S greatest captain
in the club’s history, but perhaps his greatest single achievement was to captain a side he assembled on a shoe string, managed and played a pivotal role in to win the League in the 1975-76 season.
McLoughlin was retired from playing but he handed the armband to another great leader on the field, Dermot Keely who captained the Lilywhites to the League and Cup double in the 1978-79 season and retained the Cup the following season.
Joey Malone, captain of the double winning team of 1987-88 was another great leader off and on the field, as was Tom McNulty, captain of another title winning team in 1990-91, while they may not have figured in the winning enclosure as captains, Tommy McConville, who made 19 appearances for the club in Europe, and Martin Lawlor must he regarded as outstanding captains of the club.
However, none of all those great players ever came nearing Stephen O’Donnell record of leading the side to four League title, two FAI Cups and two EA Cups and for that reason is undoubtedly the greatest captain in the club’s history.
Whether he is the greatest player ever to represent the club is an entirety different matter and in truth it is very, very difficult to make that assessment, for comparisons are impossible with players that many alive never saw playing, such as Joey Donnelly, while playing styles have changed as well as fitness levels.
There was however one comment in Vinnie Perth tribute to Stephen O’Donnell and that must be noted for in his judgement the Galway midfielder had the ability to control game and dictate the pace of pace of games to a level that was rarely seen in the domestic league.
‘The style of play in Ireland has evolved in recent years and players like Stephen, his understanding of the game and his technical ability has modernised Irish football’ said Perth.
Perhaps that is Stephen O’Donnell’s legacy to the game that he loved and to which he gave so much, thankfully primarily with Dundalk. NEW Dundalk head coach Vinny Perth led the tributes to Stephen O’Donnell following his decision to retire from professional football last week.
The midfielder has opted to hang up his boots to work under Perth as the club’s new Senior Opposition Analyst and Scout.
He bows out as Dundalk’s longest serving and most successful captain in the club’s history and Perth told The Argus that O’Donnell had a profound impact in the change in style in Irish football in recent years, particularly in Europe.
‘The game has changed in terms of how it’s played but how he played has modernised how Irish football is played in terms of his ability to keep the ball and control the tempo of a game.
‘In many games he was a really calming influence when he did that stuff. His understanding and ability to control games was definitely something that wasn’t really seen in our game and very few players have it.
‘He has been at the forefront of Irish football changing in terms of our ability to keep the ball as a nation and as a league. He has been right up there in that.’
Most Dundalk fans will remember O’Donnell for his comeback from injury to score in the final game of the season title decider with Cork City in 2014 but Perth said he wouldn’t like the midfielder to be remembered for his injury problems, which included a broken leg last May that curtailed his involvement in Dundalk’s double winning campaign.
‘He was very strong at that time,’ Perth said of 2014 when he came back from a potentially career threatening knee ligament injury.
‘That recovery highlights the type of person he is, very driven, very determined and ultimately a winner. He came back and won that day. He had done everything that was asked of him over them couple of periods where he was out but we remember Stephen for other things.
‘I don’t want him to be defined by injury and how he recovered from them because he played big roles in big nights for us and I think the biggest one was probably the Cork game because that was the catalyst for everything we have achieved over the last five years and his goal was majorly important but he has had some really big performances over the years. There is obvious ones but there’s also ones that aren’t so obvious that we’ll remember him by internally in our group.
‘His last goal against Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght in the 2017 FAI Cup semi-final replay is my favourite to be honest with you. I just remember it really fondly,’ said Perth.
Looking to the future, Perth said he was delighted to have added to his backroom team with someone he trusted so much.
‘Me and Stephen would have had a very good relationship in terms of him being club captain and I was the link between the management and the players. We’ve had a very good relationship over the last six years and obviously achieved a lot together so it was a natural fit for both of us.
‘We have slightly different beliefs but there’s a very similar DNA between the two of us so I think it’s a perfect fit and again it helps the whole continuity within the club of everyone stepping up one place in the team.
‘He steps up to one role and that means we have to step up a new captain into another position so everything is about people stepping up to the plate.’
While O’Donnell steps into the role previously held by Ruaidhrí Higgins in analysing Dundalk’s opponents, Perth said it has a broader remit than before.
‘It’s a different role,’ said the head coach.
‘Last year we would have had a much smaller coaching staff so Ruaidhrí would have done some coaching. It’s a slightly different role this year. We feel as a club we can improve our scouting network in terms of looking at markets outside of our league. He’ll have certain roles in terms of viewing players in the likes of Northern Ireland because there’s a good market there and we don’t have a presence there at the moment.
‘The role has sort of expanded and we’d expect him to be challenging us with players and different options that are out there. He has a good eye for a player and understands the game. Himself and Ruaidhrí are very similar in terms of their understanding of the game and their beliefs so that’s what I like about the continuity of it so it ticked a lot of boxes,’ said Perth.