Robbie Martin Interview
by Keith Wallace, September 15th 2008.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON. Before he was even born, he was destined for a career in football. Son of Paul Martin, who was a key player in the Athlone Town team which famously held AC Milan scoreless in the UEFA Cup in 1975, Robbie Martin had the game in his blood right from the kick-off and inevitably followed in his father’s footsteps. UCD, Longford Town and now Dundalk, Robbie, at only 26, is already nearing a decade in the League of Ireland. And it’s all, according to himself, down to the influence of his dad.
Influence
“I played football because of him and I probably still play football to this day because of him,” Robbie admits to the DFC Magazine. “He’s been a massive influence, for myself, my brother (at Shamrock Rovers) and my little brother (at Leixlip United) as well. He’s always been to everything. Since I can remember, he’s been involved. He used to run the local football leagues in Leixlip. He used to run summer football and he’s always been involved, since I was tiny and out in the back garden. I think he’s been to every game I’ve ever played, anywhere. He travels the whole country. Since I started playing for UCD, my Ma goes as well. The two of them go to every game. I don’t think they’ve missed too many. At the moment, it’s between Rovers and Dundalk. Da puts together an excel thing at the start of the season so he can see where the games match. If it’s away – he doesn’t like travelling up to Derry too much – so if it’s on up there, he’ll come to our game. It alternates. I think it only clashed six times this year, so he loves Dundalk because of the Thursday nights. He was delighted because he has a Thursday game now and then a Friday or a Saturday game as well.”
Modest
Paul played for both Shamrock Rovers, where his son John now plays, and Bohemians, before signing for Athlone in 1973. “He was tall and kind of skinny, I think he was a similar build to me,” Robbie explains. “He played up front as well and was left-footed. He gave up fairly early, I think he stopped playing when he was about 25. I suppose back then, with full-time work, I don’t think he could juggle both. He was a bit temperamental I think I remember him saying – not now, he’s the calmest man you’d ever meet in your life, at this stage. When he was younger, I think he had a bit of a hothead when it came to managers and the like.” So…has he ever spoken much about the Milan tie? “No, in fairness to him,” Rob reveals. “He talks about every other game that’s on, whether it be QPR, Accrington Stanley or Crawley Town! He breathes and sleeps the game – he is football. He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke and, as far as I know, he hasn’t been to a pub in his life. He leaves parties if he has to at 9.30. Football is his life, and golf – he plays a bit of golf. Obviously, when we were younger, people would come up to him about it and different things. But, to be honest, the most I’ve ever heard about it was when Trapattoni came in, obviously because people brought it back up. But he’s quite reserved; he wouldn’t talk about himself, he’s not brash and he’s not really interested in talking about himself to anybody else.”
Scholarship
On to his own career, Robbie played schoolboys football at Belvedere and had trials in England, including at Ipswich Town, before eventually signing for UCD, where he made his first-team debut in early 2001. “I was back and forward to England,” the striker recalls. “I was over at Ipswich but I didn’t really care too much for it and I wasn’t too happy. I just didn’t like it, being away from home. I always kind of fancied playing at home and always liked the idea of playing over here. Whatever age I was, I just wasn’t too happy over there. I was happy to go into UCD and do Sports Management. I had kind of set my head on doing that so I went with it in the end. I had gone for a scholarship trial at UCD and they offered me one. I just played one game and they said if I wanted a scholarship, if nothing works out in England, then come back and it’s there for you. So, about halfway over there, I decided I wanted to come back and play at home. I broke into the first-team when I was 18 and played more or less every season after that. I broke my ankle when I was 20 and missed half a season, but then played the whole time up until I joined Longford.”
Blues Bow
His first year saw an impressive bow as his goals late on in the campaign helped UCD to the promotion/relegation playoff place over Finn Harps, before he netted a penalty against Athlone in the deciding shootout following a 3-3 aggregate draw over two legs. “I was involved late on that season and scored four or five in my first couple of games,” Martin recalls. “I did quite well and it was a good time to be involved. There was good players there and I think the team was too good to be down there, but, in the end, we got out of it and had a good season the following year.” Twelve months later, he was rewarded for a wonderful first full season in the league (33 apps/11 goals) with the PFAI Young Player of the Year award – though he admits: “It was probably a good thing and a bad thing for me. I played a lot of schoolboy and broke practically every record Belvedere had. I think I scored 60 odd goals one season for them. I always played as a front man off, similar to the way Tiarnán would play now, I always played that drop the last man. And then playing under Paul Doolin, he kind of drilled into my head to drop deep and always look to hold it up and play. My Dad is kind of against me now that I changed my style, where I used to play last shoulder and be lazy, never run and do nothing for the whole game, just sit on the last man. It kind of worked. I definitely changed from playing with Doolo, it was always hold it, give it back, hold it and give it back.”
Promotion Success
Eighteen months later, a bright start to his career met with its first real setback when the Students suffered relegation in 2003. However, they were soon back in the top flight as they gained promotion at the first time of asking, a success thanks in no small part to 12 goals from Martin. “Doolo left and Pete Mahon came in with eight or nine games to go (in 03),” he recalls, “and we went on some run. I think we went eight games unbeaten and, in the end, only went down on the final day of the season. We were a little bit unlucky I suppose. If Pete had been there for a little bit longer, we might have stayed up. We went into the First Division then and kept the bones of our team. We only lost three or four; we lost my brother, Barry Ryan and Clive Delaney. I had a couple of different offers, but I was kind of happy enough to stay, mainly because when I broke my ankle, I had been out for half the season and I didn’t really want to leave on a bad note. I liked Pete a lot as well. I had played with Pete more or less since I was a kid. U14, U15, international setups and he was on Leinster squads and all that type of stuff, so I knew him very well and I knew he’d look after me. I knew I needed a season playing, so I didn’t mind playing in the First Division because I knew we’d come straight back up. Ally McNally, Ally Mahon and a couple of other key players all stayed, so I was happy to stay. It was a good season. Myself and Willie Doyle played up front and then Philly Hughes came in. I played the first half a season with Willie; he started really well but then kind of went out of favour so I finished the season with Philly. We were, in my eyes, the best team in the league that season. We had a good team and it was a good year. We only ended up finishing second but we threw away the league in fairness. We were by far the strongest team. Finn Harps won it in the end but three were promoted, so ourselves and Bray went up as well. We went up and we had a decent season. We were mid-table and it wasn’t a bad year for me personally, I scored a few goals.”
Midlands Move
However, despite enjoying his football with the college club, after six straight seasons in the first-team, Robbie knew it was time for a change. And, once issues outside of his control were taken care of, he signed for Longford Town for a fee of €10,000 in early 2006. “Longford had spoken to me early enough,” the 26-year-old reveals. “I had more or less set my heart on signing for Longford, but then they had changed the rule. I was out of contract and was a free agent, but then they changed the rule for players under-23. I was only 23 at the time, but I had to be over 23 for it to be a free transfer. It went on for a while but, in the end, I think Shane Barrett went to Drogheda so they sorted out a fee with UCD. It was tough enough to leave but I knew it was time to leave. Pete knew my situation, he knew I was looking to leave, but I would still be talking to him every second day, chatting away and he was brilliant. I have the utmost respect for Pete Mahon, I think he’s an absolutely brilliant man. And the club itself, I think it’s showing now how well run a club it is. It’s still in the Premier and paying an eighth of what other clubs are looking to pay out, and they’re still competing week-in, week-out. I think they’re a credit. People might look down on them and might give them stick, but the amount of players they’ve produced is frightening. The fact that they offer education is a plus. They were pushing education over the football, where you needed to be going to class or they were actually stopping your scholarships. They were really looking after the lads as opposed to just caring about results, so that was always a good thing. It was hard to leave for everything except football reasons, where I kind of felt I needed something different.”
Team Spirit
And, he got what he wanted. A relatively quiet debut season at Flancare Park could not have prepared Robbie for what was to follow in 2007. A points deduction left Longford rooted to the foot of the Premier table early on, and though a memorable recovery midway through the season almost resulted in a miraculous escape, the club were relegated on the final day of the season. “Longford was great,” Rob admits when reflecting on his time in the midlands. “The people down there are really nice. I played all the time but the only negative was that I was always out of position, always on the left-wing, and left-back some games. I was always out of position. I could probably count on one hand the amount of times I played up front. It was a good club. The year I joined, it was a great year, but then things obviously went a bit downhill the following season with money problems and all that malarkey. That’s always going to cause any club problems, but a lot of the lads that played for them at that time put everything into Longford. Things don’t always get printed about what goes on in clubs, but there was a lot of lads that kept things to themselves about what was going on, and I’d like to think that people in Longford would respect the lads that were there and what they did until the end, even in the cup final. We didn’t win but they gave some sort of enjoyment at the end of the year. It was a club that was struggling – I obviously don’t want to talk too much about what was going on – but the people that run it are nice people. The squad was quite a close group. There’s always upset if stuff isn’t going right and maybe if wages haven’t been paid. Some lads might need money more than other lads and that’s always going to cause problems, but there was never a stage where we actually refused to train, and we showed up to every match. Alan, in fairness to him, put his hand in his pocket on numerous occasions to look after different things. He’s another brilliant man. He basically ran a lot of things on his shoulder and had a lot of strain. He was running the club side, trying to sort things out and trying to keep players happy. It mustn’t have been easy, but it was a good team spirit I have to say, and I think that showed in the end with the run that was put together. It was just unfortunate and it’s not a nice thing to be involved in. But we had a bit of camaraderie, we stuck together and there was a real siege mentality, us against them, everything was against us, and we got results. We were very unlucky in the end. In hindsight, if we had stayed up, would it have been any use to the club? Possibly not. They couldn’t probably afford to stay up as it was, but it would have been a nice way to end the season, definitely. Everybody was out of contract and nobody was actually approached to stay. I think they were waiting themselves to see what would happen, so, in the end, everybody looked after themselves and everybody got clubs. I knew lads had left before the end of the season, lads had already pre-signed for other clubs, so that’s obviously not a good time for a manager knowing that players are already leaving, but it had to be done. I don’t think Longford can really be blamed for looking after themselves and I don’t think players could have really been blamed for looking after themselves either. A lot of them were paying mortgages and bills and if there’s no assurances from one side, you have to look after yourself. Clubs look after themselves as well, so it works both ways.”
Cup Heartaches
Following their demotion, Longford still had the small matter of a cup final against Cork City to take care. However, it was another adventure which was to end in tragedy as Cork secured a narrow 1-0 win in the decider at the RDS. “It was disappointing,” Robbie admits, “but these things happen. It was great to be there, the experience of it all. It was always going to be difficult against Cork and, on the day, it was windy and it didn’t suit. We lost Deego (Gary Deegan) before the final through suspension and he had been a big player for us. But it was a good occasion. If you lose a cup final, you’re always looking to see if you can maybe make amends in your career at some stage. To be there in the first place was a great experience and it was good to be involved in.” Martin had previously played in two League Cup finals with UCD, against St. Pats (00/01) and Derry City (05), both of which unfortunately ended in defeat. “Against Pats, I was only 18 I think,” he recalls. “I wasn’t in the squad for the away leg and then I started the home leg which was strange. It was a two-legged final at that stage. We were beaten 5-3 in the end on aggregate, but, again, it was good to be involved. In 2005, I scored against Shels in the semi-final. That was the snatch and grab of the century! We were 1-0 down in the 89th minute and I think Brian Gannon scored. Then in the 92nd minute, I cut out a back-pass, went around the ‘keeper and scored, and the whistle went. We absolutely robbed it. The final was a good occasion again, it was on TV. I was only back from injury, I came on in the second-half, but I was struggling and I shouldn’t have been playing at all. But Pete was looking for me to play, so I did.”
Dundalk Delight
With Longford relegated, Martin soon departed the midlands and had offers from a number of clubs. However, John Gill’s quick thinking and early contact persuaded the hitman to sign for Dundalk, despite interest from Premier Division outfits. “I spoke to a couple of clubs,” Robbie reveals. “I’ve always played football with the mentality that I always enjoy what I do work wise. I’ve seen too many people play football, give up their jobs, and different things can happen. I spoke to John and I liked the idea of coming down to Dundalk. I heard good things about the club and it was just the way it worked out. I spoke to John so early; I think I spoke to him the day after the cup final, so I met him so early that I just gave him my word that I’d sign. Part-time football was what I wanted. I was never going to play full-time football and people I spoke to, not only full-time, but travelling a bit more than Dundalk, I just wasn’t interested in that, so I was happy to come down here.” So…a full-time contract with more travelling than Dundalk. Could that offer have come from his old mentor Alan Mathews at Cork City?? “No,” Rob smiles. “No.” The striker also states that dropping a division was never an issue for him. “Not at all,” he admits. “I think, at the end of the day, everybody wants to play in the Premier, but it’s about playing for a club that’s good to play for. I think playing at Longford was great going there, but the club itself was letting itself down and the standards were dropping in different ways. I think this is a club that should be in the Premier. I’ve said it before, everything about this club has the Premier in mind.”
Knee Knock
Unfortunately, Martin’s first season at Oriel Park has been badly disrupted by a serious knee injury which has troubled him since the beginning of the year. Now, however, after surgery, and despite recent setbacks, he is finally nearing a full recovery and should now be available for the remainder of the campaign. “I went in for the operation,” Robbie explains, “and it was as straight forward as it could have been, because there was a lot of damage. The cartilage was quite badly damaged, but it’s repaired and the knee is fine. I think it’s like everything when you’re coming back. I spent a lot of time on the muscles around it and, to be honest, I think I’ve just strained the top of it. I done two or three hard sessions in a row and I felt stiff, so I just think it’s stiffness; there’s a bit of pain. The knee is perfect, there’s nothing wrong with it at all. It was just in my lower back and I was getting bits of pins and needles in my leg, but hopefully it’s nothing too serious. It’s a bit of a setback, obviously, because I was back training and building my fitness back up, but hopefully I’ll be back soon. So far, I love it here, bar injuries! Everything else I love, but it’s just frustrating that these things happen. Hopefully, I can get this thing out of the way now. It’s taking a bit longer than expected. Different things have just popped up in it, it’s always the same, but I don’t think the lads miss me too much at the moment anyway! I just want to get it right. I don’t want to come back too early and end up missing another four or five weeks. I just really want to get it right. So far, so good, but I’ve just picked up a couple of niggles getting back involved. It’s very frustrating, but I like watching the games. It’s enjoyable. I usually go with my Ma, Da and girlfriend, and we love watching them. They do just be as nervous as everybody else, but you want to be playing – that’s the bottom line.”
Determined
In his first four games, Martin, who was continually used anywhere but in attack at Longford, netted three times in a lightening start to life as a Lilywhite. A goal drought then ensued before the aforementioned injury, however, Robbie is determined to put that right when he returns to action. “I played a lot of games where I wasn’t getting chances but then I got a few chances in Waterford and I probably should have scored a couple,” he admits. “These things happen, it happens to everyone. You’ll go through stages but I wouldn’t worry. I’d be confident in my ability. When playing fit, I know I’d score goals. I was always a striker, but I like kind of playing that free role that doesn’t exist, if I was being honest. I love to play in front of the midfield and behind the front men, where I can kind of drop and float around a bit. When I’m scoring goals, I’d rather be a striker. When I’m not, I’d rather be a midfielder! There’s a lot more to come from me, that’s all I’ll say. I’d like to get another full pre-season where I’m not struggling with my knee and get fit. Hopefully, I can be involved for the rest of this season and get my name on the score-sheet again. It’s obviously not going to be easy to get back in, but I think John’s quite happy. You look at Flano and Crawls, who would have been our two most regular players, and they’ll probably struggle to get back in. I think that’s the joy of playing for a team like this at the moment. I’ve played at clubs where you’ve had to play even though you couldn’t literally walk because you didn’t have players. As I said, I watch these games and I’m as nervous as anybody else watching them because I want us to be playing in the top flight. I want the club to do as well as they can, and the minute I get in and play, I want to help the cause. That’s all. If I have to sit and watch, as long as we’re winning games and go up, I’ll be happy. Everyone is in it together. Eleven players play every week and you’re never going to keep 20-odd players happy, and there’s 20 good players here. There’s competition in every position at this stage. But, if you worry about that, you shouldn’t be playing football at the end of the day. If everyone plays well, they stay in. If I played well, I’d want to stay in the team. Getting fit and getting back available to be selected is my aim at the moment. Playing wise, it will be a bonus – that’s being honest.”
Licking Arse?
And, finally, his thoughts on Giller? “He’s great,” Rob admits. “I know probably everyone says that – it’s licking arse. But I speak with him quite regularly. Especially since the injury, I’ve spoke to him a lot. A couple of times, I’ve rang him during the week and I chat to him the odd time, we chat about different things. I think he’s a great manager. It’s tough to manage a team like this because there’s a lot of expectation, there’s a lot of pressure and fans get frustrated. It’s tough to juggle winning leagues and keeping everyone happy, keeping fans happy and playing nice football. At the start of the season, we would have been touted as one of the favourites, and I think that’s tough for a manager to cope with. It’s a lot on your shoulders. It’s a lot easier going in as underdogs, everyone knows that, and I think John has dealt with it brilliantly all season. As a manager, I think he’s made the right decisions, I think he’s made brave decisions when he’s had to, and, from a personal point of view, I have the utmost respect for him, as an individual and as a manager. I couldn’t speak higher of him, to be honest.”
