QuoteOr you could tell us what it said and save us the shame of buying it!
There is a big write up on Darren Quigley in Sunday's The Star .
So you still have time to rush out and buy that paper.
Or you could tell us what it said and save us the shame of buying it!
Do you want me to type the whole damn article up here?
If you could!
Just give us the gist is all. Though probably Poor Student will rob it from work and let us know as well.
Well I'll have to go and find the paper then .... Is the Star not online at this stage guys?
Don't think so - the tabloids don't seem to run online editions.
OK there's actually two a small one under a huge picture of him entitled
"Shay Shows him The way" and on the page opposite a large one entitled
"Darren's Stock Still On The Rise" subtitled Ireland's Under-21 Star to Re-Ignite English Career; Quigley's Set for the Big Time.
They are all written by Daniel McDonnell who is a Dundalk fan who went to UCD.
SHAY SHOWS HIM THE WAY
Darren Quigley could hardly believe his luck when got a chance to train with the Republic of Ireland first team ahead of Steve Staunton's first match as manager. The Under-21s were given a chance to do a session with the senior team and for Quigley it was a great experience. He got the chance to try and stop a few shots from the likes of Robbie Keane and Damien Duff. But it was the opportunity to listen to the advice of Shay Given that was the highlight.
"It was huge.It was such a massive thing to be able to learn from him," he says. "He's been the best and there's nobody better to look at and model my game on. He's a similar build to me and that's important. People say he's quite smalll for a keeper but he's not small at all, it's nothing to do with it because of the way he commands his area. I wasn't in awe of the fellas because I am not that sort of fella. I get a great buzz out of it, it was really exciting and it brought me on a lot."
" I like to think I'm a good learner and it was great to rub shoulders with such people."
Excellent! Sounds good.
DARREN'S STOCK STILL ON THE RISE by Daniel McDonnell
(STAR SUNDAY April 30 2006)
If you didn't know Darren Quigley you could be fooled into thinking that the talented 19 year old is so desperate to make it in England that he will jump at the first available offer. That couldn't be further from the truth. For the young goalkeeper has experienced a lot more in his life than his age would suggest. He's been through the misery of homesickness as a 15-year old with Manchester City, during an injury hit 10 months in a strange place, where he spent the little money he had on credit to phone his mother and pals back in Dublin. It was a harsh lesson to learn but it convinced the Shankill lad that he needed to mature at home before he would give it a second shot.
And in his full-time job as a supplies manager at Tallaght Hospital , Quigley has got a taste of real life and viewed things which put the luck that footballers have into perspective.
That's why he's ready to give the professional game another shot. Alan Curbishley was at Dalymount Park on Friday night to monitor his progress as well as that of team-mate Gary Dicker and Bohemians' Stephen Ward ( who did not play on the night as it happens CTID).It may only be a matter of time before he is packing his bags but the UCD keeper is sure that any move he makes will be the right one . " When I went to go to England when I was 15 it was a year earlier than most and my mother was telling me that I wasn't going - that I wasn't being allowed to go," recalls Quigley with a smile.
" I said I was definitely going anf that I was going to run away if she didn't let me. She's my number 1 fan and she was as upset as me when it didn't work out but maybe she was right. "
"I'm delighted that I went at 15 and expereinced because I know now that it wasn't for me then. I got it out of my system. I wasn't mature enough,I wasn't ready for it. But I now know that I would be able to handle it."
From the outset, things looked grim for Quigley when he arrived fresh faced in Manchester. Sure he arrived at a club with a mini Irish community, at the same time as Stephen Ireland. One or two years ahead of him there was Willo Flood, Paddy McCarthy and Stephen Elliott. Not a bad bunch to be stuck with . But fate was against him . Right from the moment that he moved into his first digs where the landlady locked every room on the house apart from his own and that of his housemates. That wasn't the glamourous life that he was expecting. " Yeah that digs was a nightmare alright, we got sorted out in a nicer one after that alright but I still wanted to move back home.
I broke my arm and I got homesick. I just didn't like anything about it over there after that. With a broken arm, I wasn't training, I was just sitting around waiting to watch the lads play at the weekend . It was very hard, " he reflects. "It's just a totally different world from having all your friends around you. You're left on your own from 12 after training and you don't have money to do anything. If you want to go anywhere you have to take a taxi. You're not earning enough to do much with your life. I wasn't mentally ready for that. So the best thing I ever did was to come back home and do my Leaving Cert. It's the best decision I ever made because I have done so many things I couldn't have done ."
DARREN'S STOCK ON THE RISE ( continued) ...2/
Not only did he do his Leaving Cert but at 17 Quigley, after a short spell with Kildare County, was given the call from UCD and Pete Mahon who lured him to Belfield. Soon enough he was made a first team regular and for two and a half years of senior football under his belt, he is now one of the most respected keepers in Premier Division. International recognition has followed suit. He's now a regular in Don Givens' Irish Under-21 side in a team with a few old pals.
"There's Willo Flood, it was Willo that broke my arm at City actually, it was harmless, he was just going in for a rebound in training and it was an accident. And I met Stephen [Ireland] fopr the first time since I came home in Portmarnock with the senior team ahead of the Sweden match. Nothing's changed, I still speak to them as if they're people I've grown up with. I'm not in awe of them or anything. I don't ever feel like I am just a little Eircom League player because I don't think that way at all. Everyone disses this league but it's so much better than people think. All you have to do is look at the talent that's there. In fact, after what Kevin Doyle did it might be harder for me to get away because clubs won't let people go as cheap," suggests Quigley.
"I got two and a half seasons playing here and that's why I am the under-21 keeper. If I went to England to be in the reserves somewhere than that's it, my place would be gone. And it would be a huge decision because nothing beats playing for your country."
His next trip is to Azerbaijan for a European Under-21 qualifier on the 11th of May. Quigley had to look up where he was going to and was shocked to discover that he was going to be playing in a country that close to Iraq.
The workmates in the supply room in Tallaght hospital have been joking that he might need a bulletproof vest. It's the kind of humour that keeps his feet firmly on the ground. It's a job which has done a lot for his view of the world.
"I love working here, I absolutely love it but it's also showed me that there's nothing else in the world I want to be other than a footballer, I can't think of a better life. I've seen everything in this hospital. I've seen people in all sorts of states, I've seen people comin into A& E just out of a car crash. You might pass people that are dying. It's made me realise that life is so much more than a game of football. I just want to make the most of my life while I am happy and there's nothing wrong with me," he adds.
His colleagues in the supply room know that they've got someone special in their ranks, even if they are only too happy to embarrass him when a photographer arrives to take a few pictures.
" You see this kid here, he's only 19, but he'll be a superstar, he'll be number one when he's 22. All the nurses are crazy about him, they're always after his phone number," laughs one as Quigley poses for another picture.
It's not just the nurses that are hot on his trail. You sense that Quigley could be taking quite a few phone calls in the coming weeks and months.
He's worried about going to Azerbaijan and he works in Tallaght hospital?!
Yes I was thinking something similar earlier but didn't succumb to temptationOriginally Posted by pineapple stu
He's worried about going to Azerbaijan and he works in Tallaght hospital?!
No mention of Dicker being delighted to train with Graham Kavanagh then?
"I always likened him to a Rolls Royce. You just used him once a week & he'd be flawless"
Townsend on McGrath
so what? I did too, but i don't ask for it to be put in articles..Not only did he do his Leaving Cert but at 17...
I guess the point was that he actually sat his leaving. Many players who go over to England don't.Not only did he do his Leaving Cert but at 17 Quigley, after a short spell with Kildare County, was given the call from UCD and Pete Mahon who lured him to Belfield.
You can't spell failure without FAI
You should, you're selling yourself short!
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
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