Dunleavy brings northern soul to City

Despite a disappointing All-Ireland defeat to Kerry, there is still one Donegal man gunning for glory at national level.

For the past few months, John Dunleavy, captain of Cork City FC, has been quietly leading his team towards the summit of Irish football. Although Dunleavy hails from Ballybofey, the heartland of Finn Harps, if his life had taken a different twist, he could well have lined out at Croke Park under Jim McGuinness.

“I played with my local GAA team ‘Seán MacCumhaills’ growing up and I represented Donegal at U14 and 15 level. My family are deeply involved with the club, my father Brendan is the manager of the senior footballers and my younger brother Rory plays under him at the moment,” said the man who recently signed an extension with Cork for next year.

Dunleavy could also do no more than send his best wishes to Donegal at Croke Park. In fact he could not even watch the match on TV. While Donegal were playing, Dunleavy was preparing to help City to a win at Thomond Park against Limerick.

Having played with Dunleavy over the past few years, I have been impressed with his quiet focus and determination this year. There is a lot to be admired in a lad who has taken over the captain’s armband from Dan Murray fairly seamlessly. Caulfield’s decision to make Dunleavy captain at this start of this campaign has proven to be an act of genius, taking a weight off Murray and Colin Healy, both natural leaders, and allowing them to concentrate on their individual performances. Murray and Healy’s high-performance levels this year are a testament to that.

Dunleavy (pictured) has also played the captain’s part, filling in all over the park at different stages. This season he has played right-back, left-back, centre-back and central midfield and featured in all of City’s league matches except two games missed through suspension.

“This is the most I have played for a long time and I am loving every minute of it. The crowds at Turner’s Cross have been magnificent. ”

It is a long way from where Dunleavy found himself a few years ago when released by Wolves after a few injury-ravaged years. Capped at every underage level for Ireland, Dunleavy was signed by Wolves on his 16th birthday. Two years later, having captained Wolves reserve team, he signed a professional contract and the future looked bright. About the same time he captained the Ireland U17s to a famous win in Terryland Park against Portugal, a win that qualified Ireland for the European championships — knocking out Portugal and Germany. Heady heights indeed.

Then the injuries hit. Twice he broke his foot in the same place. A loan spell to Barnet brought another injury and the end was nigh. Wolves were playing in the Premier League and Dunleavy’s contract was not renewed.

“It was definitely the worst day in my life so far,” he said.

Dunleavy signed for Cork City in 2011 and has been a success ever since. At just 23 he now finds himself leading a team of talented young players towards European football and maybe even more.

With Garry Buckley, the two Morrisseys (Gearoid and Danny), John Kavanagh, Rob Lehane and Josh O’Shea (all of whom are younger than Dunleavy) featuring prominently this year, there is the makings of an exciting side.

It’s six years since Cork City last played European football. In 2008, Finland’s FC Haka defeated the club 6-2 on aggregate. The second leg, lost 4-0 in Finland, was a bad moment for the club. I played in that match. It was on our arrival into Cork Airport from Helsinki that the players were first informed there was a problem with our wages. Things were to get a lot worse before they got better.

Now, finally, the club is feeling healthy again. The place is hopping with excitement. A return to European football is the next step. The man from Donegal might be the one to lead us there.