John Flanagan interviewed by Keith Wallace
August 21st 2008. IN THE DEPTHS OF DESPAIR over the past seven seasons as Dundalk struggle for a return home, adding to the list of Lilywhite Legends has proved an arduous task for much of this century. However, there is no doubting that one true one still walks on water at Oriel Park – although his place in the club’s Hall of Fame may be cemented earlier than one would have thought. John Flanagan, in eight seasons as a Dundalk player, has won a league and FAI Cup, experienced promotion and relegation, has remained with the club through struggle and strife, and has put his body on the line when others refused to do so.
Confidence
Flanagan arrived at Oriel in the late 90s, however, upon his introduction to the team, few could have predicted the impact that he would make. Still going strong now, the 30-year-old is once again proving a key figure in Dundalk’s latest promotion push – one which he is confident will take another positive step this week. “I think we’ve been through our slump and we seem to be playing well at the moment,” Flanagan told theDFC Magazine. “We have six clean-sheets in a row and seven in the last eight, and we’re scoring a couple of goals at the other end. We’re doing well now. I think Thursday’s game against Waterford is a big one for us. If we get through that alright, I think a lot of the other clubs around us have to play each other over the following few weeks. So, I think if we can go and beat Waterford, we can kick-on from there from a good position. We were robbed in Waterford in June, but I don’t think we’ll be thinking about that – though we will take from it that we know we’re probably a better side than them. I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a more one-sided game. We actually battered them and lost, so I think we’ve just got to be a bit more clinical. We know we’re a better team than them, we know if we get the ball down and pass it around that we’ll beat them, so I think we’ll be going into the game full of confidence.”
No Nerves
Flanagan has previously been through three successful promotion campaigns – one of which he was robbed of by the FAI. However, despite now approaching the final of four furlongs, nerves is not an issue according to the real ‘Captain Fantastic’. “I suppose you don’t really have time for nerves,” Flano admits. “We have a lot of big games, and I think we have a squad at the moment that thrive on that. We have 13 games to go and, hopefully, if we can get a good run together now, we can maybe win it easily. Compared to past promotion teams I’ve played in, I think this team is probably playing better at the moment. I think this is probably the best defensive team that I’ve been involved in. I think at any level of football, to keep so many clean-sheets and to defend so well is unheard of. It’s the best I’ve ever played in, so I think if this team got promoted and maybe added three or four quality players to the team for next year, I think we’d hold our own in the Premier Division. I think this is an all-round stronger panel than two years ago. You only had to look at who wasn’t in the match squad last Friday night – Dessie Baker, Derek Doyle, Aidan Lynch, Robbie Martin and Robbie Farrell. I think on the whole, we have a very strong squad, which we might not have had in those promotion years. We had a good team in those years, but I think, as a whole, we have a better bunch of lads now.”
Commitment
If Dundalk do return to their rightful place in the top tier of Irish football, however, Flanagan is unsure of whether or not he will stay on for another Premier Division voyage. A drive, determination and desire for the cause, along with an undying love for the club, has seen the right-back play on through crippling injuries over the past couple of years. And that, along with his personal life, looks likely to cut short his football career. “I suppose ability wise, I’d like to be tested again for another year,” John says. “I’ve played before for a couple of seasons as a defender in the Premier Division, and I held my own and done well. But, I think at the end of the year, I’ll have to reassess my own situation and see where I go from here – whether I hang the boots up or whether I play on. Probably the fact that I have a family, and commitment wise, it’s very tough at the moment. I’m playing in the league now thirteen years and it does take its toll on you. I’m picking up niggles now that I hadn’t been doing. I haven’t played pain free now for probably about two years.
50/50
“That ankle injury is something that is going to be there. The injury has cleared up with the operation, but two weeks ago, I tore a tendon in my shoulder and I had to get an injection off the doctor. Every time I take a throw-in now, I’m getting stabbed in the shoulder! I have tendonitis in my calf as well. These are just little niggles that you pick up. Probably the eejit that I am, I want to be involved in every game and the only way to get rid of these things is rest. You don’t want to miss any games, so you just play on with the head down and just grin and bear it I suppose. I’m getting a bit fed up with it now, to be honest, and the only way that you can get rid of that is by resting. But you don’t want to rest, you want to be involved in every game. So, that’s one factor, and then your personal life, you have a young family and you want to be involved in that. I think if we get promoted next year, the fitness levels will be colossal. I think if we get promoted, everybody in the squad will have to reassess whether or not they can give that commitment to the team. It’s something I think I’ll have to talk to my wife about at the end of the season, and see where we stand. We’ll talk about it at the end of the year, but, at this stage, it’s 50/50, to be honest. I think if I left, that would be it. If I left Dundalk, I think I’d be leaving football really. I have no interest in stepping down a level and playing in the Leinster Senior League or any of the other Mickey Mouse leagues.”
Balancing Act
With a young family, John has a tough job trying to balance the two loves of his life. And, he feels that perhaps outsiders don’t realise how much commitment is needed from part-time players in the League of Ireland. “Maybe people don’t realise, but the commitment is phenomenal,” Flano states. “We’ve been training since the middle of January and we’re not going to be finished until the middle of November. That’s basically your life. Everything revolves around football. You can’t even go away for a night with your family without it affecting your football. You even have to plan shopping trips around it; you can’t go to Belfast for a day because you have to be home for training. Your whole life revolves around football. It even gets to the stage where your job has to revolve around the football. It really does take over. I think with full-time players, at least they’re in in the morning and then they’re finished and they’re done for the day. As I said, we have lads there maybe getting up at 8am, going to work, home at 4pm for a quick bite to eat, out for training and then not home until after 11pm. Your whole life is gone and it does take its toll on you. Money doesn’t really come into it at all, especially for part-time players – they’re not getting paid a whole pile of money anyway. It’s more just the standard of life and the commitment that you’d be worried about. The football money is nice alright, and it gives you a few wee luxuries in life, but, at the end of the day, you can’t let money come into any decision to whether or not you can give the commitment.”
Captain Fantastic
Now with the club for almost a full decade, Flanagan – a Drogheda born man – admits a love for the club, and is wishing the day that he leaves would never come. “To be honest, I feel at home in Oriel Park,” the defender says. “I probably spent more time at Oriel than I have with my family in the last couple of years. It will be a sad day when I leave. I’m not particularly old, but you get to a stage where you’ve got to reassess things in your life and see what has to take priority.” Captain for much of this season due to Aidan Lynch’s constant injury problems, if Flano does retire at the season’s end, he is planning on ending his time with Dundalk by lifting the trophy that books their ticket back to the Promised Land. “That’s one thing that I said to (my wife) Sinéad,” John reveals. “It would really put the icing on a very big cake for me. I think this is my eighth season with Dundalk and I’ve enjoyed every one of them, and it would really mean a lot to me to go out and lift the trophy. Even if Aidan does come back, I think I’ll be grabbing one side of that cup anyway. We’re in a good position now and we’re playing well. I suppose, at this stage, it’s difficult to say, but we’re the favourites now and we have as good a chance as anybody to win it. I feel confident that the squad here is good enough to push on and win it. To be honest, I think we can maybe take it with a couple of games to go if we keep going and keep doing things right.”
Career Highlight
With tonight’s game presenting another cup tie for Dundalk, memories of six years ago, when Dundalk completed an unforgettable FAI Cup success, will not be too far away. And, for Flanagan, it’s a career best honour. “I think when I retire, that will be the highlight of my career,” he acknowledges. “It was fabulous. The league form as well that came with that was brilliant. With our run in the second-half of the league that year, we would have finished well up the table. We had such a horrible start. I think if you get a good run in the cup, it does buoy the club a lot. The atmosphere around the place changes and there’s a buzz and an expectation. I think that year in particular, for me, I have very fond memories of coming back to the town after winning the cup to maybe 10-12,000 people. It was unbelievable and something that will always stick with me, so it would be nice for some of the lads that haven’t experienced that to maybe get that one day. Dundalk is a football mad town and the club itself has won the cup numerous times over the years. The people in the town really love the cup, and I think it showed that day when we went to Tolka Park. I think we nearly outnumbered Bohs fans 2:1. Being a town outside of Dublin, I think it means more to us than maybe some of the other clubs, and that day was just phenomenal. The support that day was unbelievable, and I think it was unrivalled by anybody else in the country.”
Harps High
That magnificent run included some heroic performances, not least the semi-final hammering of Shamrock Rovers. However, Flano singled out another memorable game, which he feels was the highlight of the club’s run to the decider. “Apart from the final, there was quite a few,” John recalls. “We had a great result against Shamrock Rovers when we beat them 4-0 in Oriel. But I think the highlight had to be when we played up in Ballybofey against Finn Harps in the quarter-final. It was a replay, and James Keddy scored two smashing goals to get us through. I think he got us through single handily on the night, but, unfortunately, he was injured and couldn’t play in the final himself. I think that, especially his second goal that night against Harps – a strike from 35-yards, was definitely the highlight.”
Double Success?
In reality, however, what are the chances of Dundalk repeating that trick and landing a League and Cup double for the first time in 20 years? “I suppose anybody looking at us will say no,” Flano admits. “But we’ve played most of the top teams this year, between friendlies and League Cup games and that, and I think on our day, if things go well for us, we’re a match for anybody if we take our chances. That’s the beauty of the cup; it’s a one-off and on the day game. I think if we play well, we can upset anybody. So, realistically, we have a good chance. We’re three games away from a final now, so you have to look at it that way. Our main ambition is obviously to get promoted. I think John might have to take a half a night off for the cup this evening and maybe give lads a rest so that we’re 100% right for Thursday. But I think for a club like Dundalk, the cup really has a big tradition, so we’ll be looking to beat Bray and to get as far as we can. A cup run always brings good support to the club and it brings a bit of momentum, and it’s always nice to be involved in it. Cup games don’t really feel any different to league ones. I think with the bunch of lads that we have at the moment, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing, whether it’s Drogheda or Bohemians in the cup, or whether it’s Wexford in the league. You’re going out and your objective is the same thing; for the team to win. I don’t think your type of play changes. Maybe, you might have to adapt your style of play if you’re playing one of the better sides in the league, to maybe counteract how they play. But your mentality is to go out, play your best and try to win each game.”
Striking Sensation
Returning to Dundalk’s First Division campaign, the last time the club played in the top flight, their season ended in disaster as they were relegated. And, should the Lilywhites once again experience Premier football next year, Flanagan feels that the acquisition of a top quality striker is paramount. “I don’t know if it was too big of a step-up the last time,” John recalls. “We got off to a terrible start. Maybe we didn’t have an out-and-out goalscorer that year. I think there was so much pressure on Martin Reilly to perform. He had maybe an off year and there was nobody left to score goals. When we signed Garry Haylock, he got a big amount of goals, which really pulled us through. In the end, we missed out on safety by a single point. If we had got Garry a month earlier, we may have stayed in the Premier Division, and maybe things would have changed, fortune wise, for the club in the last number of years. I think the club know that to stay in the Premier Division, work-rate, effort, heart and honesty alone isn’t enough. You need a bit of quality, and I think John and Gerry Matthews both know that if we do go up that we need to sign somebody who is going to stick the ball in the net on a regular basis, because that’s what wins you games. You need somebody there to compete and if you do that, you’ll be okay. Bray have showed that this year. They have a couple of lads scoring goals and they’re mid-table. Shamrock Rovers are doing it as well, and there’s no reason why Dundalk can’t go on and press on from here.”
