“We are playing Pats on Friday, by the way,” Damien Duff reminds everyone before ducking out of the Tolka Park members’ bar into Drumcondra sunlight. Twenty minutes of media-talk to promote the derby and Shelbourne’s manager never got near the actual game. The club’s imminent takeover by Hull City owner Acun Ilıcalı and a warning to football agents trying to slip “get out clauses” into player contracts saw to that.
Duff also confirmed that Jack Moylan, Shels hat-trick hero in Sligo last Saturday, has become a target for UK clubs and he doubled down on the decrepit state of soccer facilities when compared to GAA grounds.
“I went out with my son to play against Kilcoole the other day and they had a better training ground than any League of Ireland club. I’m not sure if they own it but I was thinking something has gone wrong along the line here. Anyway, it’s not like I’m harping on about it. That’s what it’ll feel like when I see the headlines. Here he f**king goes again. That’s why I hate doing [press conferences].”
The 44-year-old’s voice carries far beyond domestic squabbles. Especially ahead of the Republic of Ireland under-17s opening Euros match against Poland in Budapest today. Brexit ensures that 18 of Colin O’Brien’s 20-strong squad remain home-based despite the chronic lack of professional coaching.
“I saw an article comparing it to our team with Brian Kerr but I was playing far more football at that age than all those players going to Hungary,” says Duff. “Society has changed, I won’t go on about it, but we spent all our hours playing on the road whereas lads [today] need a structured training environment, which you don’t get here. In England they train seven or eight times per week, including double sessions, but we don’t have that.
“Say we got €10 million tomorrow, Joe [O’Brien, his assistant manager] is doing up Tolka whereas I’m doing the training ground because I think players are built on training grounds. As much as you want the fan experience with nice toilets, having a coffee or beer, it’s academies for me.”
It is entirely possible that €10 million will appear in a Shelbourne FC bank account this summer. Ilıcalı, a 53-year-old Turkish media tycoon, is expected to green light a deal which would include Shels in a multi-club operation that ultimately serves Hull City’s aim of returning to the Premier League. This arrangement could lift Shels into the financial realms of Shamrock Rovers and Derry City, two clubs part-funded by Irish billionaires.
“It’s irrelevant to me,” Duff replies. “I was part of a multi-club model over in Melbourne. Manchester City owned but, I was at Melbourne. So if somebody owns us, another club, I am at Shelbourne. I will just continue to coach and set up our team to win games. Shelbourne will always be Shelbourne, nobody could take that identity away.”
What if Hull demand that Shels conform to disagreeable strategies? “I embrace the people coming in and helping us. When that happens I imagine it will be help in a positive way.”
Lastly, agents can expect blunt refusal to escape clauses that have previously seen Irish clubs lose young talent below their market value. “Jack Moylan, it’s like me at Blackburn, comfortable in my natural habitat, that was my club. Chelsea come and you’re like ‘I don’t want to go but it’s f**king time to go.’ That’s the mindset of all of the young players here for sure.
“Any agents that come in and say ‘I want a get out clause for 30 grand or 40 grand,’ [I say] No, you can go and do one. I care about my players, they’ll go for what they are worth, and if a club really wants them they’ll show how much they want them by paying the money.
“I’m just a blow-in, here 18 months, but I’ll still fight tooth and nail for this league. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon because I’m going to live Ireland. I’m not just fighting for Shelbourne, it’s the two divisions and below because someone needs to speak up.”
