CUP FINAL VIEWS OF ALAN BENNETT AND GARY ROGERS
Well-travelled Bennett wouldn’t swap Cup success for anything
‘Playing in England was so uncertain, so crazy’
CORK CITY’S ALAN BENNETT won a League of Ireland title with the Leesiders in 2005 but missed out on a double by losing the FAI Cup final. After a decade in England and two Republic of Ireland caps, the veteran centre back returned in 2015 to join John Caulfield’s new era. Here, Bennett explains why success here means more to him than anything else in his career.
IFEEL like a bit of a traitor to that 2005 team when I start talking about it because that was the first time that we had been in an FAI Cup final in a long time. We had just won the league, seven days previously, after coming from behind to catch Derry, so those two situations were drastically different.
Cork City then as a club compared to now? John Caulfield is speaking to players and he is talking about a package in terms of their education, money’s obviously in there, their living situation, food, all those sorts of things are there.
In 2005 it was probably more financial. That was across the league. I hope the lessons have been learned. Cork City is very different now. The club is owned by fans and people have a genuine sense of responsibility towards the club, towards the well-being of the club and that’s important. There is more of a collective.
I grew up in Cork. I didn’t start playing until I was 16. I grew up in a GAA environment and there was always a sense of community, and your responsibility towards that community as someone involved in a team. When I went to the UK — Reading, Southampton, Brentford, Wycombe, Wimbledon — in some clubs it was there and some clubs it wasn’t. There was a very quick turnover of players. It took me a long time to settle down in the environment.
I think every manager I would have had would say I was a good pro and gave his all and all the rest. I’m proud of that because there were plenty of times that I wanted to jack it in.
It was so uncertain, so crazy. I mean I won the league with Brentford and the next season I was asked to leave.
Pretty much three months into the new season, the manager changes his mind, you’re told, “listen, if you want to go somewhere else, it’s no problem”. I couldn’t wrap my head around it, coming from the GAA background. You think if you give your all then you’ll be treated the same. But look, that’s the industry; it’s just so results driven.
If you were to retire me right now this season, 2005 would be the things I would be happiest to talk about. There was some international stuff with Ireland but this [Cork City] is what I feel the biggest connection with.
From a financial point of view that makes no sense, it doesn’t really, but then I had those 10 years in the UK from maybe 22 to 32 where you just have to go if you want to make a decent living. That’s just the way it is, the environment there is.
Sustainability is a key word, that absolutely needs to be in place. I hope as a fan of Cork City that John Caulfield is putting in those foundations now — I see it myself. For instance, Seanie Maguire and Kevin O’Connor left Cork, 21, 22 year olds, a hundred odd games under their belt.
A cup medal, now a league medal, 15 European games. Equate that to a 21-year-old in England — I’m not sure they’d have those games unless they’re really exceptional.
So that’s crystal clear in my mind that this is the ultimate unique selling point for our league, that you can put together a good young man, who’s well-rounded having grown up at home and understands what’s required for success. We have to see more Kevin Doyles, more Seanie Maguries, more Shane Longs, more regularly.