O’Regan aims high for Kerry team

JOHN O’REGAN has a vision. The secretary of the Kerry District Soccer League is adamant that the Kingdom will have a team competing in the eircom League within two years.

In fact, O’Regan, one of the driving forces in the game within the county along with his KDL colleagues, are hoping for some movement in the next 12 months. A tad optimistic some would say, but O’Regan and many enthusiasts in the south west would vehemently disagree.

They will point to the historic giant-killing achievements of the newly formed U-21 side who, on Sunday last, defeated Mervue 3-1 in the eircom League quarter-final.

They will gleefully describe the state-of-the-art facilities at Mounthawk, Tralee. And they will gladly boast about the production line of talent available.

“I would hope that we will move on in the League of Ireland within the next two seasons,” O’Regan says with growing enthusiasm. “Obviously we will still be in the U-21s next year but I would prefer if we could get an invitation into the eircom League Cup from the FAI and maybe the following season into the League of Ireland proper. But if the FAI came to us asking us to fill a space in Division One we would find it very hard to turn them down.”

Central to all such plans is the playing talent available. Again O’Regan is in no doubt that Kerry would easily cope with the step up in class. He points to the youthful abilities and achievements of the U-21 side to support his contentions.

“On this U-21 team, seven of the lads are still playing with the Kerry Youths. We have three over-age players and out of the 14 who were involved on Sunday, 11 will be underage again next year,” he says.

“The players are certainly there. This team for example has been unbeaten at home, we have kept eight or nine clean sheets and we have scored 28 or 29 goals. A lot of the younger guys in the county are going on cross channel and international trials, so the talent is there in the county.”

But could such a talent base support a team playing in Division One? Certainly, O’Regan believes, if a specific plan is in place.

“If we were to move up to the League of Ireland, we would probably try and have four or five key core players training on a full time basis and build the rest of the side around them.”

Kerry’s move into the ranks of the U-21 competition came after a mid-summer’s conversation with the FAI’s Pat Duffy and John Delaney.

Both were keen on the idea and were very much pushing an open door. Delaney, the FAI treasurer, spent over five years working and playing football in Tralee and according to O’Regan was always keen on the idea of a Kerry side in the League of Ireland.

That attitude remains unchanged.

“It is feasible,” Delaney said yesterday. “But what we must ensure is that a solid foundation is built down in Kerry. We don’t want any kind of knee-jerk reaction of putting a team into the league too soon and things falling apart as has happened in the past. But everything in Kerry is being done in the right way.

“One of the major positives is that they have a county team, which I think is a vital starting point. It is more permanent. Then they will have to continue work on the facilities Then they have criteria like the club licences issue to contend with over the next few months. Then they have to work on building on their base of support and success.”

Delaney was amongst the crowd who watched the U-21s’ giant-killing antics at the weekend. Needless to say he was impressed by the fare and considers it a good omen for the future.

“The standard is very good in Kerry. This is the third time that I have seen them play this season. I saw them draw with Waterford and beat Cork. There has been a marked improvement since that first outing. They no longer seem nervous playing at this level, now they are satisfied that they can compete.”

But it is obvious that the debut project is becoming a learning curve for the bigger and better ambitions. All in Kerry soccer are embracing that idea.

“We are learning lessons as we go along,” John O’Regan admits. “To date this team has cost €22,000 with regards to gear and training. If we get to the semi-final and final you could make that €50,000. We get grants from the FAI, sponsorship and gate receipts. But we would need bigger sponsorship if we are to go into the League of Ireland.

“Everything else is being put in place. We received National Lottery funding of €150,000 which we have pumped into our headquarters “The field there is super with full floodlighting, dressing-rooms, a sand-based training pitch and a stand. Now we will need to have seating for 800 if we are to compete in the League of Ireland and we hope to have those seats in place before the summer.”