The Kieran Shannon interview: Half a century of Pat Devlin's domestic dreams

Pat Devlin is now entering his sixth decade in the League of Ireland, his fifth as a manager. He still has his frustrations with the league, but there's nowhere he'd rather be. 

Cabinteely manager Pat Devlin during the SSE Airtricity League First Division Promotion / Relegation play-off against Drogheda United in 2019. Half a century in Irish football, Devlin is still going strong. Picture: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

This is a story about Ireland, or at least the League of Ireland, given he’s now in his sixth decade operating in it, but we’ll begin in Europe.

A few weeks after the whole country had gone bananas following Italia ’90, Pat Devlin and his Bray Wanderers team found themselves in the draw for the European Cup Winners’ Cup, having won the FAI Cup final in front of the biggest crowd the domestic game had known for over two decades.