These are hectic times for Anthony O’Neill. Part of John Caulfield’s Galway United first team backroom staff, O’Neill is also in charge of the club’s U15s and the NUIG Collingwood Cup side.
The famous inter-varsity competition continues to provide opportunities for emerging players with NUIG advancing to the quarter-final following a hard earned 3-2 triumph over Mary I last week. “We were pleased with the performance and we were pleased to get through to next week's quarter-final,” O’Neill says.
“We have a young team, we have six first years in the starting XI, it is a young team. It was nice to get off to a good start and we are looking forward to next week's quarter-final against University of Ulster.”
Improving and developing footballers is very much part of O’Neill’s remit with NUIG. “A couple of weeks ago we managed to get to the final of the Harding Cup,” O’Neill explains about the NUIG Freshers.
“We have managed to progress a good number of the players into the Collingwood Cup team. We have been together since October, we were a little bit late getting started due to the Covid restrictions. The students were a little bit late coming back this college year so we probably weren't where we wanted to be early in the season.
“Week by week as the months have gone by we have ploughed on. We are happy with the progress that we have made, we have a good mix of players from throughout the country.
“We have some lads from Carlow, Dublin, a couple from Kildare, Limerick, Clare, one from Belfast, we even had a Spaniard in the starting XI last week. We have a good number of local lads, we have two players from the current Galway United first team squad, we have four from the Galway United U19s, and we have some good lads playing local junior football for Mervue United, Salthill Devon, and Colga. It is a good blend.
“It is interesting having the players coming from different parts of the country and one foreign student. It has been interesting putting all of that together, trying to blend the lads and mould them into a team.”
O’Neill is a firm believer that the Collingwood Cup offers emerging talent a chance to shine. “We keep saying it to the players, that they are playing at a national level,” he replies.
“While we do have the nucleus of the squad locally based when they get to play for the university they are getting to play at a national level. It is a good standard. No matter who you come up against they will have first team League of Ireland players, maybe U19 national league players in the team. It is a good challenge for anybody who has aspirations to go on to play at a higher level.”
Caulfield’s influence is significant too with O’Neill delighted to be able to seek advice from the United boss. “John has been very good with me, giving me advice based on his own previous experience, managing UCC,” O’Neill says.
“Over the years he had a lot of success with UCC, he has been able to give me very good advice. He has been a prominent figure at a lot of our games, just watching the young players and the local players. That all bodes well for football locally.”
While training and matches are part of a packed schedule, O’Neill relishes being involved at the various levels.
“It is a busy period,” O’Neill says. “I'm delighted to be involved with the first team, it has been a very good learning experience for me. At the moment being involved in a full-time football environment, I have stayed on with the U15s inheriting a good squad of players that had a lot of success winning the U14 national league.
“We are in the college season at the moment, it is a lot, but I'm really enjoying it. I'm really enjoying the challenge, the different dynamics across the three jobs and the three positions. It is something I love doing, I love coaching, it is challenging, but it is certainly very rewarding at the same time.”
**Listen to the full interview with Anthony O’Neill on this week’s ‘Cian on Sport’ podcast available on Soundcloud, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
