks in a row over the next few weeks, he believes that Co. Wicklow can advance to the knock-out stages. He praises the WDFL for their hands-on approach but does admit his team’s start-time of Monday two weeks back is not ideal.
“This is a long-term project for us. For myself, Declan, Ian Neary, Craig Butler, Gary Kelly, Conor Clack and Lee Fitz plus the youth-set up of Darragh Keenan and John Belmont - the idea for us is a three-year project and within that three-year project, we’re hoping to be challenging for trophies whether it’s the Youth Inter-League or the Oscar Traynor. If we can set the foundations this year, bring it forward a step next year and by the third/fourth/fifth year, there’s no reason why we can’t be challenging.
“As for this year, if we get our best team out then there’s no reason why we can’t get out of our group.
“If we can our best squad from Wicklow, we have an excellent chance of getting out of the group and who knows after that.”