Irish Daily Star - Inside Sport
McCourt’s guiding Brighton’s green wave
LEROY McCOuRt is just one player shy of a Brighton Irish XI.
The older brother of Celtic and Derry City legend Paddy McCourt, Leroy has been scouting for the Premier League side since 2016.
Among the 10 players who have secured moves to the Seagulls thanks to his recommendation are Evan Ferguson and Andrew Moran.
Warren O’Hora, now a regular first-team player at MK Dons after a loan move was made permanent in 2021, is another.
And there are more who are patiently making their way through the underage structures, hoping to one day join Ferguson and Moran, who made his Premier League debut last month against Everton, as first-team players.
Mark O’Mahony and Jamie Mullins are the most recent recruits. Ireland Under-19 striker O’Mahony made the move from Cork City last month for around €60,000, while Mullins joined from Bohemians.
Brighton’s success in bringing players over from Ireland has helped polish McCourt’s reputation within the English game.
Academy
He was namechecked this week in an interview by Ian Buckman, Brighton’s head of academy, in the ‘i’ newspaper.
The article focused on the club’s successful Irish recruitment drive, with Buckman saying: “A lot of credit would have to go to John Morling, our previous academy manager.
“John previously worked with the FAI and had good knowledge of the quality and talent over there. Leroy McCourt does a lot of great work for us and keeps an eye on the players.”
McCourt isn’t one to court publicity and has turned down several interview requests in recent weeks, including this one.
But it’s easy enough to build a profile of the man responsible for the greening of Brighton by chatting to others within the thriving Derry football community.
And the rumours on the Bogside are that a number of Brighton’s Premier League rivals would love to lure him away from the Amex.
McCourt has been involved in football in one form or another since he was a child. He has coached Shane Duffy, Michael