Conan to Sporting Fingal

[DmanDmythDledge]

In yesterday's Evening Herald that Conan Byrne will be signing for Sporting Fingal :eek:

[John83]

I'm very disappointed to hear that, as I'm sure are the rest of us. We didn't vote him player of the season for his haircut.

[Olander]

In yesterday's Evening Herald that Conan Byrne will be signing for Sporting Fingal :eek:
jaysus Mcdonnell, mcfaul, sammon,C byrne, gregg all gone, bermingham rumoured to be as good as gone and paul byrne likely to miss half the season through injury and not one signing yet, yous will definetly be in the "mix" me thinks :)

[John83]

jaysus Mcdonnell, mcfaul, sammon,C byrne, gregg all gone, bermingham rumoured to be as good as gone and paul byrne likely to miss half the season through injury and not one signing yet, yous will definetly be in the "mix" me thinks :)
I think even the most optimistic UCD fan would agree now. CollegeTillIDie may be predicting relegation to the A league.

[Olander]

I think even the most optimistic UCD fan would agree now.nah im sure stew will have something to say as usual :)

[John83]

nah im sure stew will have something to say as usual :)
He'll argue that there are enough others in the mix to give us reasonable hope of staying up, but I doubt he'll claim anything silly about us being safe.

[Schumi]

In yesterday's Evening Herald that Conan Byrne will be signing for Sporting Fingal :eek:Bizarre move, I assumed I'd misinterpreted the cryptic text I got yesterday!
yous will definitely be in the "mix" me thinks :)Being 'in the mix' would be a positive at this stage. Much more of this and we'll only finish above Cobh.

[Poor Student]

For goodness sake, he could play for clubs higher placed than UCD. I know he lives in Swords but that's bizarre. I can only assume they feel they're going to replace someone in the first and they're throwing bucket loads of money? Baffling. He'll be a huge loss. I hope Fitzgerald can develop his game quickly.:(

[pineapple stu]

jaysus Mcdonnell, mcfaul, sammon,C byrne, gregg all gone, bermingham rumoured to be as good as gone and paul byrne likely to miss half the season through injury and not one signing yet, yous will definetly be in the "mix" me thinks :)
There's signings afoot. A few players are currently training with the squad with a view to signing, including some with eL experience.

[JR_Ewing]

and one with scottish experience apparently :ball:

[Poor Student]

and one with scottish experience apparently :ball:

That could mean anything from Berwick Rangers to Glasgow Rangers.;)

Just thinking about that move, Conan could go from UCD player of the year to UCD reserve team opponent.:confused:

[JR_Ewing]

you are assuming sporting fingal won't get a place in the league by virtue of one other dropping out???? I would say it is a distinct possibility

[BornFree]

Think Matt Gregg is remaining with the club...big bonus for UCD

[BrayUnknowns]

Think Matt Gregg is remaining with the club...big bonus for UCD

:o:confused::eek: He signed for Bray before Christmas...

On the Sporting Fingal note, there putting together a nice little squad from what i'm hearing.... Byrne joins the likes of Chris Deans, Paul Caffrey, Steve Williams, Stephen Caffrey, Colm James and i've heard there talking to a few other experienced eLoI players...

There wages would be better than UCDs as well...

[pineapple stu]

Not in this instance.

[Schumi]

and one with scottish experience apparently :ball:Sweet (http://www.skane.com/cmarter/cmarter/files/20070703-7UtC-mcBm-wRSi.JPG).

[Aberdonian Stu]

If only it was Eugene Dadi. Best chant ever.

[Poor Student]

Sweet (http://www.skane.com/cmarter/cmarter/files/20070703-7UtC-mcBm-wRSi.JPG).

We're too late, Fingal have offered him Malahide Castle to join them.

[Poor Student]

A more detailed explanation of why he moved here: http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/mns/features/eircomleague/


Sporting Fingal's Conan Byrne occupies a pretty unique position in Irish soccer at the moment.

Not only is he a player with the newest club in the country, but he also works as the club's marketing executive. And last Sunday he showed that he is well capable of successfully filling both roles simultaneously.

After being thumped 5-1 by Longford Town in their first-ever competitive match the previous week, a lot rested on the north Dublin club's home clash with Athlone Town.

The club took a huge risk by offering patrons the chance to see the game free, and also provided transport to and from Morton Stadium for interested parties living in the furthest reaches of Fingal County.

Thankfully, the PR offensive worked a treat, and a crowd of 1,234 turned up at the Santry venue to see Sporting claim their maiden league victory, with their marketing director scoring the second goal in a deserved 2-0 win.

All in all, did it go as well as Byrne had hoped?

'Yes, it did,' enthuses the 22-year-old. 'We got our three points on the board and I managed to get a goal myself, so I was delighted with that. The three were the most important thing, though, especially after last week's humiliating defeat in Longford,' he adds.

Sunday's bumper crowd will be hard to maintain, but Byrne says the club are aiming to get an average of 800 punters through the turnstiles.

'I know it's a big target for a team that has just been set up, but we're hoping to reach that number and then build on that then the following year,' he says.

................

But how exactly did he land his double role with Sporting? He says it came about more by accident than design.

'I was leaving my options open because I was a free agent from UCD,' says Byrne, who made 66 appearances and scored seven goals in his three years over at Belfield.

'I was just talking to Liam about what the club had to offer me as a player. I was very excited because I was from the Fingal area myself. I played in Fingal all the way through schoolboy level (with Swords Rovers and Rivervalley Rangers).

'We talked about football first, and then we got talking about what I'd done in college. I said I had a degree in Sports Management from UCD. He was looking for a marketing person at the club, and he thought I fit the bill.'

And how does he find juggling his responsibilities as a player with his duties as an executive? He says there's no problem because as Buckley says: 'football comes first'.

'On match days I don't get involved in terms of marketing at all. I only work until about 12pm on a Friday and that's me then focussed on the football.

'It doesn't affect my training at all. It's just like going from any job to training, so it's fine that way.'

'The people behind the club are very helpful because they know the football comes first, so there's no pressure at all,' he concludes.