The day Gartland’s world turned Lillywhite

By Liam Mackey

In the run-up to Sunday’s FAI Cup Final, Brian Gartland has been reflecting on the ‘sliding doors’ moment that saw him join Dundalk in July of 2013.

Having left Irish League side Portadown, the former Bray Wanderers, Shelbourne and Monaghan United centre-half was being strongly tipped to rejoin Shels after playing in a friendly for Johnny McDonnell’s team against Peterborough United. Drogheda United were also known to be keen.

“I had been training with Shels for two or three weeks,” he recalled, “and if Johnny Mac had offered me anything in the two weeks before the friendly, I probably would have just signed. I would have been happy to get playing down south because I was sick of travelling. But I played the friendly and had a decent game, a very good game, and he offered me something then and I said, ‘look I need a little bit more’. It wasn’t much at all.”

How much exactly?

“He offered me €200. The next morning he rang me and said he could get me a bit extra, a hundred euro or something, so he offered me €300. But when I was off the phone from him I had a voicemail from Mick Cooke (Drogheda manager) saying ‘look, don’t do anything, I’m trying to build something here’. And then when I was off the phone from him, I had a voicemail from Stephen Kenny. That was the one that was completely out of the blue and I was on the phone to him three, four, five times that day.

“I said ‘listen, because it’s only three months until the end of the season I’ll give it a chance.’ So. like you say, a sliding doors moment. What could have been. And I suppose it was taking that little chance of having any bit of success was what made my mind up to come here. And once I was in the door a few weeks, there was no getting away from it because you get the feel for the gaffer. He just has this aura, this drive for success. And you don’t want to leave it because you don’t want to miss out.”

Five years on and the big games just keep on coming for the big Dubliner who will be hoping to celebrate what will be his 32nd birthday with another medal at the Aviva on Sunday.

“The good thing for us is that the motivation is to set standards and break records,” he says. “Usually if you win the league that soon, you have a month before the cup final and people take their foot off the gas. But we always had something driving us on. So for two or three weeks there we were going into games and we were really wanting to win.

“I suppose some lads in other teams would be looking after themselves and making sure they were right (for the final) but we were really pushing ourselves on, wanting to win those games. And then we had a really good test on Friday night (in the 1-1 draw with Bohemians). If you have any airs or graces about yourself or think you can rest or settle a bit, Friday gave you a kick up the arse.”

Which, he suggests, was exactly what was required as final preparation for another cup decider against their most familiar foes.

“The rivalry between ourselves and Cork adds a bit of bite,” he smiles. “But if you are going to win a league and win a cup, you are going to have to beat the best teams.”