Crowley urges ‘Well to stick together
DEPARTING Newfoundwell joint manager Paul Crowley has urged the NEFL Premier Division-winning squad to stay together and build something even more special in the years ahead.
The former League of Ireland star, who made more than 300 appearances in all and had three spells with Drogheda United, is leaving to pursue his A Licence coaching badge, with a view to entering League management in the future. However, he leaves with cherished memories of his time at the ‘Well and hopes Danny Gartland can keep them at the top of the NEFL and have another go at the FAI and Leinster Junior after runs to the quarter-finals in both competitions last season.
‘I just want to thank the players for the season they had, and the club in general, and I want to thank my daughters and my partner who were very patient all the way through and were my support team at home,’ Crowley told the Drogheda Independent this week.
‘But I really hope that foundations are put in this year so that the success carries on, because it was never a plan for one season.
‘Everyone needs to get together and the players need to get behind Danny and get back on board to push on. I said to them at the presentation night that this club has what everyone else is trying to build.
‘I’ll be up at games and Danny and I are still chatting day in day out, but this club was successful before I came in and it can be again. The lads know what it takes to be successul, and if they don’t get back together and push on then they are cheating themselves.’
Looking back on the 2017/18 season, Crowley won’t forget the amazing domestic run to Premier Division and Kilmessan Shield glory, only missing out on the Challenge Cup, but there will always be regrets about the club being thrown out of the FAI Junior Cup for inadvertently fielding an ineligible player in their last-16 victory over Ayrfield United.
‘We were unbeaten domestically and looked invincible, especially at home. It was like the 2012 team with Drogheda United when winning became a habit.
‘It was like a bug that grew throughout the team and you could see that lads were really looking after themselves.
‘What happened in the FAI was very sore, especially having a home draw in the quarter-finals, because I don’t think we’ll see a squad for a long time that had such a good chance of going all the way.
‘Then, when it came to the Leinster [quarter-final] game you could see that the bubble had burst.’