Gary O’Neill: Playing for sheer joy

“Must be a sympathy vote, is it?” chuckles Gary O’Neill on receipt of his first ever SWAI/SSE Airtricity Player of the Month award after a 14-year career in Irish football which has seen him turn out for eight clubs.

The 32-year-old striker got the nod from the soccer writers for purely footballing reasons — his two goals and all-round top quality displays in March having contributed hugely to Drogheda United’s positive start to the new season.

But the humour in his opening comment references the remarkable back story to this long overdue accolade — the fact that O’Neill was diagnosed with testicular cancer last September and, having undergone surgery and follow-up treatment, was back playing football just four months later. Indeed, things have gone far better for the player than he could possibly have imagined when he tentatively returned for pre-season duty in January.