Paul McAreavey Interview
Keith Wallace, October 8th 2009.
His only previous spell in the League of Ireland was with Kilkenny City over ten years ago, but after winning everything possible in the Irish League, Paul McAreavey is now looking to make a bigger mark down south with Dundalk after a pretty uninspiring time at Buckley Park. McAreavey joined the Cats in the late 90s in a deal which saw him come on-loan from Swindon Town, where he returned to after three months in Ireland. It was a short stint that the 28-year-old midfielder enjoyed, and now he’s hoping for an extended and more successful career at Oriel Park.
Cats call
Paul takes up the story with DFC Magazine of his transfer to Kilkenny, a move which he says helped his career at Swindon. “I was in Swindon from when I was 16 until I was 21, but when I was 18 I was over playing in Swindon Reserves, I was in and out of the first team, and then a new manager came in called Andy King. He was friends with a guy called Joe McGrath, he was the Kilkenny manager at the time. I think he was one-time head of the Republic of Ireland youth setup. He said to me ‘would you fancy coming over and living in Dublin for a while and training with us?’, so I said I’d give it a go and see how it goes. I ended up coming over and playing for Kilkenny for three months. It was still the winter season back then. I had a good time. They were struggling at the bottom of the league, but I came over and stayed in Dublin where most of the training sessions were done. I lived in Lucan for three months and I had a great time – I absolutely loved it. I played a couple of good big games down here and I enjoyed myself. It was only just to get me some games, because I was only coming back from injury, so the manager wanted me to go back then. He wanted to beef me up, because I had only turned 18 and he thought I was a little slim. Kilkenny actually helped me brilliantly because I went back over to Swindon, they were also struggling at the bottom of the table, and I came in and played a few games. I scored a memorable goal against Oldham and set up quite a few, and we went on a run and did quite well, so signing for Kilkenny actually really helped my career at the time.” This year, McAreavey returned to the south when he signed for Dundalk in the July transfer window, and although it has been, by his own admission, ‘a slow start’, he is looking forward to getting a pre-season under his belt ahead of next season. “To be fair, it has been a bit stop-start this last month,” he said. “But I’m hoping just to ride out the season now and then get a good pre-season behind me, and then hopefully I can have a good go at helping Dundalk to achieve things next year.”
Swindon start
Paul began his career at Swindon after moving from his local club Newhill, and he spent five years at the County Ground, his only interruption during that spell coming with his aforementioned move to Kilkenny. “I started off just playing with a local team called Newhill in West Belfast, and then I got a move to Swindon when I was 16,” he explained. “I was playing with Newhill in Whitley Bay over in Newcastle, we were playing a football tournament and we did really well. There were a few scouts there and the scouts from Swindon picked me up, so I went there and ended up signing. It was brilliant. I was there for five years, I really enjoyed my time there. It was up and down. I think I only played about 30-odd games but I was on the bench maybe 50-100 times, I don’t know how many. I was there five years and I was involved a lot, but injuries sort of ruined me there. The ITV Digital deal, there was a lot of money done through that, and when that collapsed, a lot of the clubs’ finances went downhill. I was out of contract and they sort of let me go and I decided to come back over to Ireland.” McAreavey had an offer from Hereford United to stay in England, however, the midfielder instead chose to return to his native land where Portadown was his first port of call. “Hereford wanted to take me,” he explained. “I just didn’t feel it was right for me at the time. I had a couple of family problems as well – my brother was in a bad accident and he was struggling, so I came back home. I was happy enough with that, because I played at Hereford before and, in my eyes, it wasn’t much better of a standard than there was back home anyway and the pay wasn’t great. Maybe, in hindsight, I should have taken a step back to go forward, but I just took the decision there and then to come back home and try to play in Ireland, and I’m happy enough with what I did.”
Home sweet home
McAreavey had moved to England at the age of just 16 and admits that homesickness at times took its toll. “Definitely, there was loads of times,” Paul said when asked if he ever missed his homeland. “When I first moved, I was 16, and for the first two years it was bad at times. A lot of the Irish boys felt that, I think. In Ireland, you’re very close to your friends and family, and that’s the way I was. And then, all of a sudden, I was on my own in the south of England where it was different the way that families get on. People were more held back, they weren’t as open as we were, and I really noticed that and it effected me a wee bit at the start. But I got used to it as I grew up and it was dead on. I had a great time there and I played in some memorable games. I had some good times and I saw some beautiful stadiums, and I was involved in some decent matches. I remember playing in the FA Cup Third Round against Manchester City at Maine Road, Kevin Keegan was the manager. That was a great game. We were beaten 2-0 but it was good to be involved in games like that. I think there was 25-26,000 at it, so it was very good.” Portadown was next up for McAreavey, although he spent just one year at Shamrock Park before Linfield came calling, for a second time. “Linfield and Glentoran were both looking for me to sign when I came home,” he recalled. “I didn’t take that on. I went to Portadown for a year but I didn’t enjoy it. Mickey Collins was there and he was the one who tried to get me there. He was the one that was on the phone saying to me ‘sign for Portadown’, because I knew Mickey, so I said I’d give Portadown a go because obviously he was there. We won the mid-Ulster Cup and we finished second in the league, but it didn’t really work out for me, I didn’t really enjoy it that much, and then Linfield came in and offered me a deal.”
Difficult move
From a strong Catholic background, McAreavey had to ponder long and hard about moving to the Belfast club, but looking back, he has no regrets whatsoever after capturing four Irish League titles and three Irish Cups as well as two CIS Cups and a Setanta Sports Cup. “The strange thing is that I’m a Catholic from the Falls Road, and Linfield, as everybody knows, is a very strong Protestant club, from the other side,” he said. “At the time, it was pretty hard. When they came in and offered me the deal, I was like ‘OK, I’ll listen to it’, and I thought to myself I’ve been in England for years and I don’t really listen to too much of the sectarianism that goes on up the north. I just do what I want to do basically. I went over and spoke to the manager, David Jeffrey, and I had a good chat with him, and I seen the facilities and the training ground and what they were looking to do. The season before that, they finished fourth, so they really needed to win the league that season, so I wanted to be a part of it. But I just really had to go and speak to my father about it and speak to a few family members and friends and see what they were thinking about it. But then, I just moved on and said, ‘I don’t care, I’m going to sign and see how it goes’, and I enjoyed it there. I’m glad I did, because I had six brilliant years there. I would have been one of the first Catholics to play there. There were maybe three of us, but by the time I left the club, there were 26 players and maybe 13 Catholics. It was 50/50, so Linfield did their part in changing society there, and I was a part of it as well, so I was happy.”
Leaving Linfield
McAreavey also stated that he never had any problems winning over the club’s fans. “Not really, because I was very fortunate that when I first went to the club my form was very good,” he said. “I helped the club to win a lot of trophies in the six years that I was there. I think we won something like 13 or 14 trophies when I was there. They took to me very quickly and I actually had a great relationship with them. The fans were very good to me. All in all, I had a very good time and nobody gave me much bother. At the end of it, I have come out of it with a lot of good friends. I have a lot of good friends from there that I keep in touch with, and I was delighted with the time I had there.” After so much success with the Windsor Park outfit, Paul admits it was hard to finally leave the club this year but he says that the time was right to do so. “It was pretty hard because I had a wonderful time there,” he said. “They offered me another deal as well, but I just felt in the last year that maybe I went a bit stale. I had a few injuries as well and then I just didn’t agree with some things that were going on, and then maybe a lack of hunger on my part as well because I had won so many trophies. The team that was there for the last five or six years, most of them had gone, and I thought myself it was time for me to move on because Davy was building a new, younger team. It was tough enough but, at the end of the day, I had six great years there and I won loads of medals. I won the Setanta Cup once, I played in the Setanta final again against Drogheda, we got beaten on penalties, and I scored in the Setanta final as well. I won the clean sweep with Linfield and I won three doubles, so I won all the trophies over and over again, so I just needed a fresh challenge. Then, when Sean came in and offered me a chance to come down here, I just thought it would be good opportunity.”
Jeffrey relationship
‘Maccers’ also admits that his relationship with Jeffrey towards the end was a contributing factor to his departure, although he paid tribute to the boss for the part he played in his career. “He was very good, excellent,” Paul said. “Myself and Davy had a couple of fallouts, like every manager and player, but we were never going to fall out over it permanently. We had a fallout basically at the end of last season when we were playing Cliftonville in the semi-final of the Irish Cup. He wasn’t happy with how the team was playing. We went 1-0 down early on, we gave away a soft penalty, and then we got back into the game, we got to 1-1, and he was really raging. At half-time, he had a go at a few players and he actually took me off. I thought it was totally unjustified. If it was justified, I could have coped with it, but I thought it was unjustified, and I told him there and then that I didn’t agree with his decision. That soured the relationship a wee bit and it was something that I couldn’t really come back from. We still talk and all now, it’s brilliant. That’s just football and these things happen in football. But big Davy was awesome for my career. I couldn’t speak of him highly enough. He really helped my career and believed in me, all the way through the six years that I was there. I played basically in most games. When I was fit, I played in nearly every game, and I won so many trophies there. He believed in me, and I played really well over my time at Linfield, so I was happy.”
Connor switch
McAreavey has now moved on to his latest manager, Sean Connor, and he has been impressed with both the manager and the club’s support so far. “Sean was the manager of Sligo and we played them in a pre-season friendly, and that was the first I really found out about Sean,” Paul explained. “I was sort of watching his career from afar up in Belfast. I seen he got a move to Bohemians and he done quite well there. Obviously, he signed a lot of those players who are doing very well now and winning the league. He actually tried to sign a friend of mine for Bohemians, so I got to know him a wee bit better again. I knew he watched a lot of Irish League games so we were both kind of keeping an eye on each other. That’s how we got to know each other, and then when he offered me the deal and the chance to come down and play here, I thought ‘yeah, I’d love to give the League of Ireland another go’, because it was ten years since I was last down here. I’m delighted. It’s a great football club, Dundalk. I didn’t realise how big the support is. The support is unbelievable and the fans are absolutely super. I’m actually a little shocked at how good they are and how big of numbers turn out. Since I’ve come to the club, they’ve been quality. The Shed has been awesome; I remember them away to Bohemians when we lost on penalties and they were absolutely superb. They’re the best fans I’ve seen about, they’re absolutely brilliant.”
League comparison
McAreavey is also happy with the standard of the league compared to that up the north, although he feels that the top clubs in the Irish League would easily compete down south. “I’ve only been here a couple of months, but, all in all, league-wise I would say it’s a better standard,” he said. “But you’ve got teams like Linfield and Glentoran, and the likes of Portadown, who are decent and who could play in this league, without question. There’s a better standard in this league overall. If you look at the likes of Bray, Sligo and Galway, who have been down, and St. Pat’s, who have been struggling this season, they have still gave a lot of teams a lot of good games, whereas the Irish League wouldn’t be quite as good. So, overall, the League of Ireland would be a better standard. But, like I said, there’s still two or three teams from the North who could hold their own in this league no problem.” The 28-year-old also stated his intention to remain at Oriel Park as long as he is required. “I just want to see how it goes at the minute in trying to get fit and get into the team,” he said. “But I’d love to stay here if everything works out. Sean is putting together a good team and the team spirit is brilliant, and everything about it has been super. The manager has been excellent with me and he’s really trying to make Dundalk a force, and everybody can see that he’s trying to do that. As long as he wants me to be part of it, I’ll be part of it and try my best for Dundalk. But, at the end of the day, you just never know what’s going to happen in football, so we’ll see what happens. But the longer I stay, I’ll be happier, because I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I haven’t got to stay down here as much because my girlfriend just had a wee baby so I’m up and down, up and down, constantly on the go. But I’m looking forward to getting the head down now and trying to do well for Dundalk for the rest of the season, and then get a good pre-season behind me and then take it from there and try to push forward with a squad who can go on and challenge the top three. We’re not far off it at the minute. If Sean can add another one or two players then we have a good chance of having a go at it next season.” The midfielder knows that he is ‘pretty far’ from full fitness, but he’s looking forward to getting a good pre-season to set him up for the new campaign. “I know I’m pretty far at the minute, because I missed a pre-season,” he said. “I was out with Linfield, I was out about five months all in all during the season. Then I came back in and I was doing OK here and then I lost three or four weeks with having the baby and we had a few personal problems. I haven’t been training as much and I’ve had a few niggling injuries, so I’ve actually lost a bit of fitness. I won’t be that far off, but like I said, I’m just trying to concentrate on getting back to full fitness between now and the end of the season, see how we can go, and then for me and the manager – we’ve spoken about this – it’s all about pre-season. I want to get a full pre-season under my belt and get ready to go for a real charge at it next season.”
Daly praise
Even when he is at full fitness, though, he will have to work even harder to break into a team which also has Chris Turner, Mickey Collins and Michael Daly fighting for a place in the centre of the park. “There’s four central midfielders now, they’re four established players, and for Dundalk that’s very, very healthy,” Paul said. “But you can only play two at a time. But there’s also over 50 games in a season, so everyone can’t play week in, week out, because of suspension and injury. I’m happy enough to fight for my game, and if I get in it’s up to me to keep my jersey, and that’s the way I’ve always been. I was like that at Linfield and I’ll be like that at Dundalk. I’m not going to cry or moan or weep – if I feel I deserve a place then hopefully I’ll get in. And if I’m not, then I’m just going to have to work hard to try to get in.” McAreavey paid particular tribute to Daly after the youngster’s recent problems which has seen him sent off very harshly three times in the last three months. “I actually didn’t know anything about Michael Daly,” he said. “When I came to the club, I hadn’t even heard of him, but he’s one of the ones that has really impressed me, with everything. He has one of the best attitudes in the team and one of the best attitudes that I’ve seen in all the clubs I’ve been to. Even in the warm-ups, he’s always there right at the front, working hard. He constantly works hard in training, he constantly has a good attitude and constantly wants to learn, which is all you can ask of a player. His fitness and physique, and everything about him, shows to me that he can be a top-class player. He’s had these three sending offs, I’ve seen a couple of them and he didn’t deserve one of them. I’ve actually spoken to him about it and I said, ‘you’re young, just keep your chin up and you’ll get through these times, it will make you stronger as a player overall’. Michael Daly has a great career ahead of him. He’s a quality player, a real, real quality player. Everybody knows about Chris Turner, he’s got all the technical skill in the world. I don’t think I’ve seen a better Irish League or League of Ireland player, technically-wise. He has all the attributes. And then we all know about Michael Collins. I know Michael from when I was a kid myself and he’s always been a top player and always will be. I know that there’s competition there, but, like I said, I’ve done it all myself before. I’m turning 29 and I’ve got all the medals in the bag, so I know what I need to do myself to get into the team. Two young pups coming up, it’s hard to dislodge them at their age – the auld legs aren’t what they used to be! But if I get a good pre-season behind me and stay clear of injuries then I’m confident that I can help Dundalk to achieve things.”
