Jamie Duffy interviewed by Keith Wallace.
April 14th 2008.
FROM TEXAS TO EL PASO – his journey has certainly been longer than that opening line would suggest. Born in Texas, USA, his birthplace is a first for Dundalk FC, who, in the past, has relied upon players ranging from Ghana to Cork to provide the club with an exotic feel. Now, after spending his early childhood in the Lone Star State, Jamie Duffy has found a home from home in Ireland’s El Paso, where he is aiming to rifle the Lilywhites to a long overdue promotion.
Showband Kid
When digging a little deeper, Duffy’s American background becomes even more interesting, as both he and his brother, who was born in New Mexico, were products of the touring times of the famous Miami Showband. “My Dad is a musician,” Jamie explains, “and he was touring with the Miami Showband in Mexico and America. My Mum got pregnant, and, obviously, I was born in Texas. But I only lived there for about two months before coming back to Ireland, and I’ve lived here all my life. My Dad has since gone back and lives over there now.”
Kingswood to Kilkenny
Duffy started out his football career at local Dublin club, Kingswood, before going on to play with both Saint Patrick’s Athletic and Crumlin United Schoolboys. And, it was his breakthrough to the senior team at Crumlin which brought about his first League of Ireland experience, as Pat Scully snapped up the winger for Kilkenny City in 2005. “I got injured at Crumlin and I was out for about seven months,” the 24-year-old recalls. “There was a few clubs who were interested, but when I got injured, they kind of pulled out. The only person that came back in for me when I came back was Pat Scully, so that’s where I met him – unfortunately.”
Mixed Emotions
Upon his arrival at Buckley Park, a previously struggling Kilkenny side began to rapidly climb the standings, as they accumulated an incredible 45 points from the final 63 on offer. However, despite enjoying his time there, he admits that it wasn’t a club he was keen to stay at. “It wasn’t bad,” he says. “It was more of a family club, and they hadn’t got much ambition or anything. They were good to play with at the time, but it wasn’t a club you’d want to stay at for years. I went there halfway through the season. They were doing really badly. Myself, Davie O’Connor, Casso, and a few others signed, and we went on a great run. It was brilliant. We got to fourth in the league. We had a chance to get promoted, but it was a little bit out of our reach towards the end; we ran out of steam. But it went really well – it was great.”
League Winner
Soon after that season ended, Scully brought Duffy and a host of others to Shamrock Rovers, who were preparing for their maiden season outside the top tier. And, it proved a shrewd move, with the winger going on to win his first ever senior medal as the Hoops captured the First Division title. “It was a really good move,” Jamie admits. “Pat brought a few of us from Kilkenny. It was a really good experience. It was really tough. There was a lot of tough places that you had to go, and you kind of have to change your style a little bit, because a lot of teams are physical and they play a lot of long balls, so you do really have to battle a lot. But, once you win it, it’s a really, really good feeling.”
Rovers Fallout
However, that was where the good times ended, as Jamie placed himself on the Rovers transfer list just two months later. “I had a few problems,” he admits, “and things didn’t really go well towards the latter end of the previous season. I started off the next season okay, but myself and a few others had fallen out by then. There was things happening at the time, and, also, myself and Pat didn’t really get on, so it was in my interest to leave. But, eventually we had a chat, we discussed it, and I stayed.” It wasn’t long before he exited Tolka Park, however, as he left in the July transfer window. “It went well for the first half of the season,” he says, “but just before the break, things weren’t great again, so it was a good option to get out and to go on-loan to Longford.
Life at Longford
“Alan Mathews obviously talked to Pat, as he needed a right winger. Pat talked to me then, and I actually jumped at the chance, because the atmosphere wasn’t great there at the time. Going to Longford was a total change – it really worked out well for me. I got playing every week, and I got my confidence back. Alan Mathews and Trevor Croly were really, really good, and the whole squad there was really good. It was kind of like Kilkenny, in a way, that a few players signed during the summer and we went on a really good run again. We were very unlucky that we didn’t get out of relegation trouble. I think our form was top four form towards the end of the season, but, again, we ran out of steam in the last few games. We won our last game, but maybe the draw against Waterford and the loss to Galway killed us, because they were down there with us. If we had won one of them, we would have got out of it.”
Cast Adrift
At the time of signing for Longford, the midlanders were cast adrift at the foot of the Premier Division table with just two points from their opening 17 league games, before staging a miraculous turnaround. “When I went there, it seemed like people were resigned to relegation,” Duffy recalls. “But Alan said to me ‘if we get three wins on the spin, you never know’. And we did that. The first game I went there, we lost to Pats, but I think we won three on the spin after that – we beat UCD, Bray and Bohs. We got ourselves within touching distance of Waterford, and really pushed on then. Those three wins gave us the confidence to maybe push on a little bit, and then after that, Dave Mooney was scoring goals, Dessie Baker coming back from injury was brilliant, and we were playing really good football. Again, we had a chance, but, unfortunately, we didn’t make it.”
Cup Run
Indeed, 27 points from the final 15 games proved in vain, as Longford missed out on the playoff place by a single point. However, an amazing FAI Cup run meant the season wasn’t over for the club just yet, as they faced Cork City in the season finale at the RDS in December. “The cup run was brilliant,” Jay admits. “I think that helped us as well in our league form. And maybe the league form helped the cup run as well. I don’t really know which one helped which, but everything was pushing forward. In the final, we could have won – we had a chance. It could have went either way. It wasn’t a great game, it was difficult conditions, and one goal was always going to win it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t us.”
Bittersweet
Like Dundalk in 2002, Longford were forced to recover quickly from the pain of relegation to prepare for that Cup decider, with Jamie feeling the sense of it being ‘one last hurrah’ helped the squad to put events in the league to the back of their minds. “It was tough,” he states. “I think it would have been easier, because I think after we got relegated, we knew that a lot of us wouldn’t be there next season, and maybe that the manager wouldn’t be there – which turned out to be true. We used the cup final as something that we could all part on, rather than win and maybe push on the next season. So, it was a different type of game than any other game.”
Rovers Exit
During preparations for the Cup final, Duffy was released by Rovers as expected, as a mutual feeling led to him and Scully parting ways. “I didn’t know, but I had a good idea that I’d be let go,” Jamie admits. “I just kind of waited, I had a chat with Pat, and it wouldn’t have worked out either way. He knew that I wasn’t really happy, and also, that he wasn’t happy with me, so it was easy for us to part.” Meanwhile, due to Alan Mathews’ departure from Longford, the winger also decided that he wouldn’t be staying on at Flancare Park. “We all knew that we weren’t going to stay at Longford, and we made the announcement that none of us were going to stay. If Alan had stayed, it would have been different, and I think a lot of the players would have stayed, but not after he left.”
Exciting Prospect
Those series of events paved the way for John Gill to seek Duffy’s services, and, despite offers from other clubs, the 24-year-old states that it was Gill who made his decision to join Dundalk an easy one. “He just rang me and hassled me!” Jamie jokes. “No…he was great. He called me up and he asked me to meet him, and we met, and everything went well from there. He was really good. He was really interested in me, and that’s why I wanted to come, because he really wanted me here. It was an easy decision in the end. There was one Premier Division club and maybe one other First Division club, but it wasn’t right for me, and John came in straight away. I could have waited around, but I didn’t want to do that. Everything John said about the club excited me, and obviously with the other lads coming in as well, I knew that he was assembling a really good squad, so, it would be disappointing not to win the league with the squad that we have. It’s a really good place to train, and, obviously, there’s a good atmosphere. It’s exciting this year, because we know if we get promoted that there’s good opportunities after that. It is a Premier Division club, and we need to get it back to the Premier Division and keep it there. It’s an exciting prospect.”
