A new 250-year lease at Tolka Park has given Shelbourne a huge boost as they look to build on the successes of recent seasons.
Tony Sheridan of Shelbourne is mobbed by fans(Image: INPHO/Tom Honan)
Joey O’Brien says he is a Shelbourne “blow-in” – but a childhood connection to the club means he is more invested in the news of a new 250-year Tolka Park lease than he might be as the club’s head coach.
The Reds made the landmark announcement on Tuesday evening to the delight of supporters, particularly those involved in the Save Tolka Park campaign.
O’Brien revealed that not only did he play underage Ireland matches there, but he often went to League of Ireland games to watch an old neighbour – and a Shelbourne legend – in action.
He was coached during his schoolboy days at Lourdes Celtic by Reds icon Tony Sheridan’s dad.
“It’s absolutely brilliant,” said O’Brien of the Tolka Park news. “An unbelievable amount of work was done with the fans at the start to really keep it going while there were tough times and dark times and not many fans probably in the ground.
“So those fans, a huge, huge gratitude, to them by everyone else at the club.
“I’m only a recent blow-in to it, but they’ve done unreal work there. And the momentum of the last few years has really helped with the lads coming in – Mickey [O’Rourke], obviously, Andrew [Doyle] before that, Neil [Doyle] now, Cathal [Doyle], all those lads that have actually been able to put money into it and really have seen it develop.
“I have seen it definitely over the last few years that I’ve been at Tolka, the small improvements that they’ve made, and now it’s an opportunity to make bigger improvements.
“I think they want to do that. It’s a great place to be. We’ve had some great nights in recent times, and it’s great that it’s still there.
“A lot of people have played there. I think myself, I would have played there, playing Ireland games there as an underage [international]. So it’s great. There’s great memories there for us.
“It’s great that it’s still here. A big well done to everyone in the background that made it happen.”
O’Brien added: “I played [Under-]21s Ireland games there, so you’re going back to that time.
“I remember going over to watch Shels play back in the day. Tony Sheridan, being from Crumlin, his dad managed me at Lourdes Celtic, so I had that connection to Tony. So I would have gone to games and watched them there.
“The fact that I played at Lourdes, obviously he lived around the corner from the park, I was from Crumlin, you’d obviously hear about him when he was at Coventry and stuff like that.
“It was that part of it, there was that connection. Obviously he came back, he was a player here, playing at Shels, he was such a great player in the league. So it was just that connection.
“And obviously then in recent times, with [Shamrock] Rovers, playing against Shels. But I suppose they probably weren’t the best times for Shels.”
O’Brien’s side, due to UEFA stadium requirements, are forced to play their Conference League group stages games in Tallaght Stadium.
Tonight they take on Kosovan side Drita, hoping to add to the point they earned against Hacken in their opening match.
They were on course for another draw away to Shkendija in Macedonia two weeks ago, but conceded in the last minute.
“We felt we left three points behind in Macedonia. So this is an opportunity for us to go out and get a win here in Dublin with our own fans, so it’s a great opportunity for us,” he said.
“As I said to the boys, it’s about using that bit of hurt that we had in the dressing room the last day against Shkendija to make sure we don’t have that [on Thursday], but understanding that just because we left it behind over there, it doesn’t give you any right at all to think you’re going to have a handy night. It won’t be that for sure.”
Shels forward Harry Wood echoed his manager’s comments. He said: “We felt after the game over there that, like the gaffer said, we left three points behind. We had chances in the game to score and get three points.
“So we use it tomorrow as a motivation, we know it’s a massive game for us. If we win, it gives us a better chance of progressing.”
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