Trevor Vaughan interviewed by Keith Wallace.
2oth October 2008.
NOW IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE of an outstanding and memorable career, possibly the sole sad point should Dundalk achieve promotion to the Premier Division next month would be the expected subsequent departure of goalscoring magician, Trevor Vaughan. One of the most popular players to line-out for the club in recent years, Vaughan is currently enjoying season number 17 in League of Ireland football, during which he has scored 104 (and counting) league goals. Despite all those years in action, his class has never dimmed. However, entering the top flight again come next March doesn’t seem to be on Trevor’s agenda – though a fifth season at Oriel Park may not be out of the question if First Division football is all that’s on offer at the border venue next year.
Bowing Out?
“I think with the way it’s going, with all the full-time setups, if I’m being honest, I don’t think I’d last the pace in the Premier Division,” Vaughan admitted to the Dundalk FC Magazine. “Certainly, in the First Division, I have plenty of legs, I think. I just think the Premier is a little bit too much when you look at it. It has gone pretty much full-time at this stage, so I’m not going to fool myself. I haven’t thought about it; that’s being honest. I’m just trying to take each game as it comes, but it’s always in the back of your mind. I don’t want to leave, but you never know what’s going to happen. Strange things can happen, you know.” After close to two decades in the league, Trev knows the drill all too well. And, he admits that juggling football, work and a personal life can take its toll at times. “It’s very hard,” he says, “but it’s in you so long, it becomes a part of you. It’s like getting up and going to work or going to school. It’s very hard to get used to for players, and in the last couple of years, it’s probably been harder, because there’s extra nights training and weekends in the gym. It takes a lot of dedication; that’s the main thing. Luckily enough, my wife Sarah understands what it’s like. Unfortunately, she has to put up with it, but she does. She’s great.” Just last May, the veteran hitman notched league goal no. 100 of his career when he scored an incredible hat-trick away to Wexford Youths. His only other hat-trick came four years previous, also with the Lilywhites, in Athlone, though the memories of that night in the sunny South East will always be that bit more special. “Getting the 100th goal and obviously getting the hat-trick as well was great,” Trevor acknowledges. “It was the second hat-trick of my career and the second one for Dundalk. Then, the lads were saying it was a header, a left foot and a right foot, and the last one, being from the halfway line, was very special. I know it was just another win, but, personally as well, it was special getting the 100th goal.”
Promotion Playoff
In his earlier years, Vaughan spent time at Home Farm, Shelbourne and Drogheda United before moving to Kilkenny City, where he achieved his first success in his third year at Buckley Park as the side won promotion in 2000. From 25 appearances, he scored five goals as the Cats edged out Dundalk for a playoff berth by a single point, after a year which included the Fran Carter saga. “That was a great season,” Trev admits. “It was under Alfie Hale. Near the end of the season, we had the whole controversy with Fran Carter. Dundalk were involved. Our last game was up in Monaghan and we thought we had got the playoff spot, but Dundalk had a protest in. It was the usual FAI stuff. We were trying to keep ourselves motivated, but we never actually knew if we were in the playoff or not. There was an inquest into it, and probably three weeks after the season ended, we played Waterford in the playoff. We won the first leg 1-0 and then we drew with them 1-1 down there.”
Cats Snub
Vaughan returned for pre-season training the following year with Kilkenny and was expecting a fourth straight campaign at the club. However, despite playing a big part in the warm-up to the Premier Division season, the Cats, just hours before their first competitive game, snubbed the striker as they reneged on a contract deal that had been agreed upon. In a cruel twist, the club which he could have signed for months earlier, Longford Town, went on to win promotion, while Trevor was left to endure his most painful time in the game. “I came back and done pre-season with Kilkenny but ended up not signing for them,” the Dubliner reveals. “Stephen Kenny was interested in me down in Longford, but it was too late to sign for him then. He had been on to me already but I opted to stay with Kilkenny. I done well in Kilkenny, I liked it down there and I didn’t want to move. I knew Stephen from my Home Farm days – I played with him before he gave it up. I had good contacts in Longford and they were a young side. I was probably young and a bit naïve not to sign a contract with Kilkenny before pre-season started, but that’s probably what it was like back then. They let me go then; Pat Byrne said there was no deal for me. I never regretted not going to Longford, you can’t look back, there’s always going to be ifs and buts in your career. The only thing I regret is not signing a contract before pre-season with Kilkenny. We had agreed and shook hands on it. I was in my early 20s and looking back now, it was silly, but that’s the way a lot of fellas done it then. I played most of pre-season, it wasn’t like I was being pushed out or anything, but then when I went to sign the deal, it wasn’t there for me. I think that was a night or two before the league started. But you live and learn. In the end, I went up to Drogheda, but things didn’t work out there. It was probably the worst season I’ve had in the League of Ireland. For me, personally, it wasn’t a good year, I didn’t enjoy it. We were down the bottom and things just didn’t go right. Then in January, when the Foot & Mouth I think came in, I moved over to the States to give over there a try. I was on the East coast in Connecticut. Gary Dempsey, who is now with Saint Patrick’s Athletic, was actually over there. He was after coming over from England where he was with Everton I think. He was after being with Bray but he couldn’t get in there, so Pat Devlin had a few connections and sent him over to the States. It was in the A-League, just under the MLS. It would be like the First Division here.”
Monaghan Memories
After half-a-season at Drogheda United and that short stint in the United States, Trevor returned home for the beginning of the 2001/02 season as he signed for Monaghan United. The previous year, Monaghan had gained promotion from the First Division by finishing as runners-up to Dundalk. And, despite relegation, Vaughan went on to experience three successful years at the Ulster outfit, where he scored 28 goals in 84 league appearances. “I was over in the States and Bobby Browne had been on to me a couple of times previously,” Trevor explains. “I had known Bobby from around my area and from the time I was with Shels. Bobby spoke to me before, but I liked it down in Kilkenny and I was enjoying my football. I was playing with the Connecticut Wolves in the States, but then I got an injury; I done my medial ligaments. I didn’t know how long I’d be out for, so Bobby rang me one day – Monaghan were after getting promoted – and he wanted me to come back. I was coming back anyway, so I came over and got my knee sorted – it didn’t need an operation, just a few weeks’ rest. I missed most of pre-season, I came into it late, but I signed and got into the side then. I ended up doing okay in the Premier, I scored a few goals. We got relegated, but it was a great experience. I played a lot of the games there and ended up staying on for the following year. I had another good year and got some good goals; I think I was in double figures. Again, I was enjoying my football. Not many teams were coming in for me, so I signed back for a third year. Everything was going well – I was skipper up there. Then, I don’t know if Bobby resigned or was sacked, but Mick Cooke came in and I just kept going with him. As I said, I enjoyed it up there. It was nothing to do with Mick coming in, but there was a bit of a sore point. With Bobby going, it was sort of a new era. I had another good season; I scored 15 goals. I remember when Trevor Anderson was here, Paul Curran said to me in the last couple of games ‘what are you doing next year?’, so I had a chat with Paul and said to keep in touch. Trevor and Paul both rang me then, so that was the start of coming up here.”
Anderson Era
Vaughan first arrived at Oriel Park in early 2004. However, in an eventful beginning to life as a Lilywhite, Anderson departed after just seven league games, paving the way for Jim Gannon’s appointment. Dundalk went on to finish sixth, though, on a personal note, it was a very successful season for the striker as he finished as the club’s top scorer with 14 league goals and picked up the ‘Player of the Year’ award. “I wouldn’t say I came in a little bit blindfolded, but I didn’t really realise how big of a club it was,” Trevez admits. “I knew the history and all. I played up here obviously against Dundalk a good few times, but I didn’t realise what the support and all the facilities were like. Giller has probably brought it on a notch or two again, but all the facilities were here and everything was provided for you. I never had anything like that anywhere, so it was a huge step-up. I thought Trevor Anderson was good. I didn’t realise what way the crowd was with him, but that’s the way football goes. You have no friends in football and you just have to get on with it. We weren’t in that bad of a position I suppose, but with the players we had, we were probably expecting a little bit more. We had some good, experienced fellas. There was a good squad here. But, obviously, it just didn’t go right for Trevor. It wasn’t meant to be for him, so he opted out. I didn’t really look into it too much at the time, I didn’t really know what was going on. We just tried to get on with it. I don’t know what went wrong for Trevor. The fans up here demand a lot, and, really, this club should be in the Premier Division. The fans spoke; they thought his time was up. That was his third year here, so maybe it was time for him to go. The fans obviously thought it wasn’t getting any better and it didn’t look like it was going to, so it was time to move on. It’s just unfortunate I didn’t get enough time to really work with him, but that’s football – you’ve got to get on with it. Jim Gannon came in then and I had a great year up here with him. But I don’t think I was Jim’s favourite player. It wasn’t that I left, Jim just didn’t offer me a deal for the following year. That was his prerogative, he was the manager, so, unfortunately, I had to move on. I’m not harping on about it, but I said it before and I’ll say it again, I would have loved to stay here. There was a great bunch of lads, I was top goalscorer and ‘Player of the Year’, so it was just strange that Jim never spoke to me.”
Vikings Expedition
As a result, Vaughan joined Dermot Keely at Dublin City, and Dundalk’s loss was most certainly the Vikings’ gain as they went on to win promotion via a two-legged playoff against Shamrock Rovers. Gannon’s failure to re-sign the forward proving a blessing-in-disguise. “Probably, you could say that,” Trev admits. “Who knows what would have happened if I’d stayed here – I’m not saying it was a one-man show! – but I really did like it up here. I seemed to get on with the fans, I had a great season, everything was going well and I was really enjoying my football. The only thing was that I was moving back down to Dublin to a good side, or what I thought was a good side, which it turned out to be. But that’s football. That (2005) was another tough year. Sligo were up there; I don’t think they went full-time, but they took in a lot of good players. We were always up there in the top two, and then Cobh came back into it. Sort of like ourselves now, we let it slip a little bit. Then, it went out of our hands, but we always knew, or hoped, that there was a playoff place there for us if we didn’t win the league. We fought back in the last few matches to get it. Going into the last five or six games, we had a meeting one time and said ‘listen, it’s do-or-die here’. I think the turning point was down in Cobh. We went down on a Friday night, stayed over, trained Saturday morning and went out and beat them. They hadn’t been beaten at home for a while and we won 3-0. That was the turning point. After that, we won our last two league games comfortably, and that’s what got us into that playoff spot. It was a good spirit in the camp. There was a bit of youth mixed in with experience in the squad. It takes everything to go right in the season. We went on and beat Shamrock Rovers over two legs in the playoff then, which was great. Dermot spoke to me then about staying on for the season in the Premier. I sort of had an idea that if I was going to stay, it might be as a bit-part player and to have a bit of experience in the squad, to bring on the younger fellas and that. Another chance in the Premier would have been great, but Dermot told me that Giller was taking the job here, so I had a chat with John then as well and I thought this would be the better option.”
Oriel Return
The decision to return to Dundalk was another perfect one, as Dublin City went bust in midseason while the Lilywhites went on to win promotion. Vaughan proved the Messiah as he scored three goals over two legs of the playoff with Waterford United. However, a wonderful achievement was robbed by the FAI, as the powers that be instead promoted Galway United. “Obviously, for me, the move turned out to be the right option,” Vaughan says, “but I just thought I would have got more of a chance to play up here. I know that year, it didn’t really happen for me, but Peter Hynes and Philly Hughes were excellent, so I could have no complaints. Obviously, I still would have liked to play a bit more, but I still had a big part to play. It was difficult the whole season coming up and training, just trying to keep yourself going. It’s hard to do that sometimes, as much as the lads were playing well. You’re not hoping something would happen to one of them, but you’re hoping you might get a chance along the way. I remember I started against Monaghan one night and scored, so I was thinking ‘lovely’, but then the next week, I was bombed out again. That’s just the way it was. Then it was a total surprise when Hynesy left near the end of the season, whatever happened there. In the last couple of games, I got a chance and it all worked out. I think it shows when you put work in and you’re good to the game, sometimes, you get a bit of a reward at the end of it. I think that’s what got me the contract the following year, because I showed I could still actually play a bit! The playoffs were very special, but then we all know what happened. It wasn’t anything to do with us or the club. It was the FAI. But they can’t take the memories away. I think I was in the States when I found out about the decision. We were getting texts and obviously reading the internet and reading the papers on the net. I think a lot of us sort of had an idea that we weren’t going up. The FAI, you can’t say too much about them, but they’ve come up with some strange decisions over the years. I think it’s proved again that they’ve come up with another cracker, haven’t they! They let Galway go up, and then eighteen months later, after going full-time, they had to get rid of players. They were kind of like ‘this is what you’ve got to aim for, what Galway have, this is what all you other clubs have to be like’, and then a year-and-a-half later, bang!”
Aiming for Glory
Then came more disappointment last season, as, after leading the standings for 22 games, Dundalk eventually finished third behind Cobh Ramblers and Finn Harps. “I thought that was a bigger disappointment than the year before, really,” Vaughan admits. However, ahead of tonight’s visit of Sporting Fingal, with only five games to go, Dundalk sit just a solitary goal behind Shelbourne at the top of the First Division table. And, Trevor is hoping that someone will once again rise to the challenge and write themselves into the club’s history in the coming weeks. “I think someone will turn out to be a hero,” he states. “It will, hopefully, be like the way I was a couple of seasons ago. Anyone that’s not in the team now just has to keep going, because anything can happen, with injuries or suspensions etc.. You have to be there and you have to be ready to come in if you’re called upon. A lot can happen in the remaining games, there’s still four teams there at the top. I can’t see any team going on to win all their five matches, but we’ll give it a hell of a go anyway. It’s still in our hands. Shelbourne and Waterford are going to say it’s still in their hands too, which it is, strangely, but it has been like that for the last two years.” Last month, Vaughan missed both the Shelbourne and Monaghan games as he was out of the country getting married and then on honeymoon. He recently returned and has witnessed the side lose to both Longford Town and Wexford Youths. However, the striker is hoping that the side can turn their fortunes around and bring home the league title in four weeks. “The Shels match was the day I actually got married (in Spain),” Trevez says, “so I couldn’t listen to it, but we got the result that night through text messages. Then the Monaghan match away, we were over in Italy for that one. I was getting texts from my brother, who was listening to it in the States. I knew we were 1-0 up, and then 2-1 up and I thought that was it. Then, I got a late text that night saying it was 2-2 in the last minute and Robbie (Farrell) was sent-off, so that was obviously disappointing. Against Longford, it was very disappointing too. It was poor; I think everybody knows that. You can’t hide behind it. Last Friday in Wexford was the same. But all we can do is keep going and, hopefully, turn it around. Fingers crossed anyway.”
