Brendan O’Connor‘s passion for football in Galway endures. One of the most respected coaches Corribside, O’Connor continues to manage Galway United U19s and Maree-Oranmore’s first team.
Having flared to prominence with Corrib Rangers and Galway United as a young player, O’Connor started training teams at a young age. It remains an integral part of his life with O’Connor ideally placed to assess the health of the local game.
“I think the current premier league is a really good standard,” O’Connor says. “I think this year the fact that it has 12 teams makes it more competitive. I know four teams will be relegated, but if you take out Mervue, Salthill, and West - anything after that you could effectively finish fifth or finish 12th. You are in that mix, that is the reality.”
Under O’Connor’s guidance Maree-Oranmore have continued to afford young footballers opportunities. It can be an unforgiving environment, but Maree-Oranmore are making significant progress with victories over Tuam Celtic, Loughrea, and West posted recently.
“This season alone we have used 25 or 26 players, I think 15 of those are U21,” he adds. “At stages this season I've had four players U19 in my starting XI. The age profile for us is young, we are happy to go with that.
“A lot of the clubs are well run these days, a lot of them have an identity and a philosophy. The league has definitely improved in my eyes.”
O’Connor’s United U19s enjoyed some good moments during the 2021 campaign. “Looking back on phase one we achieved our goal in making the elite phase which was a great achievement,” O’Connor says.
“That was the plan at the start of the first phase. In phase two it became a little bit tougher, a bit more competitive, we were in against the best of the best. That is what we wanted, we didn't want the shield, we wanted to be in against the best lads.
“We got that, apart from one or two games where we were taught a lesson by the likes of Shamrock Rovers, who eventually won it, we were playing high level games which was brilliant. We were very competitive in nearly all of the games so from that point of view it was great, the level of competition was unreal all over the country.”
Reflecting back on the season O’Connor was struck by the bonds and friendships forged. “The squad itself was one of the best squads I ever managed or ever coached,” he says.
“I have been coaching a long time now, but they were a pleasure. They came in, worked hard, they took on the information. They were very coachable and likeable, it was one of the tightest groups I coached from a friends point of view, they all got on. It was really good and positive.”
The fact that some players in the U19s squad trained regularly with John Caulfield’s squad was beneficial according to O’Connor.
“Guys getting called up to train with the first team is great to see, it probably helped that they were full time and they were training during the day,” O’Connor says.
“That really helped us. In the past when we were part-time the U19s could be training at seven o'clock, the first team would be training in the evening with John Caulfield or whoever the first team manager at the time was. If they took players you would be down numbers.
“A lot of our fellas were doing double sessions, they were getting two sessions in during the week. I know it is a lot, but the more football these lads play the better. This year it really helped us because our numbers were never low from a training point of view until we had quite a few injuries. That is a different scenario.”
Assisting players on their respective journeys is a part of the role O’Connor relishes. “It was great to see the lads in the first team, we had a number of lads in like Liam Corcoran and Ethan Connolly making their league debut. I know it was the last league game of the season, we had a few lads on the bench.
“Alex [Murphy] has broken through, Mikey McCullagh was in training, Conor Brann was training. It is great to have these lads in and around the first team, I hope when pre-season comes around for the first team some of these lads might be in with a shout, doing a pre-season with them to see can they break that little barrier to get in.”
**Listen to the full interview with Galway United U19 and Maree-Oranmore manager Brendan O’Connor on this week’s ‘Cian on Sport’ podcast available on Soundcloud, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
