Article from Meath Chronicle on Gary Rogers
Maybe we will get coverage like this in our local newspaper someday.
Galway deal for Rogers
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Gary Rogers will trade the green and gold of the Meath GAA team for the maroon of Galway Utd. after he signed professional terms with the FAI National League Premier Division side.
fergal Lynch
ASK any schoolboy player in Ireland what their greatest sporting dreams are and in variably the response you will get is to represent their county at Gaelic games or to play professional soccer.
Living the dream is the stuff of fairytales and for Gary Rogers the last few weeks have seen his dreams realised.
Rogers is no stranger to professional soccer having played and won an FAI Cup with Drogheda United and on Saturday 3rd February he made his first NFL appearance for the Meath senior football team when he replaced Brian Meade against Cavan.
At the beginning of Colm Coyle’s tenure as Meath manager, Rogers was drafted into the panel following an impressive campaign with his club St. Ultan’s and with his foot in the door he did enough to retain his place.
The ultimate accolade came against Antrim when Rogers started in a Meath senior jersey for the first time. With regular goalkeeper Brendan Murphy on holidays, Rogers was asked to deputise and despite being on the panel for his attacking abilities he filled in admirably between the posts.
However, now it looks as if that dream of lining out with the Meath seniors at Croke Park is over as Rogers signed professional terms with FAI Premier side Galway United on Thursday night.
Throughout his time with the Meath senior panel Rogers has always made it clear that should professional soccer be offered again then he would take it. Coyle expressed a desire that Rogers stayed with Meath, but accepted his decision.
Now that option has become a reality and while Rogers is obviously delighted to have landed a full-time contract with the newly promoted westerners he is disappointed that his journey with Meath has come to an end.
“It was a big decision when the offer came in from Galway, I’ve grown up with Gaelic football and it was always number one for me to play Gaelic football, but the opportunity with Galway is too good to let pass,” commented Rogers.
“The chances are that if I didn’t make the Meath team this year and decided that I wanted to play soccer next year, then the opportunities mightn’t be there the next time around.
“When Colm Coyle called me into the Meath set-up I told him that if I was going back to soccer it would only be on a full-time basis. I would much prefer to play Gaelic football for the year than to have gone back to play part-time soccer.”
Rogers has always been a goalkeeper in demand. His talent is unquestionable and his time at Shelbourne, St. Francis, Drogheda, Dublin City and Bray wanderers have always had him in the public eye.
It was only a matter of time before an ambitious club like Galway United came knocking, but for Rogers it had to be a big club that would make him deviate from his dream with the Meath senior footballers.
“I spoke to a few different clubs about going back to soccer, but the main thing with Galway United is that it is full-time soccer. I wasn’t interested in going back to part-time soccer at all,” he said.
“I have a year long contract with Galway with a view to signing for a second year and I’ll have to move there. We are in the Premier Division this year and hopefully I’ll be playing every week.
“Galway are a very ambitious club and their aim is to emulate what Drogheda have done over the last three or four years. Getting into the Premier, staying up and then gradually moving up the table.
“Next year will be a big year for Galway because of going full-time and some of the players they have brought in. We will be hoping to consolidate our position in the Premier Division and then push on again next year.”
Professional football is nothing new to Rogers and it is something he is very excited about doing again
“I was full-time for three or four years when I was with Drogheda so the training won’t be a problem. Manager Tony Cousins would know that he wouldn’t be taking a chance with me,” said the 25-year-old Bohermeen man.
“Some of the other lads that are with Galway weren’t full-time before, but for me it’ll be no real change. I know what it entails and to play full-time sport is not as hard as part-time, with part-time you have to work, then train in the evenings and that is hard work.
“With full-time training you can completely concentrate on your job which is Friday night every weekend when there are games.
“Like any player going to a new club my own personal ambitions is to win. I won the cup a couple of years ago with Drogheda and there is nothing better than winning the FAI Cup or the league.
“I know that winning the league with Galway at the moment is probably a bit unrealistic, but certainly we will hope to go well in the cup
competitions and give our supporters something to look forward too.”
Having sampled pre-season training with Meath and been involved in the uninspiring start to the season Rogers is confident that things will improve for Meath football.
“I think the players are there and they will improve for the summer. The training we were doing was mainly weights training, but we were starting to get into the ball work and that will bring improvement.
“People were probably a bit aggrieved with some of the results, but we are still top of the division. Meath haven’t played out of their skins, but there is plenty of room and time for improvement so I’d say Meath will be ready for Kildare in May,” he concluded.
n Gary Rogers’ last game of the 2006 soccer season was for Bray Wanderers in a Premier League clash against Sligo Rovers at the Carlisle Grounds.
