An Interview - Owen Heary

As a footballer, Owen Heary collected league and cup winners medals, predominately at Shelbourne, on a frequent basis. Back at Tolka Park as manager, Owen chats with ExtraTime.ie about his playing accomplishments and desire to emulate that success from the dugout.

 

The Dubliner began his League of Ireland career with Kilkenny City and describes how he arrived at Buckley Park for the 1993/94 season: “John Cleary held a trial in the Phoenix Park. He then asked me if I wanted to come down. They had some good experienced players and John was a decent centre-half, himself. I could have stayed longer, but got a chance to go to Home Farm and do a FÁS course in Dublin.” 

 

Spending four years at Home Farm, it was there Dermot Keeley handed the young right-back his maiden captaincy of a League of Ireland team. Did Heary always consider himself as a leader on the pitch?

 

“No, but I did give everything I had in each game. It wasn’t until working with Pat Fenlon that I controlled the dressing room and talked to players.”

 

Owen accompanied Keeley to Shelbourne in 1998. During a triumphant spell, he captured five Premier Division titles and an FAI Cup, but does he believe that the Reds would have accumulated as many trophies if they didn’t overspend and ultimately go bankrupt?

 



“When I went to Shels, we didn’t buy loads of players ... They already had good footballers present. We brought in a couple at a time and won the double in 2000. Looking around, there were the likes of Paul Doolin with six league medals and I wanted to be at that level. Anybody that came in, realised it wasn’t about cups, but always about winning the league and they bought into that. When Fenlon took over, he brought it to another height and that’s how we became successful.”

 

After nine glittering years at Tolka Park, Heary joined Bohemians in early 2007. The following season was his most fulfilling – leading the Gypsies to the double, while also earning PFAI (Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland) and SWAI (Soccer Writers’ Association of Ireland) Player of the Year awards, in addition to a place on the League of Ireland Team of the Year.

 

“Personal trophies are great, but the club winning the league by the biggest margin ever (19 points) was unbelievable. It wasn’t the best team ever, but we had the hardest-working group I ever played in. We had a defensive mindset that said: ‘we won’t lose games’. To beat Derry in the FAI Cup final was fantastic because they were the only team we didn’t defeat in the league that season ... To lift that trophy against them, topped it.”

 



2009 saw Bohemians finish first again, while Owen also added a League Cup winners medal to an already bulging personal stockpile. 

 

“We won back-to-back titles and I thought we had a team that would dominate for years.”

 

The Setanta Sports Cup was captured in 2010, but during the same season, Bohemians surrendered the Premier Division to Shamrock Rovers on goal difference and floundered in Europe against Welsh outfit The New Saints. With the glory days over, Heary remained at Dalymount Park as a part-timer until 2013.

 

“Like many other clubs in the League of Ireland, we had money problems, so couldn’t continue our success. We lost loads of players, but I enjoyed being at Bohs, so became an amateur to help the club ... I started out as one and 21 years later ended up the same.” 

 

As well as a host of silverware and medals, Owen also shares the joint records for Premier Division wins (seven) and European appearances (41) for a domestic footballer: “It’s something I’m proud of. Any player at the end of their career, it has to be about the memories and achievements. It’s great to have something to show for it.”

 

Heary had previous minor managerial roles within Bohemians and after saving the first team from relegation in 2013 as caretaker-boss, the subsequent year he guided them to a respectable seventh position, while also reaching the EA Sports Cup semi-finals. At that stage, did he feel comfortable in charge of a League of Ireland side?

 

“Yeah, I think so. I was at the club a long time and knew everybody by then. We had a good season and the platform was there to carry on. Under 18s were coming through, so we had youth and experience in the team.”

 

Appointed as Sligo Rovers boss in September 2014, Owen only lasted nine months in the Showgrounds hot seat: “It’s harder to get players to go there and I didn’t have time to turn things around. We had youngsters breaking into the squad and the club wanted results immediately. I gained heaps from the experience ... It’s a learning curve that came early in my career.”

 

Controversy surrounded his departure, when Sligo declared he’d resigned, but Heary insisted the club had sacked him. Did these opposing accounts compound his misery?

 

“More that they weren’t honest. Their statement said that I stepped down, but I got let go. I was on television at the time, didn’t know anything and it was just the way that they announced it.”

 

Out of the game for a year, Owen returned to Shelbourne as manager this June. As somewhere their former captain encountered so many highlights, where does he envision the Reds heading under his current leadership?

 

“I’m delighted I was offered the job. To be in the First Division for a club of Shels’ size isn’t right. It’ll be difficult, but I’ve been here a few months and know the board have good structures in place. Promotion next year is the aim and hopefully in the future, we’ll have a squad that can compete at the top of the Premier Division.