Dave O'Connor: 'More clubs need to follow Rovers' route.'

Shamrock Rovers defender Dave O'Connor says more League of Ireland clubs need to follow the Hoops' example and put their faith in youth.

 

Speaking exclusively on the Extratime.ie Sportcast, O'Connor talked about what he considers to be an exciting time in the Tallaght club's development.

 

Rovers recently unveiled a €1.5 million project to develop their training facility at the Roadstone complex in Kingswood, in Tallaght.

 

The Hoops began their final league game of the season, against Bray Wanderers, with 18-year-olds Sean Boyd and Trevor Clarke now established first team players.

 

Two 17-year-olds, Aaron Dobbs and Luke Kiely, were sprung from a bench that also housed two 16-year-olds.

 



It's the result of a turbulent season in which senior pros like Danny North and Killian Brennan have left the club, while Stephen McPhail announced his retirement last week.

 

But it's also a sign of where the club sees itself in future, with the club determined to continue to promote and develop from within.

 

“I think Rovers are the right club to be at for any young player in the country at the minute with the direction they're trying to take,” O'Connor said.

 



“I think it's great to see a club like Rovers bringing through so many young players and so many talented players coming through from the academy set-up.

 

“I think that's the route that more clubs in the country need to go. They need to build their infrastructure from the bottom up.

 

“That starts with the schoolboy set-up, the underage set-up, and having an infrastucture like Roadstone is going to be huge for this club over the next couple of years.

 

“From the developmental point of view, it will really give young players at Rovers a chance to progress through to the first team. I think more clubs need to have that long-sighted view.

 

“Obviously, it's going to take time for that to eventually drip through to the first team, but it's definitely the right direction for the club.”

 

O'Connor was himself the product of the youth-focused system at UCD, and he was part of a dressing room that produced five members of Dundalk's Europa League squad.

 

Those former UCD alumni have scored all 11 of the Lilywhites' goals so far in Europe, and the Trim man can see a lot of similarities in the young crop at Rovers today.

 

“The way the dressing room is at Rovers at the minute is not too dissimilar to what that UCD dresssing room was like when I was there a couple of years ago.

 

“I'd like to see myself as somewhat of a mentor to the younger players and a good example to look up to in terms of how to be a professional, how to train properly, how to work hard and apply yourself properly.

 

“[The younger players] have got a great chance to make a career out of it if they can apply themselves properly and keep going, but they're going in the right direction at the moment.”

 

Listen to the full Extratime.ie Sportcast, which also features Bray Wanderers manager Harry Kenny and UCD under-19 league-winning boss Ian Ryan, here or via the embedded player below.